Rav Meir Mazuz, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Kisei Rachamim, addressed the issue of rodents that have been causing problems in the city of Bnei Brak and how it impacts the observance of the mitzvah of sukkah.
Rav Mazuz pointed out that individuals whose sukkahs are run over by rodents are exempt from sleeping in them.
He emphasized the unique problem faced in Bnei Brak, where mice have become a rampant plague this year, making it practically impossible to sit inside a sukkah peacefully.
He quoted a Gemara and said, “Mice can harm someone who is sleeping. Imagine sleeping in a sukkah while mice come and bite you – that doesn’t constitute a proper sukkah experience. Such a situation is untenable.”
Nevertheless, Rav Mazuz made it clear that while one may be excused from sleeping in the sukkah due to this issue, they are still obligated to make Kiddush and eat seudos in it.
This distinction, he emphasized, applies specifically to Bnei Brak, where the problem has reached a distubring scale, and sukkahs located in low areas prone to mice infestation fall under this exemption.
Last month, Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, posek in Bnei Brak, issued a psak asserting that if the city did not manage to rid itself of the mouse infestation by the time Sukkos arrived, people would be unable to fulfill the mitzvah of dwelling in a sukkah in locations like ground-floor areas, streets, courtyards, or any place accessible to mice.
He cited the halacha to explain, “If someone constructs a sukkah in a place infested with wild animals or any other reason that would cause people to fear sitting there – even if the individual building the sukkah is not afraid – the fact that most people cannot sit in such a place means they have not fulfilled the sukkah obligation.”
Rav Stern clarified that, regarding the first day of Sukkos, if there is no other alternative, it would be permissible to use such a sukkah.
The city of Bnei Brak has grappled with a persistent issue of mice and rats for several months. In June, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was hospitalized after being bitten by a rat. The child’s mother, alerted by her cries during the night, found her daughter bleeding from multiple rat bites. The child received medical care at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center, where healthcare personnel confirmed that the injuries were the result of rat bites.
In April, a toddler was also bitten by a rat in a Bnei Brak childcare facility. Parents at the nursery reported making several unsuccessful attempts to inform the municipality about the rodent problem on the premises, but their warnings went unheeded.
The nursery, frustrated by the lack of response from the municipal authorities, resorted to private pest control measures, but the infestation remained so severe that even this approach proved ineffective.
{Matzav.com Israel}