30 Sep TRAVELING ON SUKKOT: INSIGHTS FROM MY UPCOMING BOOK; THE TRAVELER’S GUIDE

A person is permitted
to go on outings during
Sukkot and to eat
outside the sukkah
when necessary for
refreshment or for the
sake of Shalom Bayit.
The Gemara (Sukkah 26a) teaches that travelers
(holkhei derakhim) are exempt from the
sukkah, as derived from the pasuk, “You shall
dwell in sukkot for seven days.” Our Sages
expound: “Dwell as you live.” This means that
the mitzvah of sukkah is to dwell in it as one
would in his own home. Just as a person does
not refrain throughout the year from leaving his
house for business or other needs, so too,
during the festival, the Torah did not require
one to avoid travel (Rashi).
Therefore, it would seem that going on a trip is
permitted. Indeed, this was the opinion of
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Nissim
Karelitz (Chut Shani, Sukkah p. 267), and
Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvot
VeHanhagot, vol. 6 §146).
However, several leading halachic authorities
ruled otherwise, such as Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
(Igrot Moshe, O.C. vol. 3 §93), Rabbi Shlomo
Zalman Auerbach (quoted in Sefer HaSukkah,
vol. 2 p. 905), and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
(Yechaveh Da’at, vol. 3 §47). They maintain
that the exemption for travelers applies only to
one who travels for a necessary purpose, not
for leisure or pleasure.
Even those who permit traveling note that one
should not lightly forgo such an important
mitzvah merely for the sake of a trip. Therefore,
it is proper to check in advance where a sukkah
might be available along the way.
In our times, however, many families go on
outings during Chol HaMoed. While such trips
are often for enjoyment, they frequently serve
an important need — to refresh oneself and to
spend meaningful time with one’s spouse and
children.
Indeed, circumstances have changed. In
previous generations, people found enjoyment
in remaining at home or visiting friends and
family. Today, many feel a genuine need to go
out; otherwise, family harmony may be
disrupted — children become restless, and the
wife may strongly desire to leave the house.
Likewise, a person himself often needs a break
from daily pressures.
The language of the stricter authorities is also
telling — they objected to trips taken solely for
pleasure. It follows that if a trip fulfills a
genuine need, it may be permitted. As noted in
Noam (vol. 24 p. 244), for some individuals,
travel constitutes a physical or emotional
necessity, and may even be part of fulfilling the
mitzvah of “Vesamachta bechagecha” —
rejoicing on the festival — and sometimes also
the mitzvah of shalom bayit.
Nonetheless, one must take care not to spend
the majority of the festival outside the sukkah,
lest the special days lose their meaning and
become like ordinary weekdays.
Although our Sages praised those who remain

at home during Yomtov and Chol HaMoed, one
is permitted to go on outings with his family.
Rabbi Eliezer says (Sukkah 27b): I praise the
lazy ones who do not leave their homes on the
festival, as it is written: ‘And you shall rejoice,
you and your household.’ Rashi explains:
“Even though they remain home not for the
sake of the festival but out of laziness,
nevertheless I praise them.” The Gemara
qualifies this, saying it refers only to one who
goes away and does not return that day. But if
he goes and returns the same day, it is not
lacking, since, as Rashi explains, in that case he
rejoices in the festival with his wife. From here
we learn that as long as one is with his wife and
family, there is no deficiency. Similarly, Rabbi
Yosef Shaul Nathanson (Divrei Shaul) asks
how it was that the Sages in the Haggadah were
gathered in Bnei Brak, including Rabbi Eliezer,
who made the above statement. He answers
that the reason to remain home is for the joy of
one’s wife, and on the Seder night this joy is
not diminished, for the mitzvah to recount the
Exodus from Egypt occupies the entire night,
and thus there is no neglect of marital joy. In
Maggid Meisharim it is explained that perhaps
those Sages went together with their entire
households. From all these explanations we
learn that if one goes on outings together with
his family, there is no contradiction to Rabbi
Eliezer’s praise of those who remain home.
Nevertheless, even though one may go on trips
during Chol HaMoed, he must preserve the
sanctity of the festival: wearing holiday
clothes, eating festive meals, refraining from
unworthy places, and setting aside time to
study Torah. The Yerushalmi (quoted in
Mishnah Berurah 530:2) warns: “If I had
someone to join me, I would permit work on
Chol HaMoed. Why is work prohibited? In
order that people eat, drink, and toil in Torah.
But now they eat, drink, and act frivolously.”
The Kol Bo notes that this implies that
lightheadedness is an even greater transgression
than performing labor itself, since Hashem’s
purpose in granting the festival was for us to
draw close to His reverence and devote
ourselves to His Torah.
If one is traveling and has no sukkah, he may
enter a sukkah built in the public domain, but
should not recite a blessing over it.
The Yerushalmi (Sukkah 3:1) relates that
Gamliel Zuga built a sukkah in the marketplace,
and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi asked him,
“Who permitted you to do this?”—meaning he
held it was prohibited. The Rema (Orach
Chaim 637:3) likewise rules that one should
not build a sukkah on public property.
The Magen Avraham (cited in Mishnah Berurah
637:10) wondered how some had the custom to
build sukkot in the public domain, and
suggested that even if all Jews would waive
their rights, gentiles—who also have a share in
it—certainly would not. He therefore forbade
building a sukkah in the public domain outside
of Eretz Yisrael.
However, the Shu”t Sho’el U’Meishiv (vol. 1,
siman 124) questioned this based on the fact

