Question: I have seen sukkot built with wooden panels, metal frames and fabric walls. Which materials may form the walls, how firmly must they be fixed, and may plastic ties be used to hold the sechach in place?
RAMI: The Torah commands us to dwell in sukkot for seven days so that later generations will remember how G‑D sheltered the Children of Israel after bringing them out of Egypt (Vayikra 23:42–43). The walls give that command a physical form: they mark out a place in which we can dwell. Their strength matters, but the Torah does not require them to be made of a particular material.
We see the enduring practice in the account of the returnees to Jerusalem. In Nechemiah 8, they gather branches and build sukkot on roofs, in courtyards and in public spaces. The setting had changed since the wilderness journey; the duty to make a sukkah remained.
Halakhah requires the equivalent of three walls, though the third may be shorter than a complete wall under detailed rules set out in Masechet Sukkah 7a and Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chaim 630. For a straightforward household sukkah, three substantial walls are the clearest way to meet the requirement. Wood, rigid plastic, masonry and securely fixed panels can all serve as walls. So can metal and furniture, provided the resulting walls satisfy the rules for a partition.
The decisive practical test is an ordinary wind. The Gemara says that a partition which cannot stand in such a wind is not a valid partition (Sukkah 24b). Shulchan Arukh therefore cautions against relying on sheets as walls, even when tied tightly: a fastening may come loose without anyone noticing. Fabric can be used as a covering around an independently valid framework, but one should not assume that a decorative cloth wall itself makes the sukkah valid. A properly constructed framework of closely spaced rigid members may provide the halakhic wall; its spacing and stability need to be checked before relying on it.
The walls and the roof have different rules. The sechach must come from something that grew from the ground and is not susceptible to ritual impurity. A metal pole or a piece of furniture therefore cannot be sechach, although it may form part of a wall. Nor does placing valid sechach on top turn an unstable fabric enclosure into a valid sukkah: both the roofing and the walls must meet their own requirements.
There is a further question about what directly supports the sechach. Masechet Sukkah 21b discusses support by an object susceptible to ritual impurity. For this reason, a sound practical arrangement is to lay wooden beams across a metal frame and rest the sechach on those beams. Likewise, if plastic zip ties are needed to keep the sechach in place under ordinary conditions, one should arrange suitable supports and secure the roofing without relying on the ties as its essential support. If the sechach already rests securely on valid supports and the ties are merely an extra precaution against unusually strong winds, there is greater room for leniency.
The days after Yom HaKipurim give us an immediate opportunity to put our return into action. Building the sukkah is part of that joy. Before reciting a blessing in it, however, we should make sure that the walls remain walls when the breeze rises and that the sechach is properly supported. That care is itself part of honouring the mitzvah.
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RAMI Q&A is a regular Jewish Dispatch column addressing questions on Torah, ethics, faith, culture, and the practical challenges of modern life. Each response is grounded in Jewish thought, clarity of reasoning, and fidelity to first principles, offering considered answers rather than opinion or sentiment. To submit a question, email ask@ramibenzeev.org.
Rabbi Rami ben Ze’ev was previously known as Ram ben Ze’ev. The addition of the letter י represents a personal step of spiritual refinement and deeper alignment with Torah, expressing humility, growth, and a strengthened commitment to the service of G-D. All teachings and writings are now published under this name.