Eating a Meal vs. a Snack [Keva vs. Arai]
16. Living in the sukkah. The mitzvah of sukkah is that one should eat, drink, and live in the sukkah all seven days, both by day and by night, the same way one lives in his house during the rest of the year. All seven days, one should make his house secondary and his sukkah his main residence (שו''ע סי' תרל''ט ס''א).
17. Only meals must be eaten in the sukkah; strictly speaking, snacks may be eaten outside the sukkah (שו''ע שם ס''ב ). Snacks are not significant enough to require eating in the sukkah since even when one lives in his house, it is common to eat snacks outside the house (מ''ב סקי''ב ). We will list several things that are considered snacks.
18. Personally being machmir. If one is personally machmir not to even drink water outside the sukkah, that is praiseworthy (שו''ע שם ). The same goes for less than the required amount of bread (מ''ב סקי''ד ) as well as other foods that, strictly speaking, may be eaten outside the sukkah, as will be explained (א''ר ). Some say that the reason for this chumra is to make sure one will not end up eating a meal outside the sukkah (שו''ת שואל ומשיב רביעאה ח''ג סי' י''א ). Most poskim hold that the reason is that doing this fulfills the mitzvah of sukkah in the best way, just Chazal did not make this mandatory (הגרי''ז הלוי, קונטרס הביאורים סוכה סי' י''ז, שנות אליהו הובא בביאה''ל סי' רל''ב ס''ב ד''ה ואם ).
Bread
19. Up to a kebeitzah of bread is considered a snack and may, strictly speaking, be eaten outside the sukkah. This is about 40-50 grams in modern-day terms. More than this should not be eaten outside the sukkah. To say the brachah of Leisheiv Basukkah when eating bread, one must eat more than two modern-day kebeitzim – about 90-100 grams (שיעורין של תורה שיעורי המצוות אות כ''א וכ''ז ).
20. Longer than kedei achilas pras. The poskim argue whether one may eat more than a kebeitzah of bread outside the sukkah if he takes longer than kedei achilas pras to eat it. Some say that as long as one makes sure to take longer than kedei achilas pras, e.g., a kebeitzah spread over ten minutes, it is considered a snack that may be eaten outside the sukkah (בכורי יעקב סקי''ג, שיעורי תורה סי' ג' סקי''ט ).
21. Others say that taking longer than kedei achilas pras does not allow it to be eaten outside the sukkah since one does not eat such a quantity of bread outside his house even if he will take longer than kedei achilas pras to eat it (חכמה שלמה ס''ז, מקראי קודש סוכות ח''א סי' ל''א ). These poskim also hold that when one eats an amount of food that requires the brachah of Leisheiv, he may say the brachah even if it takes him longer than kedei achilas pras (חכמת שלמה שם, חוט שני סוכות עמ' רמ''ה ). On the first night of Sukkos though, one must eat the first kezayis within kedei achilas pras (מ''ב תרל''ט סקכ''ב ) – two minutes lechumra (שיעורין של תורה ).
Mezonos
22. Cooked mezonos. Cooked foods made from the five grains, e.g., pasta, couscous, lokshen kugel, and the like, must be eaten in the sukkah when eaten as a meal (שו''ע שם ס''ב ), i.e., when eaten with a group of people or in a quantity significant enough to be considered a meal (מ''ב סקט''ו ) – three or four kebeitzim (שו''ע סי' ר ס''ח ס''ג ומ''ב שם סקי''ב ). Some are machmir and consider these foods like bread; accordingly, more than a kebeitzah must be eaten in the sukkah (מג''א ). Therefore, one should be machmir not to eat more than a kebeitzah outside the sukkah, but Leisheiv should only be said when the cooked mezonos is eaten as a meal, as stated above (מ''ב שם ).
Pas Haba Bekisnin
23. Snack. Strictly speaking, pas haba bekisnin eaten as a snack, e.g., less than a kebeitzah of cake or cookies, does not need to be eaten in the sukkah, while more than a kebeitzah does. But since this is a machlokes between the poskim, even after eating more than a kebeitzah, one should stay in the sukkah for some time afterward to be able to say Leisheiv, having in mind both the eating and the time spent which was done as “an act of dwelling” (מ''ב סקט''ז ). Even in this scenario, one should first say Mezonos and then Leisheiv (חוט שני סוכות עמ' ר''נ ).
24. Kiddush, breakfast. When eating pas haba bekisnin as a substitute for breakfast or at Kiddush on Shabbos or Yom Tov, more than a kebeitzah should not be eaten outside the sukkah whatsoever. Also, one may say Leisheiv even if he will not stay in the sukkah after eating since his circumstances render the food a meal (מ''ב שם ).
Fruits
25. Strictly speaking, fruits may be eaten outside the sukkah (שו''ע שם ) even if they are eaten as a meal (רמ''א שם ) since eating even a large quantity of fruits as a meal is like eating a bit of bread as a snack (מ''ב שם ). Therefore, even if one eats a lot and stays in the sukkah afterward, he should not say Leisheiv.
