• It’s preferable not to have goyim, women or children put up the schach.
• Women are not required to eat in the sukka.
• If schach stays on the sukka in a common wind then it can be tied down with whatever material necessary, even if it isn’t kosher for scach, in order to protect it from stronger than normal winds.
• It’s preferable not to bring the pots and pans in to the sukka. As long as they’re in the sukka the bracha of leishev basuka can’t be made. Serving dishes are fine.
• If it’s under a roof that’s attached to the sukkah then it’s allowed.
• All meals are required to be eaten in thesukka.
• Snacks don’t require a sukka. Snacks are defined as, fruits, vegetables, drinks and up until an eggs worth of cake etc.
• Meat, cheese, and fish that are being eaten as a meal should be eaten in the sukka unless it’s an extenuating circumstance.
• It’s praiseworthy not to eat anything outside of the sukka. Even water.
• Travelers for necessary reasons are exempt from eating and sleeping in the sukka.
• Travelers for pleasure should preferably eat and sleep in the sukka.
• The bracha of leishev basukka is made every time you eat a meal of bread or cake in the sukka.
• The bracha is only made when eating in the sukka not when doing other activities in the sukka.
• If you forgot to make the bracha, it can be made until you’re finished eating.
• If you’ve finished eating then eat some more in order to make the bracha.
• Ashkenazi women also make a Bracha when eating in the sukka.
• One is not even allowed to doze off outside of the sukka.
• There are heterim brought down to justify not sleeping in the sukka: too cold, dangerous, or if the wife doesn’t want.
• Many of these leniencies don’t apply during the day so therefore one would be required to sleep in the sukka. Unless there are other problems like noise etc.
• All activities should be done in the sukka.
• On the first night wait until nightfall to eat in the sukka.
• On the first night of sukkos, we must eat at least a kezayis (olives worth) of bread. It should preferably be eaten within 3-4minutes and preferably without talking.
• It’s preferable to eat a kibayah (eggs worth)of bread as above.
• The proper kavana to have when eating in the sukka is that’s it’s to remember going out of meztrayim and as a remembrance to the clouds that protected us when we left metzrayim.
• It’s preferable to eat some cake together with havdala so that the bracha of leishev basukka can be made.
• On the first night, if it’s raining and it’s not letting up, make Kiddush and eat bread in the sukka without making the bracha of leishev basukah. After that, eating inside is fine.
• We’re required to wait up until 2 hours for the rain to stop unless there are guests, kids, etc.
• If it stops raining before you go to sleep then you’re required to go out to the sukka to eat bread again and to make a Bracha of leishev basukka. If the sukka is too wet to eat in then go to someone else’s sukka, even if you’re not comfortable there.
• On the second night, wait a little bit for the rain to stop. If it doesn’t stop, start the meal inside, after the meal is over go to the sukka and eat a kezayis worth of bread.
• If you went to sleep inside the house because of the rain and then it stopped you’re not required to go back to the sukka.
• It’s a mitzvah to have a covering over the sukka for when it rains, so that it can be removed when the rain stops and the sukka will be dry.
Sukka decorations
– It’s a mitzva to have strings to beautify the sukka.
– They’re muktza for the entire sukkos and can’t be moved.
– If they fall down they can be put back up.
– Those that are hanging from the schach should preferably not hang down lower than four tefachim from the schach.
– If you stipulate before Yom tov that the decorations are not muktza then they can be moved.