First Day of Sukkot (Tuesday)
The Mitzvah of V’Samachta B’Chagecha requires one to celebrate Chag with his family. As such, one should not overly prolong the time he spends at any communal Kiddush.
Chol Hamoed
During Chol Hamoed, one should take part in Simchat Beit Hashoeva celebrations. These should be enhanced with music.
During Chol Hamoed, one replaces the Hadassim and Aravot as necessary.
One should be aware of the state of his Aravot. If most leaves fall off the top three Tefachim (24cm), the Aravah needs to be replaced. [It often happens that the leaves have already fallen off and are just being held in place by the Lulav rings.] A leaf is considered intact even if only its majority is intact.
The Aravot are still acceptable if the leaves have turned a darker color.
When new Aravot are necessary, they should not be inserted into the Lulav without loosening the rings first, as this will likely cause the Aravah leaves to become detached.
On Chol Hamoed:
- One wears Shabbat clothing.
- One washes for bread, eats meat and drinks a cup of wine every day.
- One allocates more time for learning.
Many activities are prohibited during Chol Hamoed, including (but not limited to) business activity, trade, moving homes, gardening, sewing, laundering (unless for children who soil their clothing frequently, but only as required), preparing food for after Chag, cutting nails (unless it was done on Erev Sukkot as well) and taking haircuts and shaving. One may not instruct a non-Jew to perform these activities either.
For the sake of Chol Hamoed, one may professionally repair any item which is directly involved in food preparation (e.g. oven or fridge), or which provides direct benefit to the body (e.g. the plumbing, electricity or air-conditioning), provided that it wasn’t practical to fix prior to Chag (e.g. it broke on Chag).
One should avoid writing. If it cannot be deferred until after Chol Hamoed, one should write with a Shinui. However, calligraphy and artistic drawing or painting is prohibited.
If an employee’s job involves activities that are not performed on Chol Hamoed, he should arrange to take leave, unless his absence will jeopardize his employment.
Routine medical exams that can easily wait should not be scheduled for Chol Hamoed.
