How to Build a Succah Today: A Practical Shiur for Succos 5782

Rabbi Silber walks through the practical halachos of building and maintaining a kosher succah, covering how to support schach that is resting on non-kosher materials, when a canvas succah's walls may be considered too flimsy, how the concepts of lavud and dofen akuma are used to close gaps in a wall, using a house's overhang as a succah wall, and how far decorations may hang from the schach. He offers concrete, hands-on solutions, like eight-inch lavud string spacing and tying down schach with wood and plastic ties, aimed at helping a baal habayis build a succah that is unquestionably kosher without unnecessary hiddurim.

• Schach may be supported by non-kosher materials like metal beams after the fact, though it is best avoided when building from scratch.
• Tying down schach with plastic ties is permitted as long as the schach itself would stay in place in normal wind using kosher materials.
• A canvas succah's walls can be reinforced against concerns of flimsiness by adding lavud strips spaced about eight inches apart.
• A house's overhang can only serve as a succah wall if the schach directly touches that wall material.
• Decorations are fine anywhere in the succah as long as they start within about a foot of the schach.