Daf Yomi - Sukkah 5 - Highlights

1. There are various sources cited for the Halacha that a Sukkah which is not ten tefachim high is invalid. One of the sources is learned from the Aron, the Holy Ark. The Aron was nine tefachim high and the kapores, the Ark-cover, was one tefach thick. Hashem spoke to Moshe from on top of the kapores and we have learned that the Divine Presence never descended below into the human domain. It is thus evident that ten tefachim from the ground is considered a separate domain. It follows, then, that the Sukkah must be at least ten tefachim high.

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2. The Gemara states that the source that the kapores was a tefach thick is derived from the least, (not a vessel itself but an auxiliary feature) of the utensils in the Bais HaMikdash. It said regarding the Shulchan, the table, that its border was one tefach all around. Just like the border of the Shulchan was a tefach high, so too the kapores measured a tefach high. An alternative source is that it is said regarding the kapores, upon the eastern face of the Cover, and there is no human face less than a tefach tall.
3. There is a debate regarding the border of the Shulchan if the border was on top of the Shulchan or if the border was underneath the Shulchan.
4. The Gemara cites another source as proof that a Sukkah must be at least ten tefachim high. The Keruvim that were on top of the kapores were ten tefachim high and regarding the wings of the Keruvim it is said the Cherubim shall be with wings spread above, sheltering the Cover with their wings. The word for spread is sochechim, which has the same root word as s’chach. Thus we have proof that a valid Sukkah must have an interior space ten tefachim high, exclusive of the s’chach.
5. There is an opinion that maintains that the ruling that a Sukkah must be ten tefachim high is a Halacha LeMoshe MiSinai, an oral law given to Moshe at Sinai that has no Scriptural basis.