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During Succot, we were discussing what materials may be used to secure the schach. Most people that I know, including I, use a bamboo mat and lay some planks of wood on top to secure it down.

Someone in my shul asked if the mat may be laid down in a "wavy" fashion. For example, let's say one lays bamboo poles on top of the succah in a fashion such that some poles are under the schach mat supporting the weight of the mat underneath, while other poles are on top of the schach mat securing it down against the wind. Thus, when viewing the mat from the top of the succah, it is not completely flat but you would see parts over a pole and parts under it like a "wave" pattern. Is this OK?

The answer below does seem to address that as long as there are distinguishable walls, this arrangement is fine. However, I am curious if there's any concern for using a "mixed schach arrangement" like this. I.e., some bamboo poles are used for "support" (the ones under the mat) and some used on top of the mat (which, I guess, would be considered the "roof" or actual "schach". So, one possible concern is - if the supporting poles are considered halachically "schach". Why does this matter? Let's say a wind blew off the mat with the poles on top of it but the poles that were underneath that had supported the mat stayed there.

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    Why not? All of the schach is kosher, and the only problem I can think that there might be is that not all of the schach is actually connected to the walls, but that shouldn’t be a problem because of גוד אסיק.
    – Lo ani
    Oct 23, 2019 at 22:29
  • @Loani Does גוד אסיק apply here? It’s a wavy wall, not a square wave. There’s no wall to extend. Even if there were, how would that help? Did you mean לבוד? If so, that’s already a חידוש, as לבוד requires the pieces being connected to be within 3 tefachim of each other.
    – DonielF
    Oct 24, 2019 at 3:56
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    Sounds like a סֻכָּה הַמְדֻבְלֶלֶת - Suka Mishna 2:2, Talmud 21a. Oct 24, 2019 at 9:00
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    Possible duplicate of Must the top of a sukkah be level?
    – user15464
    Oct 24, 2019 at 10:14

1 Answer 1

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The Mishnah and Gemarah (Succah 19b) discuss a case of a succah that doesn't have a flat roof:

מתני׳ העושה סוכתו כמין צריף או שסמכה לכותל ר' אליעזר פוסל מפני שאין לה גג וחכמים מכשירין

MISHNA: 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.

The Gemarah there explains that if there would be a discernible wall then even Rabbi Eliezer would agree that it is kosher. So it appears that schach does not need to lie flat.

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    You might want to quote the Gemara directly.
    – DonielF
    Oct 24, 2019 at 3:54

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