S'chach ( he, סכך ) is the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

name for the material used as a roof for a

sukkah A or succah (; he, סוכה ; plural, ' or ''sukkos'' or ''sukkoth'', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated ...

, used on the

Jewish holiday Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainst ...

of Sukkot. S'chach has to derive from things that have "grown from the ground", such as

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

leaves,

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

sticks and

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden ac ...

branches. Some types of wooden slats and other types of

organic material Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...

can be used for s'chach, unless they were processed for a different use. The s'chach must have been disconnected from the ground so, for example, placing a sukkah under the boughs of a tree would render it not valid. As a minimum, the s'chach must be thick enough that it provides more shade than light in the sukkah. As a maximum, there is a concept of being able to see the stars through the s'chach, but the absolute maximum is that rain should be able to penetrate into the sukkah. If the sukkah is kept year round, the s'chach must be replaced no more than 30 days before Sukkos. It is not necessary to completely remove the s'chach; it would be sufficient to lift each piece of s'chach up one foot or more into the air, and then put it back down.

References

Hebrew words and phrases Trees in religion Sukkot {{Hebrew-lang-stub Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law