Siman 626 – Schach under the sky

וChelek 6

3. The schach must be under the sky so that you have one covering. If you make a sukka under the roof of a house or under a tree, you will have two coverings and therefore the sukka will be possula. (MB 1)

4. If your house has a thatched roof it will not do for Sukkos, because it’s your house all year long. (MB 1)

5. If your sukka gets shadowed by big trees that are all around it, it is kashera as long as the sky is directly above the schach. (BeH “tachas”)

6. A leafy tree that gives a majority shade cannot cover your sukka. But if the tree is sparse (majority sunlight) and your sukka has enough shade without the tree it could be kashera in the following ways:
   1. Bend the branches to intertwine them with your schach.
   2. Bend the branches down and put kasher schach on the branches.
   3. Bend the branches down and put them in the air spaces between your schach.
   4. Leave the branches alone. Make the schach that is not blocked by the branches dense enough so that even if you were to remove what is directly under the branches there would still be sufficient shade.
   5. If you have no other sukka, you can leave the tree alone and the sukka is kashera. (ShA 1 – Rama 1 – BeH “v’yaish”)

7. When removing roof tiles (shingles) from the wooden supporting lattice, it is best to consider the lattice possul. Therefore, if your sukka is underneath, see to it that there is a space of 3 tefachim or more in between each slat. Or else, put schach kasher directly on the lattice – the schach resting in between the slats keeps them from combining. (MB 17)

8. If you build a sukka under another covering (sukka, tree, house, or closed pulley roof) and afterwards remove the top covering, the sukka is kashera. It is not necessary to lift the schach and place it down again. There is an argument about making a sukka under a closed pulley-roof. The Bach holds to open it first and then put on the schach. If you forget to open the roof first, open it and then lift each piece of schach and put it in place again for the sake of making shade. (Rama 2 – MB 15, 18)

9. Even according to the Bach, when you close the pulley-roof because of the rain and then open it when the rain stops – you do not need to move the schach. (MB 19)

10. Be careful not to sit in the sukka while the roof is closed – the sukka is possula. Open the roof so it will be completely vertical. If the roof will be leaning over the schach you will have to be careful not to sit under that section. (Rama 3 – MB 21)

11. If the pulley-roof has hinges it can be opened and closed on Yom Tov. (Rama 3)

12. The room that is under the pulley-roof does not need a mezuzah during Sukkos. It becomes like any other sukka. (MB 21)