| פרק א - משנה ז | |
| תקרה | A roof |
| שאין עליה מעזיבה | that has no plaster on it |
| רבי יהודה אומר | Rebbi Yehuda says that |
| בית שמאי אומרים | Beis Shamai say |
| מפקפק | loosen [the boards of the roof] |
| ונוטל אחת מבינתים | and remove every other [board, and fill the space with סכך כשר], |
| ובית הלל אומרים | and Beis Hillel say |
| מפקפק | [either] loosen [the boards] |
| או נוטל אחת מבינתים | or remove every other [board, and fill the space with סכך כשר],] |
| רבי מאיר אומר | Rebbi Meir says |
| נוטל אחת מבינתים | remove every other [board, and fill the space with סכך כשר], |
| ואין מפקפק | and it is not necessary to loosen [the boards]. |
| פרק א - משנה ח | |
| המקרה סכתו בשפודין | One who roofs his succach with [metal] spits |
| או בארוכות המטה | or with the boards of a bed |
| אם יש רוח ביניהן כמותן | if there is as much space between them as they are wide |
| כשרה | it [the succah] is valid; |
| החוטט בגדיש | one who hollows out a haystack |
| לעשות בו סכה | to make a succah in it |
| אינה סכה | it is not a succah. |
NOTES
משנה ז
There is a disagreement amongst the ראשונים on the פשט in this משנה. According to רש"י, the boards of this roof are four tefachim wide, and present two problems: first, that such a succah would not be תעשה ולא מן העשוי, and second, the גזרת תקרה initially discussed in משנה ו would apply as well. According to all the opinions brought in our mishna, ב"ש and ב"ה according to רבי יהודה, as well as רבי מאיר, removing every other board solves both problems as sufficient good s'chach would be put into place this way (the size of the succah and placement of the s'chach necessary to achieve this is a matter of further discussion). According to רבי מאיר, loosening boards is not sufficient to remove the problem of גזרת תקרה. On the other hand רבי יהודה is מחדש here, according to רש"י, that while boards of this width would be סכך פסול if one were building the succah from them in the first place because of גזרת תקרה, where you had an existing roof and went to the trouble of loosening all of its boards, that avoids the problem of גזרת תקרה, at least according to בית הלל, who we פסקן like. On the other hand the רמב"ם and the רי"ף learn that we are dealing here with boards that are less than the width normally subject to גזרת תקרה (which would be three tefachim according to רבי מאיר and four tefachim according רבי יהודה). However, since these boards formed an actual roof, besides תעשה ולא מן העשו, the גזרת תקרה would also apply. Nonetheless, since these boards are less than four tefachim wide, merely loosening them is enough to solve those problems.
משנה ח
שפודין - Most learn that these are made from metal and did not grow from the ground, and so they are סכך פסול. However the תפארת ישראל says that this is referring to any kind of spit, even one made of wood, which would be מקבל טמאה מדרבנן and therefore סכך פסול.
ארוכות המטה - Even though they have been removed from the bed and are not longer מקבל טמאה as שברי כלים, they are still סכך פסול.
החוטט בגדיש . . . אינה סכה - Even though straw is כשר לסכך, such a succah would not be תעשה ולא מן העשוי.
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