Sukkah 14 - A board on the sukkah

Normally, the sukkah is covered by s'chach made of branches that keep out most of the sun and do not leave large holes. If he places a board on top of his sukkah, many complications and disagreements arise.

Earlier, we introduced the idea of a "bent wall" ("dofen akumah.") When a part of the s'chach next to the sukkah's wall is made of material that is invalid for s'chach - such as a board - it can still be valid. You just look at this part of the s'chach as a continuation of the wall and call it a "bent wall." The result is that one cannot sleep under this part or eat under it - the normal use of s'chach - but the sukkah is valid.

Now let's go back to boards that are not next to the wall and therefore are not considered a "bent wall." If the board is wider than four handbreadths, all agree that it invalidates the sukkah. If it is narrower than three handbreadths, all agree that it is just a stick and is valid. The boards that are between three and four handbreadths are in dispute. Rabbi Yehudah says that they are OK - because any significant "place" should be at least four by four handbreadths, and they are less than that. Rabbi Meir says that any hole that is less than three handbreadths is considered "glued," following the principle of "glue," "lavud." And these boards are wider than this, so they invalidate the sukkah.

But what is wrong with the boards in the first place? It turns that the roofs at this time were made of boards four handbreadths wide. So, if one uses such boards, he may come to simply sit at home. And we want him out in the sukkah.

Art: The Tree of Crows by Caspar DavidFriedrich