26. Shivas haminim. Strictly speaking, even fruits from the shivas haminim, e.g., pomegranates or grapes, do not need to be eaten in the sukkah. Thus, even when they are eaten as a meal, one should not say Leisheiv. Even dates, which are nourishing (גמ' ברכות דף י''ב ע''א ), do not effect a chiyuv sukkah.
Meat, Cheese, Eggs, Vegetables
27. Some say that strictly speaking, meat, cheese, eggs, rice, vegetables, and the like may be eaten outside the sukkah since even in large quantities, they are not a meal in the same way that bread is (שו''ע שם ומ''ב סקי''ג ). Others say that when eaten as a meal, they must be eaten in the sukkah (מ''ב סקט''ו ), especially nowadays when most people eat entire main meals without bread (תשובות והנהגות ח''א סי' שע''א ). Still, since they aren’t bread, one should not say Leisheiv.
Wine
28. Arai. Drinking wine is also considered aria. Thus, strictly speaking one may drink wine outside the sukkah (שו''ע שם ), even in a keva type of way (רמ''א ומ''ב שם ).
29. Keva. Some poskim hold that if one drinks wine in a keva manner, i.e., with a group of people or in a large quantity, he must drink in the sukkah. However, many poskim hold that one should not say Leisheiv (מ''ב סקי''ג ); some poskim hold that one should say Leisheiv. Therefore, it is best to drink the wine along with some mezonos or during a meal (מ''ב שם ). The same is true for other prominent beverages that are drunk in a keva manner.
30. Havdalah. One should say Havdalah on a cup of wine in the sukkah since all year it is done in the house, and one must live in the sukkah the way he lives in his house (מ''ב סי' תרל''ט סק''ל ). Since Leisheiv is not usually said on wine alone, some poskim hold that it shouldn’t be said at Havdalah. Others hold that Leisheiv is said at Havdalah on a cup of wine (לוח א''י ) since people do not say Havdalah outside and, accordingly, Havdalah is inherently keva (הגרשז''א, שש''כ פנ''ח הע' ק''ג ). Still, the minhag is to eat some mezonos right after Havdalah and stay in the sukkah for a bit in order to satisfy all opinions (הגרשז''א ).
31. Bris in a beis medrash. When a bris is held in a beis medrash, one may say the brachah and drink the cup of wine outside the sukkah since strictly speaking, wine does not need to be drunk in the sukkah (above, 28). Still, it is best to drink less than a revi’is so it is not considered keva. It is not necessary to drink a revi’is of wine at a bris since it is not a halachah from the Gemara (הגרשז''א, שו''ת מנחת שלמה ח''ב סי' נ''ח אות ל''ט ).
Water, Other Drinks
32. Strictly speaking, one may drink water or other drinks outside the sukkah, even in large quantities (שו''ע שם ). Nevertheless, if one is machmir to drink even water in the sukkah – and certainly everything else we discussed – that is praiseworthy (as mentioned above, 18).
The Brachah of Leisheiv Basukkah
Enactment of the Brachah
33. Entering the sukkah. Some Rishonim say that one should say Leisheiv every time he enters the sukkah, whether he goes there to eat, sit, or sleep (הרי''ף כ''ב ע''א, רמב''ם פ''ו הי''ב ).
34. Eating. Others say that one should only say Leisheiv before eating – the main form of dwelling in the sukkah – and that covers sleeping and all other times he enters, which are secondary to eating (ר''ת הובא בתוס' ברכות י''א : ד''ה שכבר ). This is the prevalent minhag (מג''א תרל''ט סקי''ז ): to say the brachah only when eating a meal, as explained above.
35. Eating before sitting in the sukkah. Some say that it is advisable to satisfy all opinions. In other words, when one plans to stay in the sukkah for some time, he should eat more than a kebeitzah of mezonos and say Leisheiv right when he enters the sukkah, even if he is going to eat a meal later, and then he should not say Leisheiv again before his meal (מ''ב סי' תרל''ט סקמ''ו ). However, it should be pointed out that this is a good practice, but one should not refrain from sitting in the sukkah if he doesn’t have or is not in the mood to eat mezonos food.
36. Eating before sleeping. Similarly, it is good to eat something that requires a Leisheiv before going to sleep so that the mitzvah of sleeping in the sukkah, which extends over a long time, is preceded by a brachah (תוס' ר' יהודה החסיד ברכות שם, רא''ש סוכה פ''ד סי' ג' ).
Visiting a Friend’s Sukkah During a Meal
37. Planned. If one had in mind when he said Leisheiv that he would be leaving his sukkah during the meal and continuing in his friend’s sukkah, he should not say a new brachah before continuing the meal at his friend’s sukkah (מ''ב שם סקמ''ח ). If someone regularly goes to his rebbe’s tish, it is considered as if he had that in mind, and he should not say the brachah there.
38. Unplanned. If he was not originally planning to go, the poskim argue whether he should say Leisheiv again (מ''ב שם ובשעה''צ ). Due to the rule of “safeik brachos lehakeil,” he should not say it again.
