Commentary for Sukkah 2:10

הישן. לא יצא ידי חובתו – and as long as the bed will be ten handbreadths high, for then it is considered a tent and it is found that the tent interrupts between him and the Sukkah. But the essential Mitzvah of Sukkah is eating, drinking sleeping.

Introduction This mishnah teaches that a person who sleeps underneath a bed inside the sukkah has not fulfilled his obligation to dwell in the sukkah. This is because the bed, which is not valid skhakh acts as a barrier between him and the valid skhakh above. We should note that in mishnaic and talmudic times it was clearly customary and obligatory to sleep inside the sukkah. The practice of not sleeping in the sukkah has its origins in cold medieval Europe where a person would truly suffer by sleeping in the sukkah.

נוהגים היינו כו' – for he holds that a temporary tent does not come to cancel out a permanent tent. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

He who sleeps under a bed in the sukkah has not fulfilled his obligation. The problem with sleeping under a bed inside a sukkah is that there is a covering which creates a barrier over the person so that the skhakh is not what is covering him. In the Talmud they restrict this halakhah to a bed that is ten handbreadths high, the minimum height of a sukkah. Sleeping under such a bed would be akin to sleeping in an invalid sukkah inside a valid sukkah. However, one may sleep under a smaller bed and still fulfill one’s obligation to dwell in the sukkah. Note that this is what allows one to sleep under a blanket in the sukkah. The blanket is less than ten handbreadths from the body.

עבדים פטורים מן הסוכה – for it is a positive time-bound commandment for which women are exempt, and any commandment for which a woman is liable, a slave is liable.

Rabbi Judah said: we had the custom to sleep under a bed in the presence of the elders, and they didn’t say anything to us. Rabbi Judah holds that the bed does not serve as a barrier between him and the sukkah and hence one who sleeps under a bed has fulfilled his obligation. Interestingly, Rabbi Judah notes that this was actually their custom. It might be that students visiting their rabbis on Sukkot, which seems to have been a norm on festivals, found the sukkot quite crowded. Hence, some people would sleep under the beds, causing the question to arise: is this legitimate behavior?

ולפי דרכנו למדנו – even though he did no specify other than mere profane talk (see Talmud Sukkah 28a), that he was praising his servant, we learn that someone who sleeps under the bed, etc.

Rabbi Shimon said: it happened that Tabi, the slave of Rabba Gamaliel, used to sleep under the bed. And Rabban Gamaliel said to the elders, “Have you seen Tabi my slave, who is a scholar, and knows that slaves are exempt from [the law of] a sukkah, therefore he sleep under the bed.” And incidentally we learned that he who sleeps under a bed has not fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi Shimon agrees with the sages in section one and he brings a story to illustrate his point. Rabban Gamaliel owned a famous slave named Tabi. In tractate Berakhot 2:7 that Rabban Gamaliel respected his slave, and that when Tabi died he even mourned for him. In this mishnah, Tabi exemplifies his knowledge of halakhah by sleeping under the bed in the sukkah. He knew that he was exempt from the sukkah, as are all slaves, so he did a demonstrative act to let others know that one who sleeps under the bed has not fulfilled his sukkah obligation.

רבי יהודה אומר אם אינה יכולה לעמוד בפני עצמה – Rabbi Yehuda according to his reasoning, who said that [regarding a] Sukkah we require a permanent dwelling. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Introduction There are two completely separate topics addressed in this mishnah. The first deals with a person who supports his sukkah on bedposts. The second deals with the necessary thickness and orderliness of the skhakh.

מדובללת – he did not lay the reeds together one next to another, but rather (see Talmud Sukkah 22a) one reed going up and another read going down, and through this, its sunlight is greater than its shade, and our Mishnah teaches us that we see as if they are lying evenly, and if this is he case, the shade is greater and fit/valid.

One who supports his sukkah with the posts of a bed, it is valid. Rabbi Judah says: if it cannot stand on its own, it is invalid. In this case a person used his bedposts to support his sukkah. The bedposts served as the poles upon which the skhakh rested. The sages say that it is valid but Rabbi Judah requires a structure that cannot be carried around and hence he invalidates it. We should note that on several occasions we have seen that Rabbi Judah validates permanent like structures for a sukkah (see 1:1, 1:7). Here we see that he invalidates portable sukkot.

