627 - תרכז דין הישן בסוכה ובו ז' סעיפים

The Laws of Sleeping in the Sukkah

1. One must sit beneath the open air of the s'chach, so that there is no other covering separating between him and the s'chach, in order that he be sitting in the shade of the Sukkah and not in the shade of another covering.

And something is only called a covering (ohel) if it is ten tefachim high from the ground. Even if it has no walls, it is forbidden to sit beneath it.

Therefore, one who sleeps under a bed in the Sukkah—if the bed is ten tefachim high—has not fulfilled his obligation.

2. Similarly, one who sleeps under a canopy that is spread around the bed at an angle—if it has a roof of a tefach, meaning that a width of one tefach is spread flat over the bed and not at an angle, such as when the pole it hangs from and is spread over has a width of one tefach, and there are ten tefachim from this one-tefach roof to the ground—even if from there to the bed on which he sleeps there are not ten tefachim—nevertheless, he has not fulfilled his obligation. For any roof of a tefach that is ten tefachim high from the ground is called a covering (ohel). Thus, he is not sleeping in the shade of the Sukkah, but in the shade of a covering.

3. Even if it does not have a roof of a tefach, if within less than three tefachim from the roof there is a width of a tefach—that is, after it descends from the pole on both sides and widens to a tefach, and from this tefach to the pole there are not three tefachim in a straight line—it is forbidden to sleep beneath it, even not directly under that tefach. (See the end of siman 671.)

This is because anything less than three tefachim is considered lavud, as if its roof is a full tefach wide. And anything with a roof a tefach wide is entirely considered a covering (ohel). Thus, a covering separates between him and the s'chach.

4. If one spread a sheet over a canopy frame—that is, four posts protruding from the four legs of the bed, with poles placed from one to another and a sheet spread over them—it is forbidden by rabbinic decree to sleep beneath it, even if the tops of these posts are not ten tefachim high from the ground, since there is a roof a tefach wide spread flat, namely the sheet spread above them.

5. But if one post protrudes at the head of the bed and another opposite it at the foot, and a pole is placed from one to the other with a sheet spread over it—since the sheet is spread at an angle and does not have a roof a tefach wide spread flat, it is permitted to sleep beneath it.

This is provided that the pole is not ten tefachim high from the bed. But if it is ten tefachim high from the bed, it is forbidden to sleep under the sheet.

Gloss: The reason that with a canopy we measure the ten tefachim from the ground, but here we measure from the bed, is because the pole over which the canopy is spread is not fixed to the bed, and if the bed is removed, the canopy remains. But here, the pole is fixed to the posts protruding from the bed, and if the bed is removed, the sheet is removed. The reason for this distinction is explained at the end of siman 730; see there for the explanation.

6. It is permitted to hang decorative tapestries and decorated sheets in the Sukkah to beautify it, whether around the walls or beneath the s'chach.

Even though they are susceptible to ritual impurity and are invalid for use as s'chach, as will be explained in siman 729, nevertheless, they do not invalidate the Sukkah if they are four tefachim wide, as is the law with invalid s'chach, as will be explained in siman 732. Moreover, it is even permitted to sit directly beneath them.

Even though they are ten tefachim high from the ground, they are not considered a covering (ohel) to separate between him and the s'chach, since they are nullified to the s'chach, as they were made for the sake of the s'chach, that is, to beautify it. Furthermore, anything not made for shade is not called s'chach over it.

Therefore, they do not invalidate the Sukkah as invalid s'chach, and it is permitted to sit beneath them since they are nullified to the s'chach.

When does this apply? When they are within four tefachim of the s'chach, for then they are nullified to it. But if they are four tefachim distant from it, they are not nullified to it and invalidate the Sukkah as invalid s'chach, as will be explained in siman 732.

Nevertheless, even though invalid s'chach only invalidates the Sukkah if it is four tefachim wide, and if it is not four tefachim wide it is even permitted to sit beneath it, one should still be careful not to distance the Sukkah decorations from the s'chach by four tefachim, even if they are not four tefachim wide, as a precaution lest they be four tefachim wide, in which case it would be forbidden to sit beneath them.

7. All this applies to Sukkah decorations. But if one spread something beneath the s'chach that is not a decoration for the Sukkah, this will be explained in siman 729; see there.