סֻכָּה שֶׁהִיא גְבוֹהָה לְמַעְלָה מֵעֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה, פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. וְשֶׁאֵינָהּ גְּבוֹהָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, וְשֶׁאֵין לָהּ שְׁלֹשָׁה דְּפָנוֹת, וְשֶׁחַמָּתָהּ מְרֻבָּה מִצִּלָּתָהּ, פְּסוּלָה. סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי פּוֹסְלִין, וּבֵית הִלֵּל מַכְשִׁירִין. וְאֵיזוֹ הִיא סֻכָּה יְשָׁנָה, כָּל שֶׁעֲשָׂאָהּ קֹדֶם לֶחָג שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם. אֲבָל אִם עֲשָׂאָהּ לְשֵׁם חָג, אֲפִלּוּ מִתְּחִלַּת הַשָּׁנָה, כְּשֵׁרָה: 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. Similarly, a sukka that is not even ten handbreadths high, and one that does not have three walls, and one whose sunlight that passes through its roofing is greater than its shade are unfit. With regard to an old sukka, Beit Shammai deem it unfit for the mitzva of sukka and Beit Hillel deem it fit. And which is considered an old sukka? It is any booth that one established thirty days or more prior to the Festival without expressly designating that it was for the mitzva of sukka. In that case, the assumption is that he constructed it for some other purpose. However, if he established it expressly for the sake of the festival of Sukkot, even if he constructed it at the beginning of the previous year, it is fit for use in the fulfillment of the mitzva of sukka, even according to Beit Shammai.
הָעוֹשֶׂה סֻכָּתוֹ תַחַת הָאִילָן, כְּאִלּוּ עֲשָׂאָהּ בְּתוֹךְ הַבָּיִת. סֻכָּה עַל גַּבֵּי סֻכָּה, הָעֶלְיוֹנָה כְשֵׁרָה, וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנָה פְּסוּלָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין דִּיּוּרִין בָּעֶלְיוֹנָה, הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה כְּשֵׁרָה: With regard to one who establishes his sukka beneath a tree, it is as though he established it inside the house and it is unfit. If one established a sukka atop another sukka, the upper sukka is fit and the lower sukka is unfit. Rabbi Yehuda says: If there are no residents in the upper sukka, the lower sukka is fit.
פֵּרַס עָלֶיהָ סָדִין מִפְּנֵי הַחַמָּה, אוֹ תַּחְתֶּיהָ מִפְּנֵי הַנְּשָׁר, אוֹ שֶׁפֵּרַס עַל גַּבֵּי הַקִּינוֹף, פְּסוּלָה. אֲבָל פּוֹרֵס הוּא עַל גַּבֵּי נַקְלִיטֵי הַמִּטָּה: If one spread a sheet over the roofing as protection for those sitting in the sukka due to the sun, or if one spread a sheet beneath the roofing as protection due to the falling leaves, or if one spread a sheet as a canopy over the frame of a four-post [kinof] bed, the area in the sukka beneath the sheets is unfit. In the first two cases, because the sheet is susceptible to ritual impurity, it renders the otherwise fit roofing unfit. In the case of the canopy, one is not sitting under the roofing of the sukka; rather, he is sitting inside a tent. However, one may spread the sheet over the frame of a two-post [naklitei] bed, which has one post in the middle of each end of the bed. When spreading the sheet over the posts it forms an inclined rather than a flat roof, and a tent with an inclined roof is not considered a significant structure.
הִדְלָה עָלֶיהָ אֶת הַגֶּפֶן וְאֶת הַדְּלַעַת וְאֶת הַקִּסּוֹם וְסִכֵּךְ עַל גַּבָּהּ, פְּסוּלָה. וְאִם הָיָה סִכּוּךְ הַרְבֵּה מֵהֶן, אוֹ שֶׁקְּצָצָן, כְּשֵׁרָה. זֶה הַכְּלָל, כֹּל שֶׁהוּא מְקַבֵּל טֻמְאָה וְאֵין גִּדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ, אֵין מְסַכְּכִין בּוֹ. וְכָל דָּבָר שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל טֻמְאָה וְגִדּוּלוֹ מִן הָאָרֶץ, מְסַכְּכִין בּוֹ: If one trellised climbing plants such as a grapevine, or gourd plant, or ivy [kissos], over a sukka while they were still attached to the ground, and then added roofing atop them, the sukka is unfit. If the amount of fit roofing was greater than the plants attached to the ground, or if he cut the climbing plants so that they were no longer attached to the ground, it is fit. This is the principle with regard to the roofing of a sukka: Anything that is susceptible to ritual impurity, e.g., vessels, or its growth is not from the ground, e.g., animal hides, one may not roof his sukka with it. And anything that is not susceptible to ritual impurity and its growth is from the ground, one may roof his sukka with it.