A disorderly sukkah (and whose shade is more than its sun is valid. There are two readings of this mishnah. According to the reading which has the words “and one,” the mishnah discusses two matters: 1) a disorderly sukkah and 2) a sukkah whose skhakh provides more shade than the sun that it allows in. A disorderly sukkah according to this explanation is a sukkah whose skhakh looks disorganized. Some of it is poking up and some of it is sticking down. As long as there is more shade than sun, this sukkah is valid. According to the other explanation and reading of the mishnah the words “and one” are not part of the mishnah. Rather the mishnah refers to a sukkah without a lot of skhakh. Such a sukkah is valid as long as the shade is more than the sun.

One whose [skhakh] is thick like [the roof] of a house is valid, even though the stars cannot be seen through it. Despite common belief, the skhakh of a sukkah can be so thick that one cannot even see anything through it. However, the halakhah is that although such a sukkah is valid, it is not desirable. One should strive to have skhakh that is not quite this thick.

בראש העגלה – even though it is unsteady and not fixed.

Introduction There are two interrelated subjects in this mishnah: 1) building a sukkah in a strange place; 2) entering the sukkah on the festival. As background we should note that on a festival or Shabbat it is forbidden to climb a tree, lest one break off a branch, which is prohibited on Shabbat and a festival. It is also forbidden to ride on an animal on a festival or Shabbat. The mishnah uses the language “go up into” the sukkah because sukkot were often built on the flat roofs of their homes. Nevertheless, not all of these mishnayot describe actually going up into a sukkah.

בראש הספינה – on the sea, and the wind controls there and uproots it.

One who makes his sukkah on the top of a wagon, or on the deck of a ship, it is valid and one may go up into it on the festival. One can build a sukkah on a wagon or on a ship and one can enter into it on Shabbat. The Talmud explains that the sukkah has to be strong enough to stand up to a wind of common strength. One who builds such a sukkah can enter into on the festival because there is no prohibition of getting onto a ship or a wagon on the festival. Indeed, there is a well-known story in the Talmud of rabbis traveling on Sukkot and making a sukkah on the ship. Assumedly, Rabbi Judah who in yesterday’s mishnah stated that a sukkah made using a bed’s bedposts is invalid, would also invalidate a sukkah made on a wagon or ship.

כשרה – for it is a called a dwelling/residence. And this can withstand the winds found on dry land.

If he made it on the top of a tree, or on the back of a camel, it is valid, but one may not go up into it on the festival. A sukkah made on top of a tree or on the back of a camel is also a valid sukkah (I have actually seen such a thing in Neot Kedumim, near where we live in Israel). However, since it is forbidden to climb a tree or ride on an animal on Shabbat or a festival, these sukkot could only be used during Hol Hamoed, the non-festival days of Sukkot.

ועולין לה ביום טוב – since our Mishnah needs to teach the conclusion that they don’t ascend [to the Sukkah], the beginning of the Mishnah teaches, we ascend/go up.

If the tree [formed] two [walls] and one was made by the hands of man, or if two were made by the hands of man and one was formed by the tree, it is valid, but one may not go up into it on the festival. In this and the next section the person doesn’t make his sukkah in a tree but rather he uses a tree to support the roof of his sukkah. A tree can be used to support the sukkah’s wall even though the leaves may not count as skhakh when they are attached to the tree. A sukkah must have at least three walls, so if he uses a tree to support even one these three walls he cannot enter the sukkah on the festival because that would be considered using the tree.

בראש האילן – he established his seat at the top and he made there partitions/walls and the cover of the festive booth (i.e., a ceiling of twigs or matting).

