Schach Mat Fencing

8/11/2019 Schach Mat Fencing

1/3

ChicagoRabbinicalCouncil2701WestHowardStreetChicago,Illinois60645

7734653900www.crcweb.orgRabbiSholemFishbane,KashrusAdministrator

September22,2014/" " (version7)

Recommendation

Thisyear, theHomeDepot store locatedat6211N.LincolnAve.,Chicago, Illinois60659 is selling

bambooreedfencingwiththeHamptonBaybrandname.AsperguidelinesprovidedbyRavSchwartz

andRavFuerstinpreviousyears,weareabletorecommendtwovarietiessoldthere:

(1) A6foot

X16

foot

variety,

with

UPC

code

48037

06164,

and

markedashavingaNaturalFinish. Thisvarietyisalsoavailable

onlineathttp://kshr.us/1qnpQaE

(2) A4footX8footvariety,withUPCcode4803777301,witha

PeeledandPolishedFinish. Thisvarietyisalsoavailableonline

athttp://kshr.us/1qnppwW.

A thirdvariety,whichmeasures6 feetX16

feet,withtheBackyardXScapesbrandname,

UPCcode7174600530,andmarkedasbeing

Natural Peeled Reed Fencing, is available

onlineonlyathttp://kshr.us/1u66WLDandis

alsorecommended.

Thesethreevarietiesmaybeusedasschachonlyif:

The reeds are placed perpendicular to the schach supportbeams rather than parallel to the

beams,asshowninthepicturesbelow.

Apieceofwoodorsomeotherpieceofkosherschachshouldbeplacedontopofthefencing,so

thatthefencingissecureenoughtonotblowoffduringSuccos. [Thisextrapieceofwoodshould

notbenailedorotherwisefastenedtotheschach,anditshouldbeplacedperpendiculartothe

reeds.] Thisconditionappliestoalllightweightschachincludingmats,andisbasedonShulchan

Aruch628:2.

As

with

all

schach,

the

schach

portions

of

the

mat

must

be

thick

enough

that

they

provide

more

shadedareathanopenspace,asperShulchanAruch631:1. Itmaybenecessarytoplaceadouble

layerofmatsinordertoaccomplishthis.

OthersimilaritemshavenotbeeninvestigatedandshouldonlybeusedafterconsultingwithonesRabbi.

lacement ictures

Good

Reedsperpendicular

tosupportbeams

Schach

supportbeams

Woodon

top

of

reeds

Reed

Direction

Reedsparallel

tosupportbeams

Schach

supportbeams

NoGood

Reed

Direction


2/3



xplanation

Thefencingismadeoflong,thin,reedswhichareheldtogetherwithplasticcoatedmetalwiring. There

areprominentIsraeliPoskimwhoholdthatsince(a)metalwiringisnotacceptableforuseasschachand

(b)thewiringbindsthefencingtogether,thefencingmaynotlchatchilahbeusedforschach. Thisconcern

isknownas.1

However,RavFuerstreportsthatRavMosheFeinsteinztlwasoftheopinionthatifthereedsareplaced

perpendiculartotheschachsupportbeams,thereedsaresupportedbythebeams,andthemetalwiring

merelyattachesthereedstooneanotherbutisnotservingasa. RavSchwartzfoundthisargument

tobe convincing. Accordingly, the fencingmaybeused as schach if it isplacedon the succah in the

prescribedmanner.2

It isnoteworthythatasthefragile, individualreedsbreak,thosereedsareonlysupportedbythemetal

wiringandnolongerqualifyfortheaforementionedleniency. Insamplesthatwechecked,710%ofthe

reedsinnewpackagesoffencingwereincompletetotheextentthattheywereonlysupportedbythemetal

wiring. Thisconcerncanpotentiallybealleviatedbystrategicallyplacingadditionalsupportbeamsunder

thefencing.

IggerosMoshe3rulesthatvenetianblindsmadeofwoodslatsheldtogetherwithclothmaynotbeusedfor

schachbecausethecloth(which isa )renderstheentireblindsa and

thereforeunacceptableforuseasschach. Shouldthesamenotapplytothereedfencingwhich isheld

togetherbymetalwireswhichare ?

RavFuerstansweredthattheprimaryuseofthisfencingiswhenitisattachedtothegroundwithmetal

stakes ( ) and is thereforedisqualified frombeinga . In contrast,

Venetianblindsarenotconsidered becausetheyaremerelyslidintoaframeorhousing

butarenotactuallyattachedtothehouse/ground.4Accordingly,theconcernraisedbyIggerosMoshedoes

notapplytotheproductinquestion,anditmaybeusedasschach(assuming,ofcourse,itisputontothe

succahintheprescribedmanner).

Allschachmustprovidemoreshade(i.e.filledinarea)thansun(openarea)inordertobeacceptablefor

use. Whentherecommendedreedfencingwasplacedontopofasuccahitwasnotimmediatelyobvious

thatitqualifiedas anditwasdifficulttoaccuratelymeasureif,infact,itdid. However,

bymeasuringtheaveragereeddiameterandnotingapproximatelyhowmanyreedsthereareperlinear

foot,wewereabletodeterminethatonaveragethereabout5560%coverage/shadeandthatqualifiesas

.5

Itisnoteworthythatonalchatchilahlevel,brokenreedsshouldnotbecountedintheafotrementioned

calculation (as noted above), such that in some circumstances especially as the fencing is handled

repeatedlythefencingmaynolongerqualifyas unlessadoublelayerisused.6

1SeeMishnahBerurah629:22.2Althoughsomereedswillbesuspendedabovethesupportbeams(heldintheairbythefencingsmetalwiring),RavFuerstdoesnotconsiderthis

tobeaconcernsincethosereedswouldnaturallyfallontothebeamsifnotforthewires,suchthattheyprovideshaderegardlessofthewires.3IggerosMosheOC1:177.4Thus,forexample,RavFuerstsaidthatitwouldnotbeconsidered onShabbostorehangthistypeofVenetianblindssincetheyarenotbeing

attachedtothegroundortothehouse. [SeeRema315:1,MishnahBerurah315:6,andChazonIshOC52:13regardingrehangingblindswhichare

attachedtothehouse.]5Althoughtheaveragereeddiameterforsomevarietieswasconsiderablythinnerin2014thanin2013(anaverageof0.350.4cmascomparedto

0.52cm),thereedswerealsoplacedclosertogethersuchthatthecoverageremainedapproximatelythesame(5461%in2014,ascomparedto59%

in2013).6Infact,somesectionsofbrandnewfencinghadenoughbrokenreedssuchthatthecoveragewasbelow50%unlessonecountedtheshadeprovided

bythosebrokenreeds.


3/3



Pricing

Duringthe2013/5774Succosseason,wepricedafewlocalandinternetalternativesforschachandfound

that:(a)matsspecificallycertifiedforSuccahuse,cost7to11timesasmuchpersquarefootastheones

recommended inthisdocument,7and(b)storesspecificallycateringtoSuccahneedswereselling loose

bamboopolesforapproximately1335%cheaperpersquarefootthanHomeDepot.8 [Pricecomparisons

donotincludeshippingcharges. Squarefootcoverageprovidedbythedifferentalternativesisestimated.]

7MatFencingrecommendedinthisdocumentsellsfor$0.200.25persquarefoot,andcertifiedschachmatsweresellingfor$1.41$2.19persquare

foot.8HomeDepotwassellingbundlesofloosepolesfor$3.203.40persquarefoot,andstorescateringtoSuccahneedsweresellingbundlesfor$2.40

2.80persquarefoot.

Documents

Schach Mat Fencing