the gemora in succah daf 14 amud b says you cannot boards on their side, say 2 x 6 the 6 side up. tosfos says because it is building material. however, any wood you use is building material so i do not understand this and i do not understand why you cannot put boards width up. you are still below the maximum roof height for a succah.
thanks
jeff milrad
The Gemara is discussing planks which are 4 Tefachim (about one foot) wide. One may not use these as the covering for the roof of the Sukah because the Sages said that they are too big. If people become accustomed to using these as the Sechach of the Sukah, they might decide that one may as well sit in one's house on Sukos, since these planks are so permanent and are similar to the building material of a permanent house.
The Gemara says that even if one places these planks on their side, this does not help to make them valid as a Sukah covering. Even though one might argue that the covering of the Sukah is now not so broad, nevertheless they are the same large planks and are still similar to the building material of a proper house, not of a temporary Sukah.
It is true that the Sukah is under 20 Amos high, the maximum height, but the material used for the roof is too permanent.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom
i saw the reply. i am sorry i do not understand, what is the difference between a 2 inch board and a 4 inch board. they are all used for building materials. why can use a 2 inch board and not a 4 inch or 6 inch board. please see if you can give me a better explanation.
thanks
1) We are discussing here planks which, according to Torah law, are acceptable as a covering for the Sukah. This is because, according to Torah law, the Sukah roof must be made from something which grows from the ground and is not a utensil. The planks fulfill these conditions since they are wooden and flat.
2) However, the Sages gave us another requirement in addition to the Torah law. They said that if the "Sechach" covering the Sukah looks permanent, there is a concern that people might make a mistake and think that since they are allowed to make such a fixed, sophisticated kind of Sukah, then we might as well sit in our houses on Sukos instead of in the Sukah. After all, what is the difference between a house and a permanent Sukah?
3) So even if planks would be classified as building materials, they are still valid as Sechach according to Torah law. However, if the planks are too big, then they are too similar to a proper house. The Sages do not want people to have the feeling on Sukos that they are living in a building which is too similar to their houses of all year round.
Dovid Bloom