If one does not have the required walls in the sukkah, there can still be a possibility to make it valid. We can apply the principle of “the edge of the roof makes a wall,” or more literally, “the edge of the roof comes down and closes the opening.”
Imagine that one has suspended his sukkah roof (“s'chach”) in a courtyard surrounded by porches. It has no walls. If the porches are wider than four steps (amot) each, we have just declared such sukkah invalid. However, Abaye argues that the edge of the roof of each porch makes a wall for our sukkah!
How can Abaye argue with the clear-cut rule above? – He tells us that we misunderstood the situation: there, the sukkah's roof was flush with the roof of the porch. But if they are at different heights, we can extend the edge of the roof of the porch and imagine it is the sukkah wall.
Earlier in Eruvin, we had a similar disagreement concerning a pavilion – does its roof's edge come down and make a wall (which would permit carrying in it on Shabbat). Perhaps Rav, who said that it does, lends support to Abaye in this case? – No, perhaps he does not: in the case of the pavilion, its own roof could serve as its wall, but here in the case of sukkah, we want to use the roofs of the porches – may be here even Rav would not say that it is valid.
Art: Couch on the Porch by Frederick Childe Hassam
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