The sechach (sukkah covering) that we put on top of our sukkah (temporary booth) has to have three conditions. One is that it has to grow from the ground. At the time of use, it has to be severed from the ground; that is number two. And the third is that, forget, there you go, and it has to be made of tum'ah (ritual impurity), right? It cannot be something that receives tum'ah. So it can't be made of metal or plastic. So we don't use that for sechach. But the hachamim (sages) go even further: the ma'amid, the support for the sechach, should also not be made of something that is pasul (invalid). So therefore one should not lay their sechach directly onto metal or use plastic supports. One should use, let's say, two-by-fours or wood or something to be a support on top and on bottom. So you lay it on top and you also use that to keep the sechach down. If a person already has kosher (fit for use) supports and wants to add an extra layer of support by, let's say, using plastic zip ties to tie it down to the ma'amid, that's called ma'amid de ma'amid. It's a support of the support, a secondary layer, and that's acceptable for a person to use. If one has twine or something else that's kosher for sechach available to him, then that's preferable. But if one wants to use the support of the zip ties after already having a support in place, ma'amid de ma'amid is acceptable. And certainly, to use the zip ties to tie any decorations to the sechach would also be acceptable. Shabbat Shalom.
Torah Lecture
DH #102 - 10-3-25 - Supporting the Schach
Lectured by Rabbi David Tawil
- Lecture code
- DT-DH102
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