1,190. The Brachos on Eating in the Succah

Hilchos Shofar, Succah v’Lulav 6:12

When a person enters a succah during the seven days of Succos with the intention to dwell there, he should recite before sitting the bracha that God has commanded us to dwell in the succah. On the first night of Succos, one first recites the bracha on the succah and then the bracha of shehechiyanu. All the brachos should be recited over a cup of wine. Therefore, one recites kiddush while standing, then the bracha about dwelling in the succah, he then sits and recites the bracha of shehechiyanu. This was the practice of the Rambam’s teachers and the rabbis of Spain: they would recite kiddush on the first night of Succos while standing, as described.

Hilchos Shofar, Succah v’Lulav 6:13

Now that we observe two days of yom tov, we dwell in a succah for eight days, the last of which is the day of Shemini Atzeres. On this day, we dwell in the succah but we do not recite a bracha that God has commanded us to do so. Similarly, a hermaphrodite and a person of indeterminate gender never recite the bracha on dwelling in a succah because they only do so out of doubt and we never recite a bracha when acting out of doubt.