our poles are 7'8" poles, but the top of the pole actually sticks up above the s'chach level by maybe a foot or 3/4 of a foot or so. And it's designed to be that way, which I think is a little odd.
That sounds odd. I wonder why they did it that way.
On mine, the poles slot into corner pieces, so there are no protruding parts. But those top corners are way up there; it was hard for me to reach and one of them isn't really square (couldn't get it in all the way), but it's square enough for a temporary dwelling. It's not going to fall down, in other words. :-)
The Sukkah Project (that's where I got mine) has a nice idea for the roof slats that I haven't seen before. (You need slats for support, but you especially need slats if the frame is metal, which mine is, because you can't rest the s'chach directly on metal.) Each slat is a board that has a velcro strap at each end -- so you lay the slat in place, loop the velcro around the frame, attach, and you're done. No tying. I like that.
"acts that I do through an agent are still my acts, and if it's wrong for me then it's wrong."IANAJ, but it sounds to me like you're conflating two things here, "wrong for me" and "wrong". Also, consider the person on whose behalf the agent is acting. "Wrong for me" but not necessarily "wrong" sounds to me like the gray area in which the Shabbos Goy exists. It's not wrong for a goy to light a fire on Saturday, even though it's wrong for you. I've seen it argued both ways whether it's OK for you to ask (hire) someone to light the fire for you
( ... )
You're right; I was conflating two things. If my mom asked me to kill someone (which she would never ever do) I would decline; if she asked me to pick up a BLT for her at the deli I'd do that. So the question comes down to which mourning rituals are for the deceased and which are for the survivors. I know that someday I am going to have to arrange for a Catholic funeral for a parent; I will attend out of respect for the rest of the family and despite the discomfort it will cause me. But I won't say the prayers, even if a parent were to ask me to, because to me that crosses the line into forbidden worship. And then, when we're done doing the stuff that's required for their religion, I will go home and sit shiva so that I can mourn
( ... )
Your understanding of Shabbos Goyim matches what I'd understood of it, and what I'd understood your standpoint to be. However, I have seen references (no citation, sorry, it was on LJ somewhere) that some people/groups have (perhaps only in the past) explicitly hired a Goy to be on hand during shabbos to handle activities forbidden to Jews. The comment thread then spun off into a consideration of the ethics of asking Goyim to perform actions not forbidden to them, and whether the fact that you would benefit from actions forbidden to you was a controlling consideration.
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On mine, the poles slot into corner pieces, so there are no protruding parts. But those top corners are way up there; it was hard for me to reach and one of them isn't really square (couldn't get it in all the way), but it's square enough for a temporary dwelling. It's not going to fall down, in other words. :-)
The Sukkah Project (that's where I got mine) has a nice idea for the roof slats that I haven't seen before. (You need slats for support, but you especially need slats if the frame is metal, which mine is, because you can't rest the s'chach directly on metal.) Each slat is a board that has a velcro strap at each end -- so you lay the slat in place, loop the velcro around the frame, attach, and you're done. No tying. I like that.
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