If three walls were made by the hands of man and one was formed by the tree, it is valid and one may go up into it on the festival. This is the general rule: in any case in which if the tree was removed the [sukkah] could stand on its own, it is valid and one may go up into it on the festival. If, however, he has four walls and only one supported by the tree then the sukkah would be valid and would be able to stand even without the tree. Hence, he may enter this sukkah on the festival because by doing so he is not actually using the tree. The tree-wall is superfluous. The mishnah now summarizes this rule citing a general principle.

כשרה – on the Intermediate Days of the Festival.

ואין עולין לה ביו"ט – for it was decreed by the Rabbis that we don’t ascend upon a tree and we don’t use it lest he detach [a branch].

שתים באילן – he supported most of the floor of the Sukkah on the tree, and he made around it at the top of the tree two walls and one was man-made on the ground and it supported the bottom of the Sukkah in the middle of the wall that he made on the ground and raised the wall from it and raised it ten [handbreadths].

או שתים בידי אדם ואחת באילן – since for if he would take it, the bottom of the Sukkah would fall, and could not stand with the support of two [sides of the Sukkah] that are in the ground, and we don’t ascend it on Yom Tov/Holy Days of the Festival, for one is using the tree.

והאילנות דפנות לה כשירה – and this is the case where the trees are thick and strong and don’t move when a frequent wind comes. And it is also necessary to fill between the branches with straw and stubble so that wind will not move them, and all partitions that cannot stand with frequent wind is not a partition.

Introduction The first section of this mishnah continues to discuss walls used as trees for the sukkah. The second section begins to discuss a new topic: when a person is obligated to be in the sukkah and what a person is obligated to do there. This will be the topic of the remainder of the chapter of the mishnah. Up until now all of the discussions have been about the structure of the sukkah itself.

שלוחי מצוה פטורים – for someone who engages with [the performance of] a commandment/Mitzvah is exempt from the Commandment, and not only are they exempt at the time that they are engaged with [another] Mitzvah, but even at a time when they are not engaged in it, for example, a person who goes to receive and welcome his teacher or to redeem captives is exempt, even at the time of his resting.

If one makes his sukkah between trees, so that the trees form its walls, it is valid. In this case a person uses a tree for all of the sukkah’s walls, not as support for the walls but rather as the walls themselves. This might easily happen if there were some bushy trees that could block him on at least three sides. He supports the skhakh with poles and not with the trees. The sukkah is valid and he may even use it on the festival, since the sukkah is not actually resting on the trees.

חולין ומשמשיהן פטורים – and even those who are simply sick, and he who permits to annual a positive commandment of the Torah because of a mere illness, and is pained because of bad smell or because of bed-bugs and fleas where he is exempt, and similarly, those who walk on the path and those who guard the gardens and orchards, the Rabbis exempted them from the Sukkah, the reason is because it is written (Leviticus 23:42): “You shall live/dwell in booths [seven days; all the citizens of Israel shall live in booths],” like the way you live, and wherever there is a thing that because of that, he would leave from his dwelling, he can also leave from his Sukkah. But one who makes his Sukkah from the outset in a place that is appropriate to be in pain while eating or sleeping, such as in a place where he is afraid of robbers while sleeping, but he is not afraid of thieves or robbers while eating, even regarding eating, he does not fulfill his obligation in that Sukkah, for since it is not appropriate to do within it all of his needs of eating and drinking and sleeping, for we require where he can reside, and this is a case where it is not like “living/residing.”

Those who are agents to perform a mitzvah are exempt from [the obligations of] sukkah. People who are busy performing a mitzvah and find it difficult to eat or sleep in a sukkah are exempt from the sukkah. This is due to the general rule that one who is engaged in one mitzvah is exempt from performing another mitzvah. However, this is only true if by eating or sleeping in the sukkah he would be unable or distracted from performing the other mitzvah he set out to perform. If he could perform both at the same time, then he must do so.

אוכלים ושותים עראי – a small amount to remove his hunger, and his intention is to eat a meal afterwards.