חֲבִילֵי קַשׁ וַחֲבִילֵי עֵצִים וַחֲבִילֵי זְרָדִין, אֵין מְסַכְּכִין בָּהֶן. וְכֻלָּן שֶׁהִתִּירָן, כְּשֵׁרוֹת. וְכֻלָּן כְּשֵׁרוֹת לַדְּפָנוֹת: One may not roof a sukka with bundles of straw tied with rope, or bundles of wood, or bundles of twigs. And with regard to all of the bundles, if one untied them, they are fit for use in roofing the sukka, as their lack of fitness is due to the fact that the bundles are tied. And even when tied, all of the bundles are fit for use in constructing the walls of the sukka.
מְסַכְּכִין בִּנְסָרִים, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה. וְרַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹסֵר. נָתַן עָלֶיהָ נֶסֶר שֶׁהוּא רָחָב אַרְבָּעָה טְפָחִים, כְּשֵׁרָה, וּבִלְבַד שֶׁלֹא יִישַׁן תַּחְתָּיו: One may roof the sukka with boards like those used in the ceiling of a house; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Meir prohibits their use. If one placed a board that is four handbreadths wide atop the sukka, the sukka is fit. He fulfills his obligation, provided he does not sleep beneath the board.
תִּקְרָה שֶׁאֵין עָלֶיהָ מַעֲזִיבָה, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, מְפַקְפֵּק וְנוֹטֵל אַחַת מִבֵּינְתַיִם, וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, מְפַקְפֵּק אוֹ נוֹטֵל אַחַת מִבֵּינְתַיִם. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, נוֹטֵל אַחַת מִבֵּינְתַיִם, וְאֵין מְפַקְפֵּק: In the case of a roof made of boards that are four handbreadths wide upon which there is no coat of plaster, Rabbi Yehuda says that Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel disagree with regard to the manner in which to render it fit. Beit Shammai say: One moves each board, and then it is considered as though he placed the board there for the sake of the mitzva of sukka, and one then removes one board from among the boards and replaces it with fit roofing. Beit Hillel say: One need not perform both actions; rather, one must either move the boards or remove one from among them. Rabbi Meir says: One only removes one from among them and does not move the others.
הַמְקָרֶה סֻכָּתוֹ בְשַׁפּוּדִין אוֹ בַאֲרֻכּוֹת הַמִּטָּה, אִם יֵשׁ רֶוַח בֵּינֵיהֶן כְּמוֹתָן, כְּשֵׁרָה. הַחוֹטֵט בְּגָדִישׁ לַעֲשׂוֹת בּוֹ סֻכָּה, אֵינָהּ סֻכָּה: In the case of one who roofs his sukka with metal skewers or with the long boards of the bed, which compose its frame, if there is space between each one of them equal to the width of the skewers or the boards, and if he places fit roofing in those spaces, the sukka is fit. In the case of one who hollows out and creates a space inside a stack of grain, it is not a sukka.
