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Study and Theory/
Sukkot

Building the Sukkah

The Bible describes only one instance in which the Children of Israel built Sukkot, and this occurred at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile. in Nehemiah chapter 8, the events that took place in the fifth century BCE, when the Jews had attempted to resettle the land of their forefathers, described as follows:

"And they brought forth an announcement throughout their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, 'Go out to the mountain and bring me olive trees and leaves of oil and leaves of myrtle and palm leaves and boughs of leafy trees to make sukkot as it is written. And the people went out and built their sukkot, each on their roof tops and in their yards..."

It seems like in those days, the custom was to build a sukkah with materials of the four species. Later rabbinic traditions altered the rules and established the principles of building the sukkah:

The walls should be made of temporary materials - wood, sticks and cloth - are preferable to brick or concrete.

Three walls – are enough.

The most important part is: What goes above?

The sechach can only be made out of branches - which are no longer connected to the ground. Make sure the sukkah is under the open air, not under a roof or the apple tree of your neighbor. There should be enough sechach to give shade, but not too much, so as not to completely block out the sight of the sky.

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