If he suspended over it a grape-vine, or gourd, or ivy, using them as schach, it is pasul, [what is attached (to the ground) not being kasher as schach]. But if the (kasher) schach was more (abundant) than the others, or if he cut them, it is kasher. [("if the schach was more":) If there were much more kasher schach than vine or gourd, it is kasher. This, if he pressed them down and intermixed them with the kasher schach so that they are not conspicuous. For, the kasher schach predominating, it "cancels them out" when they are intermixed. ("or if he cut them:") Even after he suspended them as schach it is kasher; this, on condition that he move them about after cutting them. For if he does not do so, it is pasul, it being written (Leviticus 16:13): "The festival of succoth shall you make for yourself" — and not from what is already made. That is, when you make it, it must be (from what is) fit for a succah, and not "from what is made," i.e., something pasul, which is not fit for a succah but which you amend, as when you attempt to make it kasher by (merely) cutting it and not undoing it. But moving it about is like undoing it and then using it as schach, lifting one and putting it down, and repeating the process with the others.] This is the rule: Whatever can acquire tumah and does not grow in the ground cannot be used as schach, [to exclude (from use) wooden vessels, flaxen clothing, and mats, which, even though they originate in the ground, cannot be used as schach, since they can acquire tumah.] And whatever cannot acquire tumah and grows in the ground can be used as schach, [it being written (Deuteronomy 16:13): "The festival of succoth shall you make for yourself … from your threshing floor and from your winepress." Scripture speaks of the discards of the threshing floor and the winepress, i.e., what is left over after you have gathered in (the fruits of) your threshing floor and your winepress, such as straws and vines. From them, make a succah.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
הדלה עליה – he lifted on its back.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
Introduction
This mishnah teaches a few general rules regarding what can be used as skhakh, the covering on top of the sukkah.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
קיסום – In a foreign language IDRA, and it grows like a grape-vine and like a gourd.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
If he trained a vine or a gourd or ivy over [the sukkah] and put skhakh on top of it, it is not valid. But if the skhakh is more than them, or if he cut them, it is valid. In this section we learn several important rules governing skhakh. The first is that the skhakh must be detached from the ground. If one takes living vines and trains them on top of his sukkah, the sukkah is invalid. This is true even if he put some valid skhakh on top of the vines that were still attached to the ground. The sukkah becomes valid only if he puts more valid skhakh than the invalid attached vines, or if he cuts down the vines. This is an important point. The only thing that makes the vines invalid is that they are still attached to the ground.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
פסולה – because we don’t cover [the Sukkah] with something attached [to the ground].
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
This is the general rule: whatever is susceptible to [ritual] impurity and does not grow from the ground may not be used for skhakh, but whatever is not susceptible to [ritual] impurity and does grow from ground soil may be used for skhakh. There are two general rules presented here. The first is that the skhakh has to be something that cannot receive ritual impurity. This means that clothing, chairs, tables, dishes, sheets, etc. cannot be used as skhakh. Basically, this includes most things that have been “made” or “fashioned” by human hands. Branches of trees cannot become impure and hence can be used for skhakh. Secondly, it has to be something that originally grew from the ground. This rules out metal, stone, clay, plastic etc. Interestingly, these two rules, and that in the previous section, are in a sense foils for one another. The skhakh must be dead, but it must be something that was once alive. Something has to have been done to it by human hands it has to be cut from the ground, but not too much can be done with it humans can’t turn it into useful instruments. The skkakh is then “liminal” it mediates between the natural world and the humanly created world. So too it is above us, mediating between God and humanity.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
אם היה הסכוך הרבה מהם – if there was there S’khakh/covering of the festive booth that is much greater than the grape-vines and gourds, it is valid, and it is the case where they press down on them and combine them with the S’khakh it is valid and it is not apparent to the eye, for valid S;khakh is greater than them and cancels them out when they are combined.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
או שקצצן – even after he covered the roof with them, it is valid. And it is when he shakes them after cutting the, for if it this were not the case, it would be invalid, for the Torah stated (Deuteronomy 16:13): “You shall hold the Feast of Booths [for seven days], and not from what was done, that is to say, that it shall be done so that it would be appropriate for a Sukkah, and not from what is made which is invalid, for that which is not worthy of a Sukkah and you repair it, that you make it valid with cutting and did not go back and destroy it, but when you shake them, it is like destroying and you go back and cover it again, and raise up each one alone and place it and go back and raise its neighbor and place it [on the roof].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
כל דבר שאינו כו' – to exclude a wooden utensil and flax coting and matting, for even though they grow in the ground, we don’t cover the Sukkah with them since they [are receptive] to receiving defilement.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
וגידוליו מן הארץ וכו' – as it is written (Deuteronomy 16:13): “[After the ingathering] from your threshing floor and your vat, [you shall hold] the Feast of Booths for seven days,” the verse speaks of the refuse/worthless matter of the granary and the vat, that is to say, from what remains after you have gathered the granary and the vat such as the hard/strong grain and the vine-shoots, from them, make the Sukkah.
