First Night of Sukkot: How Much Bread Must You Eat in the Sukkah?

The first night of Sukkot comes with several important halachot, from how much bread we should eat in the sukkah to the order of the blessings during Kiddush. Here are two practical halachot to know before the holiday begins.

How Much Bread Are You Required to Eat in the Sukkah?

It is a Torah commandment to eat a kezayit of bread, approximately 27 grams, in the sukkah on the first night of Yom Tov. Ideally, however, one should eat slightly more than an egg-sized portion, approximately 60 grams.

Ideally, each kezayit of bread should be eaten within approximately four minutes. An egg-sized portion should therefore be eaten within approximately eight minutes. In any case, one should not take longer than seven and a half minutes to eat each kezayit.

If someone is unable to eat an egg-sized portion of bread on the first night of the holiday, they should eat at least a kezayit and recite leishev basukkah.

When washing their hands before the meal, however, they should not recite al netilat yadayim if they will be eating only a kezayit, since the blessing over washing the hands is recited only when eating an egg-sized portion of bread.

What Blessings Are Recited During Kiddush in the Sukkah?

Kiddush is recited over wine in the sukkah with four blessings:

Borei pri hagafen, mekadesh Yisrael vehazmanim, leishev basukkah, and shehecheyanu.

One should not recite shehecheyanu when lighting the candles, since this blessing is recited during Kiddush on the night of Yom Tov. If a woman does recite shehecheyanu at candle lighting, she should not answer amen to the shehecheyanu blessing recited during Kiddush.

If someone forgot to recite shehecheyanu, they may still recite it at any point throughout the seven days of the holiday.

Sephardic women should be reminded not to answer amen to the leishev basukkah blessing recited by the person making Kiddush, since women are exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah. Ashkenazic women, however, may answer amen.

Kiddush is recited while standing. At the conclusion of the leishev basukkah blessing, one sits down, recites shehecheyanu while seated, and then drinks the wine.

Today’s Jewish Concept: Ushpizin

The Aramaic word ushpizin means “guests.”

According to Kabbalah, during Sukkot, the Seven Shepherds, seven of the great figures of the Jewish people, come as spiritual guests to the sukkot of the Jewish people. Each day is associated with one primary ushpiz, who is joined by the other six.

It is customary to invite the ushpizin into the sukkah with a special text recited during the meal.

The order of the ushpizin differs according to community custom.

According to the Ashkenazic custom, based on the Zohar, the order is:

Abraham on the first day, Isaac on the second, Jacob on the third, Joseph on the fourth, Moses on the fifth, Aaron on the sixth, and David on the seventh.

According to Sephardic and Hasidic custom, based on the structure of the sefirot and the teachings of the Ari, the order is:

Abraham on the first day, Isaac on the second, Jacob on the third, Moses on the fourth, Aaron on the fifth, Joseph on the sixth, and David on the seventh.

During Sukkot, some people invite poor or needy guests to eat in the sukkah in honor of the ushpizin. Some also leave an empty chair for that day’s ushpiz.

There are also those who invite an eighth ushpiz on Shemini Atzeret: King Solomon.