Yaakov S. asks:
The Gemara at the end of 2a of sukkah says a sukah above 20 amos is pasul since one sites in the shade of the walls not the schah. If this is so, then if one built a sukkah on hill it is surely invalid.
Yaakov S., Brighton MA USA
The Kollel replies:
Sholom Rav
Your question looks similar to that of the Gemara, which asks whether someone living in a valley will be Yotzei, seeing as he is sitting in a Sukkah whose shade is cast by hills.
And it answers that, ecology notwithstanding, we look at the Sukkah per se. Consequently, as long as the shade of the Sukkah is cast by the S'chach and not by the walls of the Sukkah, it is Kasher.
Be'Virchas Kol Tuv,
Eliezer Chrysler.