Hosafos

Eating in the Sukkah

For the usual meal or snack, say Leisheiv Basukkah when eating more than a kebeitzah of bread or mezonos.61 First say Hamotzi or Mezonos, and then Leisheiv Basukkah. The obligatory eating on the first nights has its own rules, as below.62

If you forgot to say Leisheiv Basukkah before eating, say it when you remember (during the meal, or even afterward).63

Halachah permits a casual snack of no more than a kebeitzah of bread or mezonos outside the sukkah, as well as other foods and casual drinking.64 Settling down to drink wine or similar beverages requires a sukkah. Our minhag is to refrain even from drinking water outside the sukkah.65

If you left the sukkah for a lengthy period of time (an hour or two66), or if you had in mind to leave for a lengthy period of time (even if you then changed your mind and returned soon after), say Leisheiv Basukkah again (if eating the above amount of Hamotzi or Mezonos). However, if you had in mind to return soon after and indeed did so, do not say Leisheiv Basukkah again.67

If you entered another sukkah and will eat there the above amount of Mezonos or Hamotzi, say the berachah again. This is true even if the second sukkah is next to the first, and even if you will not need to make a new birchas hanehenin (for example, if you had in mind when making Hamotzi to switch to the other sukkah during the meal).68

In fact, even entering another sukkah to spend time there necessitates saying the berachah again.69 If you are unsure if your visit falls into this category, it is recommended to eat the above amount of Mezonos or Hamotzi so you will be able to make the berachah without questions.

On the first night of Sukkos, you must eat at least a kezayis of bread/challah in the sukkah, even if it is raining.70 During the rest of Sukkos, it is permitted to enter the house if it rains. However, it is our minhag to eat in the sukkah even when it is raining, and to say Leisheiv Basukkah as well. There were times when the Rebbe farbrenged in the sukkah in the rain.72

On the first night of Sukkos, make sure to eat in the sukkah after tzeis hakochavim and before chatzos.73

• Those who follow Minhag Chabad do not sleep in the sukkah.74

"How can one sleep in [the sukkah, which is illuminated by] the makifim of binah?!" (The Mitteler Rebbe, cited in Likkutei Sichos vol. 29, p. 211) Since Chassidim are mekushar to the Rebbeim, learn their teachings and follow their ways, they refrain from sleeping in the sukkah, just as the Rebbeim did. Additionally, deviating from the practice of the Rebbeim causes them pain, and the halachah is that if sleeping in the sukkah will cause you pain, you are exempt from doing so. (Likkutei Sichos ibid., p. 218)

Although women are exempt from eating in the sukkah, they may say Leisheiv Basukkah if they choose to eat there.75

Shaking the Lulav

A left-handed person should hold the lulav in his left hand and the esrog in his right hand.76

When giving your arba minim to someone else to use for the mitzvah, it is advised to say clearly that it is a present on condition that he/she return them (matanah al menas lehachzir).77 This is especially important on the first two days of Sukkos; this year we first take the lulav on Sunday. The other person may fulfill the mitzvah even if this was not said explicitly.78

On the first two days of Sukkos, do not give your arba minim to a child to use as a present until all the adults have used them.79

After the first two days of Sukkos, you may use someone else's arba minim without asking him first, as long as you don't take them to another location.80

It is forbidden to smell the hadassim on Sukkos. Although it is permitted to smell the esrog, it is preferable to refrain from doing so, due to the halachic question of whether a berachah is made when smelling it on Sukkos.81

Yaaleh Viyavo When Bentching

The following laws apply if you forgot to say Yaaleh Viyavo when bentching on Yom Tov or Chol Hamoed:82

If you remembered before saying Hashem's name at the end of the berachah, go back and say Yaaleh Viyavo.

If you remembered after saying Hashem's name but before beginning the berachah of Hatov Vehameitiv, say the nusach printed in the siddur or bentcher.

If you only remembered after beginning the berachah of Hatov Vehameitiv, if it is during one of the first two Yom Tov meals (the night meal or the first day meal), go back to the beginning of bentching (even if you merely said the word "Boruch"). However, on Chol Hamoed and during the third Yom Tov meal, do not go back.

• If the next weekday tefillah on Chol Hamoed has arrived, daven that tefillah twice: first for the current tefillah, then to make up the previous one. If the next tefillah is on Shabbos or Yom Tov, ask a rav about the applicable procedure.
• If you forgot to say Yaaleh Viyavo during Shacharis and you have already davened Musaf, do not repeat the Shemoneh Esrei of Shacharis.
• All the above also applies if you are unsure if you said Yaaleh Viyavo.

Yaaleh Viyavo When Davening

The following laws apply if you forgot Yaaleh Viyavo in the weekday Shemoneh Esrei on Chol Hamoed:83

If you remembered before saying Hashem's name at the end of Retzei, go back, say Yaaleh Viyavo, and continue with Visechezenah.

If you remembered after completing Retzei but before beginning the next berachah, say Yaaleh Viyavo at that spot and continue with Modim.

If you remembered after beginning Modim, go back to the beginning of Retzei.

If you remembered after saying the second Yihiyu Leratzon, go back to the beginning of Shemoneh Esrei.

Birchas Kohanim

Cover your face with a tallis. Children in the men's section should join their fathers underneath the tallis.84

Face the Kohanim and pay close attention when the Kohanim are saying the berachos1,85. Answer Amen to each of the berachos.

When the Kohanim say yevorechecha, keep your head in the center. When they say Hashem, tilt your head to the right. When they say veyishmerecha, move your head back to the center. Continue in this manner as follows: left, center, right, center, left, center, and so on, until the word shalom, when the head is in the center.86

On Sunday, when the Kohanim sing the last three words, recite Ribono Shel Olam as directed in the siddur. Say its words only during the singing, not while the Kohanim say the actual words. On Shabbos, follow the Shabbos instructions in the siddur.

When reciting Ribono Shel Olam, say its last three words—veyishmereini usechoneini vesirtzeini—as the Kohanim say the final word, shalom. Immediately answer Amen and say Adir Bamarom.87

Say Adir Bamarom while the tallis is still over your head.88

It is customary to say yasher koach to the Kohanim after the Kaddish which follows chazaras hashatz.89