Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim · Siman 637

Shulchan Arukh Orach Chayim 637 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1Laws Relating to a Borrowed or Stolen Sukkah. Containing 3 paragraphs: A person who did not build a sukkah (before the festival), whether unintentionally or intentionally should build a sukkah during Chol HaMoed (and dwell in it), even towards the close of the seventh day. It is permitted to leave this sukkah and dwell in another sukkah.
2. 2One fulfills his obligation with a borrowed sukkah and one may fulfill his obligation with a sukkah that he owns in partnership with a friend
3. 3A stolen sukkah is valid. How? If one overpowered his friend, left his (own) sukkah and stole it and then dwelt in it, he has fulfilled his obligation, since land can never be stolen. Rema: However, initially, one should not sit in his friend's sukkah without his permission; all the more if he sat in it without his permission with the intent of stealing it. Therefore, we do not initially make a sukkah on someone else's property without their permission, and likewise for public property (Hagahos Ashiri). However, after the fact, he has fulfilled his obligation. Therefore, a Jew does not cut his own s'chach; rather he buys it from a gentile, and one does not initially make a sukkah out of anything that is stolen (Maharil). If one stole pieces of wood and made a sukkah with them (and used them as s’chach for his sukkah, the sukkah may be valid) even though he did not attach them to his sukkah but merely placed them on it and didn't change them at all, he has fulfilled his obligation. The Sages ordained that the person from whom the wood was stolen is owed only its value. However, if someone stole a sukkah that was built on top of a ship or on top of a wagon and dwells in it, he has not fulfilled his obligation. Rema: And this is the law if Reuven built a sukkah on Shimon's land, and Shimon overpowered Reuven and stole the sukkah that was built on his property, Shimon has not fulfilled his obligation with it. The Sages instituted such an ordinance only when one labored (to build a sukkah) for the sake of the mitzvah, and when one invested effort (Hagahos Ashiri

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