People who are sick and their attendants are exempt from [the obligations of] sukkah. People who are sick enough so that being in the sukkah would be a discomfort for them, are not obligated for the laws of the sukkah. Being in the sukkah is not supposed to be painful and therefore, one who would be pained by being in the sukkah is exempt. Note, that the mishnah is not addressed to those who might “fake” being sick in order to get out of sleeping or eating in the sukkah. It is addressed to those who are so zealous about keeping the commandments that they would risk injury or at least illness to do so. The rabbis tell such a person to get out of the sukkah the sukkah is not supposed to cause one pain.

One may eat and drink casually outside the sukkah. Meals must be eaten in the sukkah. However, snacking may be done outside of the sukkah. According to the Rambam, while one can snack outside of the sukkah, one who strives to only eat and drink in the sukkah is praiseworthy.

ואמרו העלום לסוכה – not according to the law, but they were stringent upon themselves, and we learn from this that whomever is stringent upon himself to not evat even an incidental meal (i.e., a snack) outside of the Sukkah, behold this is praiseworthy.

Introduction This mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah, dealing with whether a person may snack outside of the sukkah.

אוכל פחות מכביצה – [he took it with a napkin]. On account of washing his hands and because of the blessing, he took less than an egg’s bulk, for had it been because of the Sukkah, we would say that one can eat an incidental meal outside of the Sukkah, and even more than an egg’s bulk.

It once happened that they brought a dish to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai to taste, and two dates and a pail of water to Rabban Gamaliel and they said, “Bring them up to the sukkah.” The mishnah tells a story of two rabbis who refused to eat anything outside of the sukkah, even a couple of dates, water or the taste of a dish. It seems that these rabbis were acting “beyond the letter of the law.” Although they could have eaten outside of the sukkah as we learned in the end of yesterday’s mishnah, they chose to be strict and ordered their servants to bring the food up to the sukkah.

And when they gave Rabbi Zadok food less than the bulk of an egg, he took it in a napkin, ate it outside the sukkah and did not say a blessing after it. Rabbi Zadok on the other hand does not tell his servant to bring the small amount of food, less than an egg’s worth, up to the sukkah. He eats it outside the sukkah. He also performs a few more acts from which we can learn halakhah. First of all, he takes the food in a napkin and does not wash his hands, as was customary during this period. Secondly, he does not say a blessing afterwards. Rabbi Zadok holds that one recites a blessing after eating only an egg’s worth of food.

ארבע עשרה סעודות – two meals on each days for the seven days [of the Festival].

Introduction In this mishnah the sages and Rabbi Eliezer debate how many and which meals a person must eat in the sukkah during the festival.

אין לדבר קצבה – if he wanted to eat, he could not eat outside of the Sukkah; if he wanted to fast, he could fast, but it was not necessary for him.

Rabbi Eliezer says: a man is obligated to eat fourteen meals in the sukkah, one on each day and one on each night. But the sages say: there is no fixed number, except on the first night of the festival alone. Rabbi Eliezer says that a person must eat fourteen meals in the sukkah, two each day, one during the day and one at night. In other words, eating in the sukkah is a positive commandment on each and every day. Just as one normally eats two meals a day, so too one is commanded to eat two meals a day in the sukkah. The sages disagree and hold that one is only obligated to eat in the sukkah on the first night of sukkot. On all other days, he may skip meals. Of course, if he wants to eat a meal he must do so in the sukkah. This is similar to the obligation to eat matzah. A person must eat matzah on the first night of Pesah. However, on every subsequent day one need not eat matzah, there is only a prohibition from eating bread.

חוץ מלילי יו"ט הראשון – and we derive it (Leviticus 23:6) “on the fifteenth day” and (Leviticus 23:33) “on the fifteenth day” from the holiday of Unleavened bread. Just as eating Matzah on the first night is obligatory, but from here and onward it is optional, so [dwelling in the] Sukkah as well.

