SUCCAH AND ARTIFICIAL FRUIT

QUESTION:

Is it permissible to have artificial fruit as decorations for the Succah? The advantage of artificial fruit would be that it does not spoil quickly and can be used year after year. (Asked by Rabbi Richard A. Zionts, Shreveport, Louisiana.)

ANSWER:

OF COURSE, Succos being harvest time, it is natural to decorate the Succah with fruits which are readily available, apples, pears, etc., and in fact, this is the general and natural custom. But would it be permitted to use artificial fruits because of the advantages mentioned in the question?

The question amounts to this: Did they ever use anything but real fruit as decoration, and is real fruit actually required? What laws there are concerning the decorations generally deal with the question whether these fruits may be eaten during Succos, or are they a part of the Succah and must they remain as such until the festival is over? (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 638:2).

Nevertheless, while the obvious custom and the law about eating the decorations indicate that real fruit was used, there are some indications that other types of decoration were used. Thus, for example, in the Palestinian Talmud (Succah 51b) there is a discussion as to the height that the Succah must have, and the specific question is whether the decorations may be counted as diminishing the height or not. On that question the Talmud says that if the decorations are of the sort suitable for the Succah covering (schach), then they may be said to diminish the height of the Succah. What is meant by “suitable for the Succah covering”? It means vegetable matter, branches, etc. Then this would indicate that the decorations need not necessarily be vegetable matter at all since the Talmud asks “if it is.” As a matter of fact, Epstein in Aruch Ha-Shulchan makes this distinction quite clear. In discussing the law which forbids the eating of the decorations, he says, “If the decorations are food, i.e., edible, they may not be taken down and used during Succos” (Orach Chayim 638:10).

But we do not need to rely entirely on this negative inference. As a matter of fact, we have positive statements that non-edibles were used for Succah decorations. Maharil (14th century), speaking of the decorations of the Succah, says, “Praiseworthy is the custom of the Ashkenaz that we spread beautiful cloths (tapestries) as decorations of the Succah. ” And in fact Isserles, in his note to Orach Chayim 638:2, also speaks of the custom of decorating the Succah with hangings of handsome cloths.

Therefore, although there is no mention of artificial fruit (it may be they did not know of such), nevertheless the law is clear that they used decorations that were not edible (at least on the walls of the Succah). Therefore we may well conclude that there is no clear or real objection to the suggested use of artificial fruit.