Siman 643

The order of kiddush: wine, kiddush, and sukkah, and afterward zeman. And behold, the precedence of sukkah to zeman: it is established for us to say in the Gemara (56a) that sukkah and afterward zeman, even according to the law of the Baraita (46a) that one says these two blessings at the time he enters to sit in the sukkah, and not at the time of kiddush. And the reason: even though zeman is frequent relative to sukkah, nevertheless sukkah, which is the obligation of the day, is preferable to frequent (Gemara). And all the more so for us, as we arrange the blessings over the cup of kiddush, for there is another reason to precede sukkah to zeman, as the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch wrote: because the zeman refers back to the kiddush of the day and to the mitzvah of sukkah. That is to say: for one must bless "shehecheyanu" over the festival and over the sukkah, for us who do not bless at the time of making. And if so, it follows that one should bless "shehecheyanu" at the end, so that it applies to both of them. And behold, for this reason some say that on the second night zeman and afterward sukkah, as I will write in siman 661. And according to this, also on the first night, if the sukkah was already made and standing—one blesses zeman and afterward sukkah (Bach and Magen Avraham). Because then he does not need zeman for the sukkah, the first night is like the second night. However, regarding this law itself of the second night—there is much to investigate, and there it will be explained with the help of Heaven.

From the essential law of the Gemara, one who enters to sit in the sukkah recites the blessing "to sit in the sukkah." If so, even on the other days one should recite the blessing "to sit in the sukkah" before the blessing of "Hamotzi." And even according to what we hold like the approach of our teacher Tam, that the essence of the mitzvah is the eating, and therefore we only recite the blessing before the meal, as I wrote at the end of siman 639, nevertheless, since this is before the eating—one must recite the blessing upon it immediately (Beit Yosef). This is the opinion of the Maharam, the teacher of the Rosh. Nevertheless, the Rosh wrote that the world does not practice this way, but rather they recite the blessing over the sukkah after the blessing of "Hamotzi" before he tastes, to indicate that the obligation is only upon the eating. This is not an interruption between Hamotzi and the eating since it is a necessity of the meal, just as Kiddush is not an interruption. This is on Chol HaMoed, but on Shabbat and Yom Tov we recite the blessing after Kiddush. And if one is permitted to recite Kiddush in the house and eat in the sukkah—it was explained above in siman 273.

But the Rambam in chapter six, law 12, wrote: Whenever one enters to sit in the sukkah all seven days—he blesses before he sits: "Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to sit in the sukkah" … It follows that he sanctifies while standing, and blesses "to sit in the sukkah," and sits, and afterward blesses over the time. And such was the custom of my teachers and the rabbis of Spain, to sanctify while standing on the first night of Sukkot, as we have explained. Thus far his words, for he holds that "in sukkot you shall dwell [tishvu]"—is literal sitting, and since one must bless prior to their performance—it follows that he sanctifies while standing, and afterward sits, after the blessing "to sit in the sukkah." And the Rosh raised a difficulty against him, for certainly the expression "tishvu" is not literal sitting, for would one say that when he eats while standing—he would not be obligated to bless? Rather, "tishvu" is an expression of staying, as in "And you stayed [vateshvu] in Kadesh many days," and therefore even on the first night they sanctify while sitting, and bless "to sit in the sukkah" while sitting, and so too on all the days. And this is also "prior to their performance" before the eating. And such is the custom of the world like the Rosh. However, even the Rambam: it is obvious that he did not interpret it as literal "sitting," but rather to say: that through literal sitting it is recognizable that he is fulfilling the mitzvah. For as long as he is standing—he is ready to leave, which is not the case when he sits—the fixed nature is recognizable. And therefore one must bless before this (Taz, subsection 2). And our custom is like the Rosh. (See Sha'arei Teshuva in the name of Devar Shmuel, that on the other days when there is kiddush—he should not bless "to sit in the sukkah" at the time of kiddush, but rather at the time of "Hamotzi." And his words are astonishing, and one should not do so. And thus our fathers and our teachers practiced, to bless after kiddush, and one should not change.)