Covering the suka | Imamother

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Forum -> Judaism -> Halachic Questions and Discussions

Covering the suka

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Zus

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:05 pm

I know it's after the fact, but I was wondering.
In Chu"l, sukkot falls in the middle ofthe fall which means storm, rain and freezing cold usually.
Growing up, we had a suka with a roof that could be opened and closed. And everybody else we knew had a suka like that too.
Now I know that making a suka kosher is melechet makeh bepatish ie not allowed on shabat/yom tov plus covering the suka could be seen as boneh. We weren't frum when I was growing up so we had no problems opening and closing then roof on shabat/yom tov, but how do you chutznikim actually do it? I seem to remember that frum people also opened/closed their roofs all the time.
Just wondering Smile

NotInNJMommy

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:13 pm

I think I learned that if there's either

a)a tefach (or few tefachim) rolled out for the cover, it is not boneh/makeh b'patish to continue rolling it out to cover or to roll it back up to the starting place.

or b) if it is a rigid cover on a hinge that is firmly connected ie. to a house, then one may rotate the cover on the hinge up and down to cover/uncover.

I think I learned this is R. Ribiat's 39 Melachos.

PS: this is an academic memory for me, I've never actually asked a shailah/clarified this for personal use as I've only had my own sukkah for a few years.

Zus

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:17 pm

Yeah our suka had option b. It was a cool thing, that old suka of ours Smile

greenfire

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:43 pm

I've seen people have sukka covers ... but maybe they just don't cover it on the actual yom tov ... but when it's raining during chol ...

Zus

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:44 pm

Yeah sure I'm not talking about chol hamoed. I'm talking about shabat/yom tov.

Inspired

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:57 pm

I don't understand the exact halachic principles but it is pretty standard in the heimish/ frum, etc. world to have a "shlock" and to use it on yom tov.

Yeah, that does sound a lot like "well, everyone does it". Which doesn't really answer your question. Sorry.

Googled it, check out the sources brought here:
http://209.85.129.132/search?q.....fox-a

Twizzlers

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 6:59 pm

we dont cover our sukka, but I think that what applies to stroller canopies would apply the same here. if its open a certain amount before shabbos/yom tov, you can continue opening it all the way anytime on shabbos.

kitov

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 7:04 pm

Ever heard of an awning? Totally permissible to open on shabbos, it is not electric, only mechanical. A few ropes, a rod, a pole, and it rolls up or down. A "shlok" is the same idea, only it is made of tarp.

Inspired

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 7:10 pm

kitov wrote:

Electricity is only one of many problematic yom tov and shabbos activities. boneh and makeh b'patish must be ruled out before you do something like that, as someone said like the stroller canopy. It is really easy to be over boneh of an ohel just by draping fabric. Just because something is "only mechanical" does not make it non problematic.

kitov

Mon, Oct 12 2009, 7:47 pm

Inspired wrote:

kitov wrote:

I wasn't explaining the halachig part, only the graphical part, how a shlok/awning looks like and works. I do know though, that it is like the stroller canopy, being that the awning isn't totally removed from the structure. It is rolled up and down, the roll stays up there protruding plenty over the sukkah, therefore not a problem.

Marion

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 8:20 am

Um, we never used anything to cover the succah because my father said it would passul the succah if it was under something!

Raisin

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 9:22 am

Marion wrote:

Um, we never used anything to cover the succah because my father said it would passul the succah if it was under something!

the roof is to stop the sukkah geting wet when you are not in there.

Marion

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 10:13 am

Well, all I know is that no one I knew (in either Toronto or Montreal, and it was plenty rainy!) ever had such a thing.

Raisin

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 10:19 am

Marion wrote:

Well, all I know is that no one I knew (in either Toronto or Montreal, and it was plenty rainy!) ever had such a thing.

also, if it starts raining you can cover the roof and carry on eating, instead of having to shlep in and out. Having said that, we didn't have a roof this year and it was fine.

Marion

Tue, Oct 13 2009, 10:26 am

If it started raining we all moved inside. My father refused to cover it, saying if it was covered it was passul anyway for eating in. And I have plenty of recollections of sitting at my uncle's in our winter coats, with the hoods on because it was raining, and his portable heater going (because he didn't want to shlep back in!).

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