THE TWIN BRIEF

Shabbat Edition · Shabbat + Sukkot I · Fri Sep 25 / Sat Sep 26, 2026 · 14–15 Tishrei 5787

Combined Shabbat + Sukkot day 1 edition for Bronx/NYC. Reading, stories, a longer Dvar, practical Sephardi halacha, and full zmanim. About a 10–12 minute read. Illustrated. Open the printable version →

Yom Tov Reading

No weekly parasha — Sukkot day 1 on Shabbat

This Shabbat is Sukkot day 1, so there is no weekly parasha. We read the Yom Tov reading:

Sunday (Sukkot day 2) has the same Torah reading, with the haftarah from I Kings 8:2–21. Because it is Shabbat, Sephardim do not say Hoshanot on Saturday.

Teen summary: The Torah walks through the whole Jewish calendar and tells us to dwell in sukkot for seven days, so we remember that Hashem sheltered us in the desert.

Parasha / Chag Stories

Three midrashim for teens

1. Why a sukkah? Clouds of Glory

In Sukkah 11b, Rabbi Eliezer says the sukkah recalls the Clouds of Glory that protected Israel in the desert. Rabbi Akiva says it recalls actual huts. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 625) follows the Clouds of Glory view — so sitting in the sukkah is sitting in Hashem’s protection, not just camping outdoors.

2. The four kinds — everyone belongs in the bundle

Vayikra Rabbah 30:12 compares the arba minim to four kinds of Jews: the etrog has taste and smell (Torah and good deeds), the lulav has taste only, the hadas smell only, and the aravah neither. “Bind them all together, and they atone for each other.” The point for teens: every Jew belongs in the bundle — including the friend who is still figuring things out.

3. Ushpizin — exalted guests

The Zohar (Emor 103b) teaches that seven exalted guests, starting with Avraham, visit the sukkah each night. We honor them by hosting people in need — making the booth a place of welcome, not just a photo spot.

Dvar Torah

From Yom Kippur into the sukkah

This week goes straight from Yom Kippur to Sukkot — from the holiest day spent in shul to the most down-to-earth mitzvah: eating, talking, and sleeping in a hut.

The Ben Ish Chai (Haazinu 1:1), following the Shulchan Aruch, says to start building the sukkah on the night Yom Kippur ends, to “go from one mitzvah into the next.”

The message: the closeness reached on Yom Kippur is not meant to stay in shul. It moves into ordinary life — into our meals, our conversations, and our family time under the schach.

Teen takeaway: leaving sturdy walls for a temporary booth is the point. Joy in the sukkah is itself the mitzvah — put the phone down, sit, talk, and let the protection of Hashem feel real.

Source: Ben Ish Chai, Haazinu 1:1 (following SA) — teen reference, not a personal ruling.

Comic: leave sturdy walls, sit in the sukkah, joy is the mitzvah
Dvar comic — from solid walls into the booth

Practical Halacha · Sephardi / SA / Yalkut Yosef

Tonight’s checklist

Visual checklist: candles, Kiddush order, no lulav Saturday, second night after 7:26
Quick visual — candles, Kiddush order, no lulav Sat, second night timing
  1. Candles Fri 6:29 PM for Shabbat and Yom Tov together. Blessing: l’hadlik ner shel Shabbat v’shel Yom Tov. Sephardim say Shehecheyanu at Kiddush, not at candle lighting.
  2. No eruv tavshilin needed this year (Yom Tov is Sat and Sun; Monday is chol hamoed).
  3. No arba minim on Saturday (SA OC 658:2). First taking is Sunday, with Shehecheyanu (SA 662:2).
  4. Friday-night Kiddush in the sukkah: Kiddush, then leishev ba-sukkah, then Shehecheyanu (SA 643). On the first night, eating at least a kezayit of bread in the sukkah is an obligation.
  5. No cooking or preparing on Shabbat for Sunday. On Sunday you may cook for Sunday’s needs from an existing flame, but not for Monday.
  6. Second night: nothing lit or prepared before nightfall at 7:26 PM. Light only from an existing flame, after Arvit with Vatodieinu or “Baruch hamavdil bein kodesh l’kodesh.” Kiddush that night uses Yaknehaz: wine, Kiddush, candle blessing, Havdalah, then leishev ba-sukkah and Shehecheyanu.
  7. Rain hard enough to spoil the food exempts you from the sukkah. On the first night many wait a while and then make Kiddush and eat a kezayit in the sukkah (SA 639).
  8. Simchat Yom Tov is a mitzvah, including making your family happy (SA OC 529 / Yalkut Yosef).

Teen reference only — not personal psak. Ask a rav for your household.

Zmanim · Bronx NY 10471 · ET

Full weekend times

Fri Sep 25 · Erev Sukkot

  • Candle lighting: 6:29 PM
  • Sunset: 6:48 PM

Sat Sep 26 · Shabbat / Sukkot I

  • Latest Shema: 9:11 AM (MGA, 72-min; 16.1° gives 9:06 AM) or 9:47 AM (GRA)
  • Latest Tefillah: 10:23 AM (MGA) or 10:47 AM (GRA)
  • Chatzot: 12:47 PM
  • Mincha gedola: 1:16 PM
  • Plag hamincha: 5:31 PM
  • Sunset: 6:46 PM
  • Second-night candle lighting & preparation not before 7:26 PM, from an existing flame

Sun Sep 27 · Sukkot II

  • Chatzot: 12:46 PM
  • Sunset: 6:44 PM
  • Yom Tov ends (Havdalah): 7:25 PM (Hebcal, 8.5°). Some wait until 7:34 PM (50 min after sunset) or 7:56 PM (72 min).

Coming up

  • Shmini Atzeret candles Fri Oct 2 at 6:17 PM
  • Simchat Torah ends Sun Oct 4 at 7:13 PM

Times: Hebcal Bronx 10471. Do not invent other times. Confirm with your community custom for Havdalah.

Illustration

Under the Clouds of Glory

Family sitting in a sukkah under stars with a warm Clouds of Glory glow
Scene — sukkah under the stars, Clouds of Glory vibe

Closing Comic

Rain, kezayit, and wait-for-Sunday minim

Comic: rain over the sukkah, first-night kezayit, arba minim wait until Sunday
Clean humor — rain vs first-night kezayit; arba minim wait until Sunday

Prefer paper? Print this edition (letter size, B&W-friendly)