Die Mizwa von Lulav —Wie das? (dh wie haben sie es im Tempel am Schabbat erfüllt?) Wenn der erste Tag des Festivals am Schabbat ausfiel, brachten sie ihre Lulavim zum Tempelberg [am Sabbatabend] und zu den Sextons [die für den Schabbat da waren] Bedürfnisse der Gemeinde] würde sie nehmen und sie auf der Itzteva arrangieren. [Der Platz des Tempelbergs war von Itztevaoth (Kolonnaden) umgeben, auf denen Menschen saßen und die gegen den Regen bedeckt waren.] Und die Ältesten [die sich Sorgen machten, angerempelt zu werden, als sie am nächsten Tag kamen, um ihre zu holen lulavim] würde ihre in der lishkah lassen. Und sie [Beth-Din] lehrten sie [alle Leute] zu sagen: "Wenn jemand anderes mein Lulav bekommt, ist es sein Geschenk" [damit es nicht den Status "gestohlen" oder "geliehen" hat. von ihm.] Am nächsten Tag würden sie früh aufstehen und kommen, und die Sextons würden sie (die Lulavim) vor sich werfen. Sie würden sie ergreifen (versuchen, ihre eigenen zu bekommen) und würden zu Schlägen kommen. Als Beth-Din sah, dass dies eine Gefahr darstellte, stellten sie fest, dass jeder seinen eigenen Lulav in sein Haus nehmen sollte.
Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
מוליכין את לולביהן להר הבית – the first day of the Festival [of Sukkot] that occurs on the Sabbath, they would bring their Lulavim from the eve of the Sabbath (i.e., Friday).
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
Introduction
In 3:13 we learned how the mitzvah of lulav was performed in the synagogue on Shabbat and how they managed to get their lulavs to the synagogue while avoiding the prohibition of carrying. In today’s mishnah we see how the same problem was addressed when the Temple still stood and the people were bringing their lulav not to the synagogue but to the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
החזנים – the sextons that were there for the needs of the community/congregation.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
The mitzvah of the lulav how was it carried out? The question is not really how the mitzvah of lulav was in general performed, but rather how the mitzvah was performed so as to avoid the problem while avoiding certain halakhic problems that would arise on Shabbat.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
על גב האצטבא – the open place of the Temple Mount which was surrounded by porticos to sit there and covering the festival booth (i.e., Sukkah) from above because of the rains.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
If the first day of the festival fell on Shabbat, they brought their lulavim to the Temple Mount, and the attendants would receive them and arrange them on top of the portico, and the elders laid theirs in the chamber. And they would teach the people to say, “Whoever gets my lulav in his hand, let it be his as a gift.” The problem of taking the lulav in the Temple on Shabbat is twofold. First of all it is forbidden to carry a lulav through the public domain on Shabbat, so they would have to bring their lulavim to the Temple Mount on Friday. Secondly, one has to be able to recognize his own lulavim because one can fulfill one's obligation only with one's own lulav. In 3:13 we read that in the synagogue everyone recognized their lulav. In the Temple there were just too many lulavim to hope that everyone would recognize which was theirs. Therefore the leaders in the Temple trained everyone to say that if someone else took their lulav, then that lulav should belong to them. In this way everyone would own the lulav that they actually ended up with.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
הזקנים – that worry that they would not be knocked down on the morrow when they would come to to take each person his Lulav.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
The next day they got up early, and came [to the Temple Mount] and the attendants threw down [their lulavim] before them, and they snatched at them, and so they used to come to blows with one another. While this solution resolved the halakhic problem, it created a social problem people were still jostling each other over who gets which lulav. It might have been that everyone was trying to get their own lulav, despite what they had said the previous day. Equally likely in my opinion, is that everyone wanted to take the nicest looking lulav they could find, even if the one that they had brought was not the best. In any case, the mad scramble for lulavim led to brawls. This seems to be another case of people allowing their religious zeal to go overboard causing them to neglect the welfare of their fellow human being.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Sukkah
ומלמדין – The Jewish court (would teach] all the people to say that if my Lulav were to come into the hand of my fellow, it would be his as a gift, in order that it wouldn’t be for him either stolen or borrowed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Sukkah
When the court saw that they reached a state of danger, they instituted that each man should take [his lulav] in his own home. The court was quick to put an end to this situation and ruled that it is better for people just to stay at home then to potentially harm each other over the taking of the lulav. I think it is essential to notice how far the court was willing to go to ensure the safety of the people and to prevent religious zealotry from becoming a dominant force. Better that the opportunity to join together in fulfilling the mitzvah of the lulav should be lost than that it should bring violent results.
