Is it permissable to partially or fully erect a sukkah before Yom Kippur has ended?

ZachZ

From Aish, which I would consider authoritative:

Building A Sukkah - Advanced

1. When should one begin building the Sukkah?

According to most opinions, one should begin on at the departure of Yom Kippur in order to go immediately from one mitzvah to another. If this is not possible, one should begin the following morning. If this will not leave him sufficient time to complete the Sukkah, one may begin to build before Yom Kippur, but he should not place the s'chach until after Yom Kippur. According to some opinions, one should begin to build the Sukkah before Yom Kippur, as an added merit.

2. When should one finish the construction?

Ideally, the Sukkah should be completed on the day after Yom Kippur. However, if by doing so, the Sukkah will not be built properly and sturdily, he should devote more time to erect a better and more beautiful Sukkah.

3. May one build the Sukkah on erev Shabbat or erev Yom Tov?

Yes, but one must stop building at halachic midday. According to some opinions, one may continue to build until mincha ketanah (two-and-a-half halachic hours before sunset).

ETWolverine

Hello David.

Are you talking about partially building it BEFORE Yom Kippur or ON Yom Kippur?

Although it seems obvious to me, there are those who may not know that it is not permissable to build a Sukkah on Yom Kippur itself due to the fact that it would violate the melacha (sabbatical work prohibition) of "binyan" (building).

However, it is fully permissable to build a Sukkah BEFORE Yom Kippur, either fully or partially.

The "requirement" to build a Sukkah between Yom Kippur and Sukkot is not a requirement at all, but rather a tradition stemming from the idea of beginning the new, post-forgiveness phase of the year on a high note with the completion of a big mitzvah like sukkah. It is a "hiddur" (beutification of the mitzvah) rather than a halachic requirement.

However if time constraints make it impossible to do so, there is no reason that the sukkah can't be built BEFORE Yom Kippur, either in part or in full.

What I have most often seen is people put up the entire sukkah before Yom Kippur, except for the schach. Since the shcach usually takes very little time to put up, they leave that as the last item to be done after Yom Kippur.

As long as the sukkah is up BEFORE the yom tov begins, and as long as you didn't violate shabbat or yom tov in the building of the sukkah, you can pretty much do it any time you'd like.

Hope this helps.

Elliot

ZachZ

That's exactly what I prefer to do if I can...


I really don't know anybody who tries to put it up IMMEDIATELY on the departure of Yom Kippur, that evening when Yom Kippur ends, you are still weak from the fast! When would you do it? In the short period between when you break the fast and go to bed, in the dark? I guess if you have a 'pop-up sukkah' it wouldn't be an issue... but I like to build mine with actual 2x4s screwed together, with canvas stapled to the beams. So it takes me an hour or two to get it up, and then getting it 'furnished' and spruced up for guests takes some time after that.

ETWolverine

Actually, one year, when I was young and stupid, I did put up our sukkah on motzei yom kippur. It was a canvas one so it wasn't too hard. But it was still more than I ever want to repeat again right after a fast.

We learn from experience.

These days I generally put up the sukkah between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, with the exception of the schach, as described above.

Elliot