Aliya and chag in the States

Hi, I have an immediate Aliya date and Aliya visa, but I will be in the states for Sukkot, do I need to still keep two days? I heard that since I have an immediate plan to move to Israel, I can hold one day for Sukkot.

Please define what you mean by immediate date? When are you moving to Israel? Are you currently in Israel?

I will be in the States for chag, my Aliya date is in February

Sorry, you are still an American with regards to observing 2 days of Yom Tov for this year Sukkot.

Having an aliya date or flight isn’t enough to consider you an Israeli for this purpose.

So what Halachalicy is?

There are many variables and each person must present their Rav with their specific situation.

But one thing is for sure, until you are actually living in Israel you are not considered Israeli for Yom Tov. Just because you made Aliya on paper and or bought an apartment in Israel is not sufficient to consider you as someone living in Israel.

I find it interesting why it’s still a problem today because the reason why we even have a two day Yom tov is because there was no way to determine the exact day of a coming Yom tov but now everyone knows the dates or has easy access to obtain the dates. So if say a American goes to Israel for a holiday it would make sense to just follow one day instead of two because the reason why us in the galut celebrate two days is because there was no way to determine the exact day of the Yom tov.

Why would it be necessary to keep two days?

The gemora (Beitzah 4b) asks this question and answers that observance of a second day Yom Tov is required despite the fact that nowadays we know the calendar dates.

והשתא דידעינן בקביעא דירחא מאי טעמא עבדינן תרי יומי משום דשלחו מתם הזהרו במנהג אבותיכם בידיכם זמנין דגזרו המלכות גזרה ואתי לאקלקולי

Additionally, learn these Halachot in the Shulchan Aruch and you will find answers to some of your questions.

Awesome thank you!