Building your Own Sukkah!

(מב) בַּסֻּכֹּ֥ת תֵּשְׁב֖וּ שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים כָּל־הָֽאֶזְרָח֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יֵשְׁב֖וּ בַּסֻּכֹּֽת׃ (מג) לְמַעַן֮ יֵדְע֣וּ דֹרֹֽתֵיכֶם֒ כִּ֣י בַסֻּכּ֗וֹת הוֹשַׁ֙בְתִּי֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּהוֹצִיאִ֥י אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

Leviticus 23:42-43

(42) You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, (43) in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I the LORD your God.

The Torah tells us to live in a Sukkah for 7 days....But What is a Sukkah? How do you build it???

The Mishna tells us what else Hashem told Moshe on Har Sinai about a Sukkah...

We need to know:

1. How high can it be?

2. How low can it be?

3. How many walls must it have?

4. How thick must the roof be?

משנה סוכה א׳:א׳

(א) 1. סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר.

2. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ גְּבוֹהָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים,

3. וְשֶׁאֵין לָהּ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּפָנוֹת,

4. וְשֶׁחַמָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מִצִּלָּתָהּ, פְּסוּלָה.

Mishnah Sukkah 1:1

(1) 1. A sukka, i.e., its roofing, which is the main and most crucial element of the mitzva, that is more than twenty cubits high is unfit. Rabbi Yehuda deems it fit. 2. Similarly, a sukka that is not even ten handbreadths high,

3. and one that does not have three walls, 4. and one whose sunlight that passes through its roofing is greater than its shade are unfit.

Are these 4 laws merely a Tradition passed down to us, or are there sources for them in the Torah or from logic?

רש"י על סוכה ב׳ א

מתני' סוכה ורבי יהודה מכשיר - בגמרא מפרש פלוגתייהו: ושאינה גבוהה עשרה - בגמרא מפרש טעמא:,שלש דפנות - נמי בגמרא יליף להו:,ושחמתה מרובה מצלתה - המועט בטל ברוב והרי הוא כמי שאינו ועל שם הסכך קרויה סוכה:

Rashi on Sukkah 2a

"But Rabbi Yehuda would deem [it] fit" - In the Gemara, this difference of opinion is explained. Or it is less than ten [tefahim] tall - The reason is explained in the Gemara.,Three sides - The Gemara will also explain this. An alley ("mavoi") which is closed on three sides and its head is open to the public domain and courtyards are open to it and they lead to and from the public domain -- see, it is private domain for the people who live around those courtyards. The Sages close it [to prevent] exit from its [private] domain to the [public] domain without an eruv, for each courtyard is its own domain and the alley is the domain of all of them. So the Sages obligate [the residents of the adjoining courtyards] to form a fictitious partnership -- each [resident of] the adjoining courtyards partners [to buy] bread or wine and they place [the bread or wine] in the "shittuf" [the area created through the fictitious partnership] as one. And because it doesn't have a fourth partition and it [appears] very similar to the public domain -- [the Sages] obligated [the residents of the adjacent courtyards to place] an indication at the top of the opening [of the alley] into the public domain or to erect a stake [near the entrance] or [to hang] a beam from one wall to the other. If the beam is higher than twenty armslengths, they should lower it. ,,He does not need to - The reason is explained there [in Tractate Eruvin]. ,Sukkah with many statements - ...and the methods of repairing each are different, so it was necessary to change the wording for each method of repair. For example, if it is too tall, lower it, or if it is not tall enough, raise it, or if it does not have three walls, build one, or if its sunlight is greater than its shade, add sekhakh. Thus it was concise and taught "invalid," since we are able to encompass everything with "invalid," as we hold (Pesakhim 3b), "A person shall teach his student in a concise way.",Mavoi, without many statements - ...in the same Mishnah. And a sukkah will be for shade - [from which we can draw the] logical conclusion that the covering is only made for shade. Ashteroth Karnayim - Two large mountains and a valley between them. Because of the height of the mountains, the sun does not shine into the valley. [If] you remove the walls, there is no shade of the sukkah - If sun comes from below, it is found that [the sukkah] is invalid. ,Higher than twenty [amot] - One needs to make their foundations and their partitions permanent so [the building] does not fall.

So Rashi has 4 comments on the Mishna:

1. On Rabbi Yehudah, Rashi says that the Gemora will explain the Machlokes between Rabbi Yehudah and the Rabbis about the height of a Sukkah.

2. The Gemora will explain the reason for the minimum height of a Sukkah.

3. The Gemora will learn out the source for 3 walls.

(So be patient....!)

4. Rashi does not say that the Gemora wil explain why a Sukkah must not have more sun than shade. Rashi GIVES A REASON HIMSELF!

What does he say?

a. The minority is nullified in the majority. (What is minority and majority here?)

b. And behold it is as if it isn't there (no schach)

(Have you ever heard elsewhere the idea that minority is nullified in majority?)

c. And it is only called Sukkah because of the schach. (What does schach mean?)