that in the time of Nechemiah, Jews built
sukkot in public areas (Nechemiah 8:16),
implying that all Jews waived their rights and
no gentiles lived there. The Chasam Sofer
(Sukkah 31) also wrote that when Jews are on
their own land, gentiles cannot prevent them
from fulfilling mitzvot. Rav Nissim Karelitz
(Chut Shani, Sukkah p. 223) rules that in Eretz
Yisrael, where all are obligated in sukkah, the
public cannot forbid an individual from
building in the public domain, and there is no
need to request municipal permission.
According to this reasoning, outside Eretz
Yisrael, building a sukkah in the public domain
is prohibited.
The Bikurei Yaakov (637:6) writes that it is
prohibited to block off alleyways entirely, but
slightly narrowing the street may be permitted.
If the sukkah has already been built, the Rema
rules that one fulfills his obligation in it. The
Mishnah Berurah cites a dispute whether one
may recite a blessing: some hold that even
though it is valid, one should not bless, as it
would be a berachah levatalah. Since this is a
matter of dispute and involves a doubt
concerning blessings, one should refrain from
reciting the blessing, as ruled in Or LeTzion
(vol. 4, p. 178).
One may not sit in a sukkah without the
owner’s permission.
The Rema (Orach Chaim 613:3) rules that
ideally a person should not sit in someone
else’s sukkah without their knowledge. The
Mishnah Berurah (s.k. 109) explains that the
owner might be particular about not having
others see his business or meals without his
awareness. If the owners are not home and it is
impossible to ask for permission, it is assumed
they would not object, and it is even
commendable that someone performs a
mitzvah at their expense. However, if there is a
possibility that the owner will return while one
is there, one should not enter, so the owner will
not be embarrassed eating or conducting
business in their presence.
Or LeTzion (vol. 4, p. 168) writes that if one
cannot ask for permission, entry is permitted,
provided one is careful to clean up afterward
and not stay longer than necessary—leaving
immediately after finishing one’s meal.
This leniency relies on the assumption that
most people would not mind, but this
assumption can change if it is observed that
people do in fact object.
Today it appears that most people are particular
about strangers entering their sukkah. The Kaf
HaChaim (s.k. 15) adds that if the sukkah is
furnished with cushions and fine covers, the
owners are certainly particular, and the best
practice is to request permission from the
owner or his wife before entering.
Additionally, in modern times there is concern
about entering someone else’s property without
permission due to potential legal issues, so one
should respect others’ property rights and not
enter their courtyard without consent.
A traveler can construct a sukkah using his car
and eat there as needed.

There are several ways to turn a car into a
sukkah, provided that the halachic requirements
are met. These are the options:
A. Two cars When two cars are available, they
can be parked close together so that the sides of
the cars form two walls. Since a kosher sukkah
requires three walls, one may open one of the
car doors to create a third wall. Afterwards,
sechach (the roofing) should be placed across
the top.
It is important to ensure that no wall is
suspended above a gap of three tefachim
(approximately 24 cm / 9.5 inches), as such a
wall is invalid. Because the underside of a car
is typically more than three tefachim above the
ground, one must close off that space — for
example, by placing boards or objects
underneath, or by parking next to a raised
sidewalk so that the gap is less than three
tefachim.
In addition, the height of the space beneath the
sechach must be checked: in such a setup, the
ceiling often ends up being quite low, so care
must be taken that the sechach does not descend
below ten tefachim (about 80 cm / 31.5 inches),
which would invalidate the sukkah.
B. One car When only one car is available, it
can be parked close to a wall or a fence. The car
and the fence then form two walls, and by
opening the car door, a third wall is created.
Here too, one must ensure that the space
beneath the door is not more than three
tefachim (about 24 cm), as a gap larger than
that invalidates the wall.
C. A car with front and rear doors If the car
has both a front and rear door, opening both can
form three walls — the two doors serving as
additional partitions together with the car’s
structure.
D. A car with a sunroof If the car has a
sunroof, one may open it and place sechach
over the opening. He may then sit and eat
beneath it, provided the opening is at least
seven tefachim wide and long (approximately
56 cm / 22 inches). It must also be ensured that
there is a clear space of at least ten tefachim
(about 80 cm / 31.5 inches) from the seat below
to the sechach, as this is the minimum halachic
height of a sukkah.
Even though the walls of the car are somewhat
distant from the sechach, this arrangement is
permissible based on the halachic principle of
dofen akumah (“curved wall”). According to
this rule, a non-kosher roofed section adjacent
to a wall can be considered an extension of that
wall — up to a distance of four amot
(approximately two meters) — allowing the
sechach above to remain valid.