The bamboo mats are popular, too. It’s a lot like the real vs. artificial Christmas tree debate - palm fronds are more authentic, but mats are more practical. It’s funny how stuff like that crosses cultures.
I misspoke earlier: the conduits making up my sukkah are eight feet, not ten (but cut down from 10-foot pieces). All the pieces are marked identically so they are interchangeable: any piece can be placed in any position.
For the “roof,” I used two rolls of this stuff:
OK, now I’m wondering: Just what constitutes “material that was once living”? Would seashells count? If them, then limestone? Marble? Or how about petrochemical materials, or polylactate?
And it’s not too hard to build a lattice that’ll stop rain falling straight down, but still lets you see stars at an angle. Is that allowed? And what should one do if it rains, just accept getting wet?
Be sad because all of the paper chains you made to decorate are ruined.
Also, the first rain of the year seemed to come during Sukkot every single year when I was growing up.
When I saw that phrase I first thought of pelts or leather, before realizing that obviously it included plants, too.
“Are you two getting serious?”
“Nah, we’re just palm friends.”
I actually think it needs to be material cut from plants. I don’t think leather is kosher.
If it rains, you are allowed to eat indoors, instead.
I have no doubt that someone, somewhere, has asked their rabbi all of those questions. There’s nothing we like more than following the letter of the law while violating the spirit. Cf eruv.
I will note, however, that making a “temporary” structure out of marble would present some practical difficulties, depending, of course, on how you define “temporary.”
Rules in general, but I’ve copied over the ones for the roof:
- Natural Materials Only: S’chach must be made from organic materials that have grown from the ground but are now detached. Common options include bamboo, palm fronds, evergreen branches, corn stalks, or similar plant materials.
I don’t think leather or marble has “grown from the ground”. Also, there are limits on how much it can be processed.
Thanks, @puzzlegal. I had never actually looked them up, only had them passed down verbally from my wife, who knows a lot more about these things than I do.
Hm, interesting… That would imply that a sod roof would not be allowed, because while it has grown from the ground, it’s not detached.
Right, because a Sukkah is supposed to represent a nomad’s dwelling, and thus should be theoretically portable.
I’ve meant to ask about these for years. While I’m not Jewish, I’ve lived most of my life in a neighborhood with a large proportion of Jewish families. I never noticed any sukkos for most of my life, and then about 10 years ago, I noticed them all over the place. I wondered if it was a religious trend. I recognize that many religious customs are based on ideas from thousands of years ago, but some might not actually be practiced until they become trendy.
Sukkot is one of Judaism’s original holidays from the Torah, not a newcomer like Hannukah (a little over 2,000 years old) or Purim (almost 2,500 years old).
I don’t know about your neighborhood, but it’s always been common to have them in Israel.
Could it be less than 10 years and COVID related? Maybe people used to go to the communal sukkah at the synagogue and started building their own?
Yes, you may be right. I’m gonna ask my next door neighbor, who moved here from NYC at the beginning of the pandemic. His, another neighbor a few doors down, are the two I see prominently in their backyards. A few in the neighborhood are in their front driveways. At the moment, with a noreaster coming, I’m more worried that they will collapse.
Anecdotally, i bought the sukkah years ago, but I don’t set it up every year. During COVID, i not only set it up but invited a bunch of people over to eat in the sukkah. I even bought the accessories (a wand of plants and a lumpy lemon to wave around while reciting appropriate blessings) which is something I’ve only done in communal sukkot before.
Yes, here on the North Shore of Boston, I took down the sukkah last night and this morning (two days early) to avoid the storm. I wasn’t so clever two years ago.
I learn something new everyday. Does the portable factor tie in with the start of the Exodus? The Ark of the Covenant? Now, I have questions.
Yes, the Sukkah commemorates wandering in the desert the same way that the Matzah signifies the quick departure from Egypt.
ויקרא כג: מב בַּסֻּכֹּת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים כׇּל הָאֶזְרָח בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל יֵשְׁבוּ בַּסֻּכֹּת. מג לְמַעַן יֵדְעוּ דֹרֹתֵיכֶם כִּי בַסֻּכּוֹת הוֹשַׁבְתִּי אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהוֹצִיאִי אוֹתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲנִי יְ־הֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
My very rough translation:
You will dwell in a Sukkah 7 days, all of Israel will dwell in a Sukkah. So that your descendants will know that in Sukkahs I housed the children of Israel when I brought them out of Egypt; I am the Lord your God
Although this is from Leviticus, not Exodus 
Sukkot commemorates the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert between the Exodus from Egypt and their arrival in Canaan. As such, we pretend to be nomads for a week, living in the same sort of portable yurt-like structures our ancestors supposedly used.
It’s also the fall harvest festival.