The tri-state region is expecting a Nor’easter this coming weekend, over the first 2 days of Sukkot. Sustained gusts of 30 to 40 mph are expected to move across the region, increasing Friday night through Shabbat to up to 50 to 60 mph in some places. Rain will be 1-2 inches in some areas, 2-4 inches in others, and even possibly 6 inches in some.

Many people want to know what this means for the mitzvah of eating in a sukkah. We are here to help with the following FAQs.

Sukkah Storm FAQs

Building and Repairing the Sukkah

• If my sukkah will likely be blown over by the storm, is it kosher even while it is standing?
  • Yes. A sukkah has to be able to withstand a ruach metzuyah, a common wind, in order to be kosher. The expected storm is a ruach she’eyna metzuyah, an uncommon wind, and the inability of the sukkah to withstand the storm, when it comes, does not invalidate it now.
• Do I have to build a sukkah if I fully anticipate it to be blown over by the storm?
  • No, you are not obligated to build a sukkah under these circumstances. The effort would be likely purposeless, for any of the following reasons:
    1. It will likely get knocked down and you won’t be able to use it
    2. Some or all of the shach could fall down and invalidate it
    3. It will be dripping badly even when the rain stops that it won’t be habitable
    4. It is likely that the weather will be so bad that you will be exempt from eating in a sukkah.

This is all the more so if you are concerned that pieces could fly off and be a safety hazard. Under those conditions, it is forbidden for you to build the sukkah because of sakanah (risk and safety) concerns.

In short, if you believe that it is highly unlikely that your sukkah will remain kosher or that you will be able to use it, or are concerned for people’s safety, you are annus, unable/exempt from building the sukkah due to forces outside your control.

You should have a plan in case the weather clears where you could eat – such as a shul’s or neighbor’s sukkah. If no such sukkah is available, then, as noted, you are annus and can eat indoors.

• I think I can secure the structure, but in order to secure the schach, I need to use plastic ties. Is that acceptable?
  • Yes. The possible problem with plastic ties is that they are a davar ha’mekabel tumah, something susceptible to impurity, and there is a rule that you can’t have support (ma’amid) the schach with such an item (it is for this reason that we put a wood plank between the edge of the schach and the metal frame of the sukkah,). However, there are many poskim who rule that such a requirement does not, in fact, exist and that it is just a chumrah (see MB 630:59 and 6629:21). In addition, in your case, the schach can stay in place under normal circumstances without the ties, so the ties are not considered to be ma’amid, generally necessary to keep the shach in place. In short, it is fine to use them.

Not only is it permissible to use these ties, but given safety concerns it is imperative do to so. Flying Schach can cause serious damage to property and people!

• If the schach fell down, is the sukkah still kosher?
  • It might be. If there is a section where there is schach that reaches from one wall to the wall opposite it and the schach is adjacent within 9 inches to a third wall that connects the other two walls (forming, essentially, a U), and that space is 24”x24” wide, then that section of the sukkah is kosher.
• If the schach fell down, can I put it back up on Yom Tov?
  • No. Putting schach on the roof of a sukkah constitutes a form of boneh, building, which is forbidden on Shabbat and Yom Tov. However, one can ask a non-Jew to do it for you (MB 637:1).
• What about safety concerns if the schach fell down?
  • If the damage poses a safety threat, for example, if part of the sukkah or schach could blow away or fall from a balcony, you should take whatever measures are necessary to secure it so that no one gets hurt.
• If the sukkah falls down, can I rebuild it on Chol HaMoed.
  • Yes. building can be done on Chol HaMoed if it is for the sake of the moed, and especially this mitzvah of the moed (SA 637:1, and Beiur Halakha, there.)

Eating in the Sukkah

• If it is very windy, but hasn’t started raining, do I still need to eat in a sukkah?
  • If you are mitztaer, in a state of discomfort as a result of the weather, you do not have to eat in a sukkah. It doesn’t matter if the reason is rain, or wind, or whatever (SA 640:4 mentions wind explicitly). A good test is: if I were experiencing these conditions in my dining room in my home, would I move to another room to eat? If the answer is yes, then you can go indoors.
• If it is raining or there are strong winds the first night, can I make kiddush immediately indoors, or should I wait, with the hope that there will be a break in the storm? If I have to wait, for how long must I do so before making kiddush indoors?
  • On the first night, and the first night only, there is a debate whether you need to eat in the sukkah even if it is raining (SA 639:5). The general practice is that we wait an hour or two to see if it lets up, and if it does, we go and eat in the sukkah as normal. If it does, we would make kiddush, without the brakha of leishev bi’sukkah, wash, eat an olive’s size worth of bread, and then go indoors and finish the meal there. Some people will do this immediately if it is raining without waiting to see if it lets up (MB 639:35).

In our case, you definitely do not have to wait, and should proceed immediately to making kiddush, without leishev, eating an olive’s worth of bread, and then continuing the meal indoors.  This is because the reasonable expectation is that the storm will continue throughout the night and even if the storm might break, the high likelihood is that the sukkah will not be habitable, as schach might be knocked down and rain may be dripping from the schach. If you are genuinely anticipating a break and the likelihood that the sukkah will be habitable, then I would wait up to an hour, but not if it means keeping guests waiting.

I should also note that, in my opinion, even those who rule that a person must eat in a sukkah on the first night regardless of rain, were only talking about cases where it was still reasonable to eat in the sukkah, if uncomfortable. If it is a major storm and genuinely intolerable to be eating in the sukkah, then I believe that this isn’t even considered “dwelling” in the sukkah, and all would permit eating indoors. If the conditions are severe, then a person could rely on this and make kiddush indoors.

• If I start eating inside and then it stops raining, do I have to go back out?
  • After the first night you definitely do not have to do so if it is a major inconvenience to move back out (SA 639:6 and MB 37). You are all the more so exempt if the schach is dripping and it is seriously unpleasant to be eating in the sukkah. However, on the first night, and it is not unpleasant to be in the sukkah, one should go into the sukkah and eat an eggs’ size worth of bread and make the brakha of leishev ba’sukkah (MB 639:36).