{"id":10245,"date":"2006-09-27T22:22:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-27T22:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/masechet_sukkah2733\/"},"modified":"2015-10-22T07:03:27","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T12:03:27","slug":"masechet_sukkah2733","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/masechet_sukkah2733\/","title":{"rendered":"Masechet Sukkah 27a-33b"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz<\/em><\/p>\n

This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud.<\/em><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s Steinsaltz Daf Yomi is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Alan Harris, The Lewy Family Foundation, and Marilyn and Edward Kaplan<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sukkah 27a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mishnah<\/a> brings the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer<\/a>, who says that over the course of Sukkot<\/a><\/em>, a person is obligated to eat two meals per day in the sukkah<\/a><\/em>, i.e. one should eat 14 meals in the sukkah<\/em> over the course of the Biblically mandated seven-day holiday. According to the Chachamim<\/a><\/em>, however, there is only an obligation to eat in the sukkah<\/em> on the first night of the holiday. From then on, a person can choose to eat food that does not obligate him to sit in the sukkah<\/em>, and he will not be obligated to do so.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus was also known as Rabbi Eliezer ha-Gadol. He lived during the time of the destruction of the second Temple<\/a> and in the period following the destruction. Although Rabbi Eliezer came from a wealthy family that could trace its roots back to Moshe Rabbenu<\/a>, he did not begin to study Torah<\/a> until he was 20 years old, when he traveled to Jerusalem<\/a> to study with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai<\/a>. Rabbi Eliezer so impressed his teacher that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai considered him to be the best of all his students and, indeed, the equal of all the Sages. His knowledge and leadership abilities were already recognized before the destruction of the Temple<\/a>, and he is one of the Sages who established the great yeshiva<\/a> in Yavneh<\/a> together with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai after the destruction.<\/p>\n

We find recorded in Pirkei Avot<\/a><\/em> that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai described Rabbi Eliezer as a “well plastered cistern that never loses a drop of water,” whose teachings were based almost entirely on traditions that he received from his teachers. Nevertheless, we find that, in contrast to his teachers and peers, Rabbi Eliezer was inclined to follow the opinions of Bet Shammai<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Akiva<\/a> was his main student, although virtually all of the Sages of that generation learned from him. His own son, Hyrcanus, was accepted as one of the leading Sages of his generation.<\/p>\n

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Sukkah 28a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the context of discussing Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus<\/a> and his teacher, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai<\/a>, the Gemara<\/a> mentions that Hillel ha-Zaken<\/a> had eighty students \u2013 thirty who are described as deserving of divine revelation like Moshe Rabbeinu<\/a>, thirty who merit the cessation of heavenly orbits as did Yehoshua bin Nun<\/a>, and twenty average students. The greatest of his students was Yonatan ben Uziel<\/a>; the least of them was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai.<\/p>\n

In what fields was the “least of the students” expert?<\/p>\n

It was said of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai that his studies included the written Torah<\/a>, the Mishnah<\/a>, the Gemara, the Halakhot<\/a><\/em>, and Aggadot<\/a><\/em>; the subtle points of the Torah and the minutiae of the Scribes; the inferences from minor to major<\/a> and analogies; astronomy and geometry (the simple meaning of the word in Greek is land measurements, but it was commonly used to mean engineering or mathematics in general); the language of the ministering angels; the language of the demons, the whisper of the palms, washer’s proverbs and fox fables, and matters great and small.<\/p>\n

The report on Yonatan ben Uziel was that when he would sit and study Torah, a bird that flew above his head would immediately burn up.<\/p>\n

We have surprisingly little biographical information about Yonatan ben Uziel. His life’s work, for which he is best known and remembered, is his translation of the books of Nach<\/em> (nevi’im<\/a><\/em>) into Aramaic<\/a>. It is not clear whether the translation that we have today is actually the one that he wrote, or whether it is based on his work. In any case, it is not simply a translation, but a free interpretation, which includes many details and elucidations. Although a translation into Greek already existed at the time, his work was groundbreaking in that it included interpretations beyond the simple meaning of the words and was done according to \u2013 and with the approval of \u2013 the Sages of his generation.<\/p>\n

We find that Yonatan ben Uziel was so well regarded during his lifetime, that even Shamai ha-Zaken<\/a>, who served as the Av Bet Din<\/a><\/em>, sought him out to discuss issues of halakha<\/em> with him.<\/p>\n

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Sukkah 29a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mishnah<\/a> (28b) taught the general principle that during the week of Sukkot<\/a><\/em> a person should make his house his temporary dwelling (ara’i<\/em>) and his sukkah<\/a><\/em> his permanent dwelling (keva<\/em>). Thus, a person’s beautiful utensils should be brought into the sukkah<\/em> and his normal eating, drinking and daily activities should take place there.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, not everything is appropriate in the sukkah<\/em>. Rava<\/a> rules that the place for drinking utensils is in the sukkah<\/em>, but eating utensils should remain in the house.<\/p>\n

Similarly, a candle can only be left in a large sukkah<\/em>; if the sukkah<\/em> is small then the candle should remain in the house.<\/p>\n

The Rosh<\/a><\/em> and the Me’iri<\/a><\/em> explain that the problem with eating utensils is that when they become dirty they are inappropriate for the sukkah<\/em>, so they must be removed immediately. Tosafot<\/a><\/em> and the Ritva<\/a><\/em> argue that the reference is not to plates as much as it is to pots and pans, whose place is in the kitchen and not on the table. Others suggest that the difference between eating utensils and drinking utensils is that there are set times for meals, so those are the only times that eating utensils belong in the sukkah<\/em>. Drinking takes place all of the time, so cups and glasses always belong in the sukkah<\/em>.<\/p>\n

With regard to the candle, the most obvious explanation of the Gemara<\/a> is that in a small sukkah<\/em> we are afraid that a fire might break out, which is the approach suggested by Tosafot<\/em> and the Rosh<\/em>. \u00a0Alternatively, as explained by the Ritva<\/em> and the Mei’ri<\/em>, the need to stay a distance away from the fire effectively takes away from the size of the sukkah<\/em>, so it cannot be placed in a sukkah<\/em> which is the minimum size to begin with. Rashi<\/a> offers an alternative approach \u2013 that we are talking about a clay candle holder, and that even if the candle is no longer burning, it should not be left in a sukkah<\/em>, since it is considered ugly and disgusting \u2013 like the dirty dishes that must immediately be removed.<\/p>\n

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Sukkah 30a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The third perek<\/em>, Lulav ha-Gazul<\/em>, which began on yesterday’s daf<\/em>, or page (29b), focuses on the mitzvah<\/a><\/em> of taking the four species<\/a> (see Vayikra<\/a> 23:40<\/a>). Based on the explanation of this commandment in the Torah<\/a>, many details remain unclear:<\/p>\n