Sukkah 20 – In a sukkah, under the bed

One who sleeps under the bed in a sukkah has not fulfilled his obligation of "dwelling in a sukkah." This is also true of eating and drinking, but the teacher chose to talk about sleeping because even a brief nap is not permitted outside the sukkah while eating a snack is allowed.

Rabbi Shimon tells a story to support this view. Tavi, the slave of Rabban Gamliel, was a Torah scholar. He was once sleeping under the bed in a sukkah, and Rabban Gamliel remarked to the Sages: “Do you see my slave Tavi? He knows that slaves are not obligated in the mitzvah of the sukkah (although they have to do many other mitzvot), and therefore sleeps under the bed!”

Why does Rabbi Shimon attract our attention to the word “remark?” – To tell us that Sages never chit-chat, but that even their casual remarks require study. Why? – King David compares a scholar to a tree planted near a stream, which yields fruit in season (students and teachings) and whose leaves (lighthearted remarks) never wither (that is, contain sap of knowledge).

Art: Woman Looking Under a Bed, By Edouard (Jean-Edouard) Vuillard