Furthermore Rabbi Eliezer said: if one did not eat in the sukkah on the first night of the festival, he may make up for it on the last night of the festival. But the sages say: there is no compensation for this, and of this was it said: “That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is lacking cannot be counted” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). Rabbi Eliezer holds that one who did not eat in the sukkah on the first night may make up the missed meal by eating a festive meal on the last night of the festival, on the eve of Shmini Atzeret, the eighth day. Although this festive meal is not eaten in the sukkah, it still counts as a replacement for the meal he missed on the first day. In the Talmud, they question Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion. Didn’t he say that one has to eat in the sukkah two meals every day? If so, why does only the first meal need to be made up? The answer seems to be that Rabbi Eliezer agrees with the other sages that the first meal is the most important one, even though the others are obligatory as well. There is also a question as to how one can make up a meal that was supposed to have been eaten in the sukkah, by eating a meal outside of the sukkah, where one eats on Shemini Atzeret. The answer to this seems to be that when it comes to Sukkot, Rabbi Eliezer counts the evening as following the day. Thus what we would call the first meal of Shemini Atzeret is really to Rabbi Eliezer the last meal of Sukkot. The sages respond to Rabbi Eliezer that a missed meal cannot be made up. They quote an often cited verse from Ecclesiastes which shows, according to its midrashic meaning, that some commandments, when not fulfilled in their proper time, cannot be made up.

ישלים בלילי יו"ט האחרון – on the night of Shemini Atzeret/The Eighth Day of Solemn Assembly, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer in both of them.

ב"ש פוסלין – And the Halakha is according to the School of Shammai, whether in a large Sukkah and he is sitting at the opening of the Sukkah and his table is within the house, whether in a small Sukkah which does not support/squeeze together his head, the majority of his body and his table, everything is prohibited, as a decree lest he is drawn after his table.

Introduction The main topic of this mishnah is how much of a person’s body must be within the sukkah while he is eating.

One whose head and the greater part of his body were within the sukkah and his table within the house: Bet Shammai say: it is invalid and Bet Hillel say it valid. If someone has a small sukkah, one that is not capable of fitting his entire body, but only his head and most of his body, Bet Shammai declare the sukkah invalid and Bet Hillel say it is valid. Similarly, if one has a large sukkah, a sukkah sufficient to fit his entire body, but he sat with only his head and most of his body in the sukkah, while the rest of his body was out of the sukkah, he would not have fulfilled his obligation according to Bet Hillel. We should note that the terminology of this mishnah is ambiguous. At first it sounds like the mishnah is discussing where the person sits, regardless of the size of the sukkah. However, the words “valid” and “invalid” at the end of section one describe the validity of the sukkah based on its size. Hence, in my explanation I have tried to incorporate both elements. According to Bet Shammai the sukkah must be large enough to encompass his entire body and he must sit with his whole body in the sukkah. Bet Hillel say that the sukkah need only hold his head and most of his body and when sitting in the sukkah, only his head and most of his body need be inside. The table may be outside of the sukkah.

Bet Hillel said to Bet Shammai: Did it not in fact happen that the elders of Bet Shammai and the elders of Bet Hillel went to visit Rabbi Yohanan ben HaHoroni and found him sitting with his head and the greater part of his body within the sukkah and his table within the house, and they didn’t say anything to him? Bet Shammai said to them: From there [you bring] proof? Indeed they said to him, “If this is your custom, then you have never in your whole life fulfilled the commandment of the sukkah. This story illustrates the argument between Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. As an aside, we can note from this story and the discussion in 2:1 that space in sukkot might have been tight. This might reflect the reality in the Second Temple period in Jerusalem when many people came to make their pilgrimage. Alternatively, it may reflect the cramped housing and living spaces of 2nd century towns in the land of Israel.

נשים ועבדים וקטנים כו' – as it states in the Bible (Leviticus 23:42): “all citizens in Israel [shall live in booths],” excluding the women, for even though they are obligated in the eating of Matzah on the first night of Passover, they are not obligated in [dwelling in] the Sukkah on the first night of the Holiday.

Introduction Most of this mishnah is concerned with the obligation of children to observe the commandment of dwelling in the sukkah.

קטן שאינו צריך לאמו – all who stir from their sleep and do not cry out: “Mommy, Mommy,” he doesn’t need his mother and is obligated [in dwelling in the Sukkah] but younger than this, he is exempt. Ands such is the Halakha. But specifically when he cries out and repeats it and is not silent until his mother comes to him, he is called someone who needs his mother; but if he cries out one time and then is silent, he doesn’t need his mother.

