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So you’re on a Chol Hamoed road trip, windows down, playlist blasting, and suddenly it hits you: "I forgot my Sukkah!" Cue the panic, right? Well, not so fast. Turns out, there’s a quirky little halachic hack that allows you to turn your trusty vehicle into a makeshift Sukkah, perfect for when you find yourself literally on the road. Welcome to the car-door-Sukkah trick – the ultimate in portable mitzvah solutions!
What is the Car-Door-Sukkah Trick?
If you've ever heard this in yeshiva or on a late-night Sukkot brainstorming session, you're not alone. Here’s how it works: Take some Schach (typically a kosher certified bamboo Schach mat ) that you've packed with your suitcase. Open your car's front and rear doors on one side, leaving the other side closed, and place the Schach across the top of the open doors. Voilà! You’ve got yourself a Sukkah. Well, kinda.
In this setup, the open doors act as two walls, and the side of the car becomes the third wall – thanks to a halachic principle known as dofen akumah, which literally means "bent wall." In layman's terms, it allows a certain amount of bending in the walls for a kosher Sukkah. (This is where things get a bit technical, but we’ll keep it light!)
Will It Work? The Dimensions Test
Before you start pulling off the highway and setting up shop, there are a few tefachim (handbreadths) and amot (cubits) you need to know about.
The car roof width: The distance from the inner side of the door to where the Schach will be placed should be no more than four amot (approximately 6 to 7.5 feet, depending on how you measure a cubit). This allows for dofen akumah to come into play.
Door height from the ground: Your car doors should be less than three tefachim (about 9 to 11 inches) off the ground to count as proper walls. And yes, we’re assuming here that you’re sitting low to the ground – maybe bring a folding chair for that "true Sukkah experience."
Size is key: The minimum size of a kosher Sukkah is 7x7 tefachim (roughly 2x2 feet ) and a minimum of 10 tefachim (approx. 32”) in height. You’ve got to make sure your seating area meets this, so no half-in-half-out scenarios. Your food and most of you need to be inside the Sukkah zone.
Sedans for the Win
Sadly, minivan enthusiasts, this trick doesn’t work so well for you. Those nifty sliding doors tend to be too far off the ground, and the gaps are too wide to meet the halachic requirements. But if you’ve got a sedan, congratulations , you're in the Sukkah-mobile business! As long as you don’t mind sitting close to the ground (or possibly stacking a few bricks to reduce the space under the doors – yes, that’s a real suggestion).
The Sunroof Solution
Not into the whole car-door thing? Got a sunroof? You might be in luck. If your sunroof is at least 7x7 tefachim (about 2x2 feet), you could technically set up your Sukkah right over your seat. Picture it: You, under your kosher bamboo Schach mat , munching on your kugel while the windshield becomes your "bent wall." Some say this is the deluxe version of the car-door-Sukkah trick – no need to open any doors at all!
However, make sure your setup has at least 10 tefachim of height (about 32 inches). If the space from the seat to the top of the car doesn’t cut it, sorry , no Sukkah for you. You’re also going to need to check if that sloped windshield can count as a valid wal l – dofen akumah strikes again!
And if you don’t have a sunroof handy, you can always just take along a pop-up Sukkah , which comes complete with a kosher bamboo Schach mat and Schach support poles. Pop it up, grab a snack, and when you're done, pack it away in seconds. It's the ultimate travel companion that fits in your trunk.
Sukkahmobiles: Taking it to the Streets
Ever wondered how the Sukkahmobiles in your neighborhood do it? These rolling mitzvah machines usually use kosher bamboo mats for their Schach. The bamboo Schach mat is either taken off while driving or secured with notched 2x4s that hold everything in place, even when navigating the mean streets of New York. But let’s be real – those Sukkahmobiles aren't exactly flying down the highway at top speed. Slow and steady wins the mitzvah race.
Final Thoughts: Should You Try This?
While the car-door-Sukkah trick is fun to think about and a quirky conversation starter, it's probably best left for emergencies. As Rav Moshe Feinstein once said (paraphrased for our purposes): don’t go looking for ways to get out of the mitzvah. Sure, if you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with no Sukkah in sight, go for it. But maybe plan ahead next time so you can enjoy the full Sukkah experience, without wondering if your windshield counts as a wall.
After all, nothing says “Sukkot” quite like eating your meal under the stars (or, at the very least, under some Schach balancing on car doors). Safe travels and happy Sukkah-building!
