Can You Eat or Drink Outside the Sukkah? 2 Halachot to Know

With Sukkot underway and Hoshana Rabbah approaching, there are still important practical halachot to keep in mind. When are you required to eat in the sukkah, and can you step outside for a quick drink in the middle of a meal? Here are two practical halachot for the holiday, followed by a look at one of the most distinctive customs of Hoshana Rabbah.

2 Halachot a Day

Two daily halachot from BeHalacha UveAggadah, based on the rulings of Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, z”l.

When Are You Required to Eat in the Sukkah?

Throughout the seven days of Sukkot, eating a meal with bread in the sukkah is itself a fulfillment of the mitzvah.

During Sukkot, one may not eat a regular bread meal outside the sukkah. This applies when eating an egg-sized amount of bread, approximately 54 grams. If you eat less than this amount of bread, even together with foods such as rice or meat, you may eat outside the sukkah. If you choose to be stringent and eat in the sukkah, you should not recite the blessing of leishev basukkah. Similarly, a young child should not be given more than an egg-sized amount of bread to eat outside the sukkah.

The rules are slightly different for foods made from the five grains. Someone who eats an egg-sized amount or more of cake or a cooked grain-based dish, such as noodles, cigars, or kubbeh, must eat it in the sukkah. However, the blessing of leishev basukkah is not recited unless one eats an amount equivalent to three eggs, approximately 162 grams.

Fruit, vegetables, rice, meat, and other foods that are not made from the five grains may be eaten outside the sukkah. The same applies to drinks such as tea, coffee, and even wine.

Can You Eat or Drink Outside During a Sukkah Meal?

Once you are in the middle of a regular meal in the sukkah, however, the rules change. Anything you eat or drink during that meal is considered part of the meal and should therefore remain inside the sukkah.

So if you step into the kitchen in the middle of your meal, be careful not to taste something while you are there, even a sip of water. Similarly, do not walk out of the sukkah while you still have food in your mouth. Finish eating first, and then leave.

Today’s Concept: Beating the Aravah

Each day of Sukkot, special prayers known as Hoshanot are recited. Their name comes from the plea Hosha na, “Please save,” and the prayers include requests for salvation, beneficial rain, livelihood, and a good year.

On Hoshana Rabbah, the Hoshanot service is expanded, with additional prayers recited in a special atmosphere of seeking Divine mercy.

After the Hoshanot, the Four Species are set aside and five willow branches are taken and struck against the ground five times. This ancient practice is described by the Gemara as a “custom of the prophets” (Sukkah 44b). Because beating the aravah is a custom rather than a mitzvah accompanied by its own blessing, no blessing is recited beforehand.

Afterward, since the willow branches were used for a mitzvah-related custom, they should not be treated disrespectfully. They can be placed somewhere they will not be stepped on or wrapped carefully before being discarded.

Some people also keep the beaten willow branches as a segulah for protection and blessing. Customs involving the aravah after Hoshana Rabbah are recorded in works of Jewish sages, including Moed LeKol Chai by Rabbi Chaim Palagi.