Sukka 4 a, b

We witness the creation and finalization of halachot in today's daf.  First we learn about raising the floor of a sukka to decrease its height.  Next we learn about shade and sagging roofs.  Then platforms within the sukka are considered.  We look at "curved walls" and at dug out portions of a sukka floor.  In most of these cases, the rabbis turn to related case law to determine these halachot.  After deciding how/whether that case law should apply to their current question, the rabbis state when a sukka is fit and when it is unfit.

Some of the halachot discussed are familiar to me; when learning about Sukkot, we are taught some basic rules about the construction of a sukka.  However, many of these halachot are new to me.  Why would I think of putting a platform in a sukka?  When would its roof be 20 cubits high?  Our ancestors' detailed design questions teach us about their use of sukkot.

Amud (b) focuses on a number of related questions.  They wonder about partitions: how far can they be from the sukkah wall?  What about pillars; what about posts?  If they are placed at the centre of the sukka; if they support the roof; if they do not touch the ceiling - how to they affect the fitness of the sukka?  The rabbis speak about the sukka built on top of a home's roof.  How should the sukka's walls be placed to ensure that the sukka is fit - when it is at the centre of the roof? when it is at the edge of the roof?  And a post that can support one handbreadth in each direction of a right angle might be called "double posts".  But there are limitations here, too.

At the very end of the daf, the rabbis look to the construction of the ark and its cover to find proof for the specific construction of a sukka.

Clearly the rabbis are always concerned that a sukka has at least two full walls and a partial third wall, that its roof is built according to distinct specifications, and that the area of the sukka is between greater than the minimum area measurement.  Perhaps, as I have thought in the past, the construction of the sukka is detailed for those community members who are skilled with their hands rather than with their logical reasoning.  Of course some rabbis were good at both, but most people are not highly skilled in such disparate areas.  However, the skill of building might also be independent of the skill of design.  Both are required in the construction of sukkot.