הַמְשַׁלְשֵׁל דְּפָנוֹת מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה, אִם גָּבוֹהַּ מִן הָאָרֶץ שְׁלֹשָׁה טְפָחִים, פְּסוּלָה. מִלְּמַטָּה לְמַעְלָה, אִם גָּבוֹהַּ מִן הָאָרֶץ עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, כְּשֵׁרָה. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמִּלְּמַטָּה לְמַעְלָה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, כָּךְ מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים. הִרְחִיק אֶת הַסִּכּוּךְ מִן הַדְּפָנוֹת שְׁלשָׁה טְפָחִים, פְּסוּלָה: One who lowers the walls of the sukka from up downward, if the lower edge of the wall is three handbreadths above the ground, the sukka is unfit. Since animals can enter through that space, it is not the wall of a fit sukka. However, if one constructs the wall from down upward, if the wall is ten handbreadths high, even if it does not reach the roofing, the sukka is fit. Rabbi Yosei says: Just as a wall built from down upward must be ten handbreadths, so too, in a case where one lowers the wall from up downward, it must be ten handbreadths in length. Regardless of its height off the ground, it is the wall of a fit sukka, as the legal status of a ten-handbreadth partition is that of a full-fledged partition in all areas of halakha. If one distanced the roofing from the walls of the sukka at a distance of three handbreadths the sukka is unfit, because three handbreadths of open space, even adjacent to the walls, render the sukka unfit.
בַּיִת שֶׁנִּפְחַת וְסִכֵּךְ עַל גַּבָּיו, אִם יֵשׁ מִן הַכֹּתֶל לַסִּכּוּךְ אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת, פְּסוּלָה. וְכֵן חָצֵר שֶׁהִיא מֻקֶּפֶת אַכְסַדְרָה. סֻכָּה גְדוֹלָה, שֶׁהִקִּיפוּהָ בְדָבָר שֶׁאֵין מְסַכְּכִים בּוֹ, אִם יֵשׁ תַּחְתָּיו אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת, פְּסוּלָה: In the case of a house that was breached, creating a hole in the middle of the roof, and one roofed over the breach, if from the wall to the roofing there are four or more cubits of the remaining original roof, it is an unfit sukka. If the roofing is less than four cubits from the wall, the sukka is fit, based on the principle of curved wall; the remaining intact ceiling is considered an extension of the vertical wall. And likewise, in the case of a courtyard that is surrounded on three sides by a portico, which has a roof but no walls, if one placed roofing over the courtyard between the different sides of the portico and the roof of the portico is four cubits wide, the sukka is unfit. Similarly, a large sukka that was surrounded at the edge of its roofing with material with which one may not roof a sukka, e.g., vessels susceptible to ritual impurity, if there are four cubits beneath the unfit roofing, the sukka is unfit. The principle of curved wall does not apply to unfit roofing that measures four cubits or more.
הָעוֹשֶׂה סֻכָּתוֹ כְּמִין צְרִיף, אוֹ שֶׁסְּמָכָהּ לְכֹתֶל, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר פּוֹסֵל, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵין לָהּ גָּג, וַחֲכָמִים מַכְשִׁירִין. מַחְצֶלֶת קָנִים גְּדוֹלָה, עֲשָׂאָהּ לִשְׁכִיבָה, מְקַבֶּלֶת טֻמְאָה וְאֵין מְסַכְּכִין בָּהּ. לְסִכּוּךְ, מְסַכְּכִין בָּהּ וְאֵינָהּ מְקַבֶּלֶת טֻמְאָה. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, אַחַת קְטַנָּה וְאַחַת גְּדוֹלָה, עֲשָׂאָהּ לִשְׁכִיבָה, מְקַבֶּלֶת טֻמְאָה וְאֵין מְסַכְּכִין בָּהּ. לְסִכּוּךְ, מְסַכְּכִין בָּהּ וְאֵינָהּ מְקַבֶּלֶת טֻמְאָה: One who establishes his sukka like a type of circular hut, with no roof whose walls slope down from the center or who rested the sukka against the wall, by taking long branches and placing one end on the ground and leaning the other end against the wall to establish a structure with no roof, Rabbi Eliezer deems it unfit because it does not have a roof, and the Rabbis deem it fit; as, in their opinion, the roof and the walls may be a single entity, indistinguishable from each other. In the case of a large mat of reeds, if one initially produced it for the purpose of lying upon it, it is susceptible to ritual impurity like any other vessel, and therefore one may not roof a sukka with it. If one initially produced it for roofing, one may roof a sukka with it, and it is not susceptible to ritual impurity, as its legal status is not that of a vessel. Rabbi Eliezer says that the distinction between mats is based on use, not size. Therefore, with regard to both a small mat and a large mat, if one produced it for the purpose of lying upon it, it is susceptible to ritual impurity and one may not roof a sukka with it. If one produced it for roofing, one may roof a sukka with it, and it is not susceptible to ritual impurity.