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THE OBLIGATION OF DWELLING IN
THE SUKKAH ON THE FIRST NIGHT

Although as we have seen, the mitzvah of sukkah applies for all seven days of Sukkot, there is a difference between the
obligation of the first night, which is more stringent, and that of the rest of the holiday. The Gemara below explains the
unique stringency of the first night as follows: one is obligated to eat a k’zayit of bread (in the sukkah), while during the
remaining days, eating bread is voluntary.

א דומע זכ ףד הכוס תכסמ ילבב דומלת 8 .
םימכחו .הלילב תחאו םויב תחא ,הכוסב לוכאל םדא בייח תודועס הרשע עברא :רמוא רזעילא יבר .הנשמ
...דבלב גח לש ןושאר בוט םוי ילילמ ץוח ,הבצק רבדל ןיא :םירמוא
םויב תחא - הכוס ףא ,הלילב תחאו םויב תחא - הריד המ ,ורודת ןיעכ ובשת ?רזעילא יברד אמעט יאמ .ארמג
אל יעב יא ליכא יעב יא - ימנ הכוס ףא ,ליכא אל יעב יא ליכא יעב יא - הריד המ ,הרידכ :ןנברו - .הלילב תחאו
השמח ןאכ רמאנ :קדצוהי ןב ןועמש יבר םושמ ןנחוי יבר רמא - !ימנ ןושאר בוט םוי יליל וליפא ,יכה יא - .ליכא
ןושארה הליל - ןאכ ףא ,תושר ךליאו ןאכמ ,הבוח ןושארה הליל - ןלהל המ ,תוצמה גחב רשע השמח רמאנו רשע
.הבוח ועבק בותכה - תצמ ולכאת ברעב ארק רמא - ?ןלנמ םתהו - תושר ךליאו ןאכמ ,הבוח
Masechet Sukkah 27a
MISHNA: Rabbi Eliezer says: A person is obligated to eat fourteen meals in the sukkah over the course of the
seven days of the festival of Sukkot, one during the day each day and one at night each night. And the Rabbis say:
There is no quota for the number of meals, and one may choose whether or not to eat any of the meals except for
the meal on the evening of the first Festival day of Sukkot, which one is required to eat in the sukkah...
GEMARA: What is the rationale of Rabbi Eliezer? The Torah states, “shall you reside” (Vayikra 23:42), meaning
reside as you dwell in your permanent home. Therefore, just as in one’s dwelling one typically eats one meal
during the day and one meal at night, so too, in a sukkah one eats one meal during the day and one meal at night.
And how do the Rabbis interpret that verse? Like a permanent dwelling. Just as in one’s dwelling, if one desires
he eats, and if one does not desire he does not eat, so too, in the sukkah, if one desires, he eats, and if one does
not desire, he does not eat.
If so this should be true even on the first Festival evening as well?

Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak: It is stated here, with regard to Sukkot: “On
the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Festival of Sukkot for seven days unto the Lord” (Vayikra 23:34).
And it is stated: “And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Festival of Matzot unto the Lord” (Vayikra
23:6) with regard to the festival of Passover. Just as there, with regard to Passover, on the first night there is an
obligation to eat matzah and from that point onward it is optional, so too here, with regard to Sukkot, on the first
night there is an obligation to eat in the sukkah and from that point onward it is optional.
The Gemara asks: And there, with regard to Passover, from where do we derive that there is an obligation to
eat matzah on the first night? The verse says: “In the evening you shall eat matzot” (Shemot 12:18). The verse
established it as an obligation.

102 · Hilchot Sukkah Tzurba M’Rabanan