Women, slaves and minors are exempt from the [commandment] of the sukkah. A minor who no longer relies on his mother is obligated in the [commandment] of the sukkah. Dwelling in the sukkah is a positive time-bound commandment, similar to hearing the shofar. As such, women and slaves are exempt. Children are also exempt, as long as they rely on their mothers and need to be with them most of the time. According to the Talmud, a child who wakes up in the middle of the night and still cries for his mother is not obligated to dwell in the sukkah. Such a child sleeps where his mother sleeps outside of the sukkah. But if he wakes up and doesn't need his mother, then he is obligated to sleep in the sukkah.

It happened that the daughter-in-law of Shammai the elder gave birth and he opened up the ceiling and put skhakh on top of the bed[posts] on behalf of the minor. In this fascinating story, Shammai the elder opens up a hole in the roof of his house so that his newborn grandson can sleep in the sukkah. Shammai obviously disagrees with the halakhah in the previous section. Shammai the elder is also known to have made his son fast on Yom Kippur, far before he would have understood the meaning of fasting. It seems that Shammai’s concept of commandment is not that one must perform an act with intent in order to affect one’s inner life (what we call “kavvanah”), rather the act must be performed regardless of whether one understands what one is doing. Children must perform mitzvot despite the fact the fact that they clearly don’t understand what they are doing.

סוכתו קבע – if he has nice vessels and nice dining couches, he brings them up into the Sukkah.

Introduction This is the final mishnah in tractate Sukkah which deals with the topic of the sukkah. It discusses some of the essential rules of how and when one must live in the sukkah.

משתסרח המקפה – when the stiff dish (of grist, oil and onions) becomes spoiled, every cooked food that is neither soft nor hard but rather the formation of coagulated substance is called a stiff dish. But most people detest a cooked dish like this, and a little bit of water ruins it completely. And the stiff dish of pounded beans hastens to become ruined in rain more than other stiff dishes, and if rain fell until if he had before him a stiff dish of pounded beans, it would become ruined, and it is permitted to leave [the Sukkah] immediately.

All seven days [of the festival] a man must make the sukkah his permanent residence and his house his temporary residence. The essential commandment of the sukkah is that one should live in it during Sukkot as one lives in a permanent home the rest of the year. In the time of the Mishnah and Talmud this meant that one would sleep and eat in the sukkah. It also meant that they would bring their regular belongings, beds, mattresses, pillows, blankets, etc. out into the Sukkah. Today it means that any activity that one can do with comfort in the sukkah, should be done there. It means inviting over company and sitting there instead of inside in the living room. It means playing games with the children in the sukkah. It means reading there, if the lights are good enough. It means striving to spend as much time in the sukkah as possible and not turning it into just a dining room.

ושפך לו - his master a pitcher on the face of the servant, that is to say, I have no use for your service, even here, these rains show that the Holy One, blessed be He does not accept their deeds with favor.

If rain fell, when may one be permitted to leave it? When the porridge becomes spoiled. They made a parable. To what can this be compared? To a slave who comes to fill the cup for his master, and he poured a pitcher over his face. Nevertheless, one is not commanded to sit in the sukkah if it is raining. Once the rain is heavy enough to drip through the skhakh and ruin the porridge (a thick soup-like mixture) then one may leave the sukkah, indeed one should leave the sukkah. Just as one would not sit inside his house underneath a leak, so too one should not sit outside in the sukkah while it is raining. The mishnah now illustrates this as a parable. The Jew who has made a sukkah is like a slave who has prepared something with which to serve his master. Instead of accepting the water (the sukkah) the master (God) pours a pitcher of water (the rain) over the slave’s face. This parable is fascinating for its simplicity and intricacy. The sukkah is in its essence a prayer for rain after all, Sukkot is the beginning of the rainy season. Yet we don’t want rain while sitting in the sukkah. Hence early rain is perceived as an insult and not as a blessing. We can see from the parable just how sensitive the issue of rain was, and still is, to those living in the land of Israel.