But it’s less than three Tefochim…..

 

It is well known that one may sit under an area of Sechach Posul which is less than three Tefochim wide. The ceiling of a house, made from joists and plasterboard, is Sechach Posul, however one may sit under a strip of ceiling as long as it is less than three Tefochim wide.

As such, it is common to ask the contractor and architect to position the Sukkah roof within 22cm from the inside of the wall. This enables people to sit in the Sukkah and even under the ceiling surrounding it and still be Mekayem Mitzvas Sukkah.

This is a very useful piece of information; provided the structural engineer can allow for this, it can add a large sense of space to an indoor Sukkah, and allow one to avoid having to constantly be wary of moving a chair backwards slightly and accidentally no longer be sitting in the Sukkah. There are of course situations when it is not possible to build the Sukkah in this way due to various structural factors, however when possible can really create space in an otherwise confined area and give the experience of Sukkos an added level of comfort.

Where care and attention must be paid, however, is with regard to patio doors. The picture shown here is a Sukkah I visited and noticed that although the owner had strategically placed the Sukkah roof within 22cm of the back wall, what he had overlooked was to first identify exactly where the wall of the Sukkah is.

In this case, it is the patio doors. This meant that in reality the distance between the Sechach and the wall was greater than three Tefochim. This did not affect the Kashrus of the Sukkah per se, but it did mean that being able to sit even under the return of the wall (as being less than three Tefochim) was not applicable here at all. In this instance, anyone sitting in this Sukkah must ensure they sit only under the Sechach, and not under the small ceiling return.