I wasn't planning on posting. I didn't have anything to post on that I could think of. But then I happened across this post about Sukkot found on the Lansey Brothers' Blog. I just had to leave a comment to that post. Hilarity ensued. Or rather will ensue, I hope. Or maybe despair will ensue. I just want some ensuing to happen, ok?
As I recall (and I am not making this up), according to the halachot of sukkah, you can use a person as part of a wall of a sukkah, provided that 1) the person doesn't move and 2) the person is unaware that he/she is part of a sukkah. So just invite some friends over: Eli: Hey, guys, come over my house for dinner!
Guys: Great! Later that evening...
Guys: Can we come inside?
Eli: No, we're eating out here, because it's Sukkot.
Guys: Oh, right. But where's the sukkah?
Eli: Um...I don't...know. Can you guys stand in lines forming a rectangle? Here, let me arrange you. Now don't move, ok?
Guys: What's going on? Why can't we move?
Eli: It's, it's a game! the, um, the "don't move till we're done dinner game!"
Guys: Dinner? So we can eat now?
Eli: No, not so much.
Guys: Why not?
Eli: Because you're not in a sukkah.
The Guys spontaneously combust due to the volatile combination of frustration and absurdity.
The Rabbinic Sages roll in their graves. Some may even weep.
So there you have it - a simple solution, all laid out. All you have to figure out now is what to do about schach. (Eli: Ok, now wear these branches as hats...)
By the way, women are not excluded from this. Even though the mitzvah of being part of a sukkah is a time-bound positive mitzvah, a woman can be a sukkah wall as much as a man can. However, it may be wise to adopt the custom of not having a sukkah made of both men and women, as it may lead to mixed dancing.
