Sukkah 27 - Fourteen obligatory meals in the Sukkah

One must eat fourteen meals in the Sukkah during the seven days of the Holiday, one during the day and one in the evening. This is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer. What is his logic? One should live in the Sukkah like at home, and just as at home, he eats a day meal and an evening meal; he must do the same in the Sukkah.

The Sages disagree: only the first evening meal is obligatory. What is their logic? Don't they agree that he should live in the Sukkah? Yes, they agree, but their logic is different: just as at home, eating is not obligatory but is his choice, so in the Sukkah, he is not obligated to eat. But if so, why is the first meal required? - They compare Sukkot to Pesach. Just as Pesach starts on the fifteenth of the month and the first meal - matzah - is required, Sukkot also starts on the fifteenth, and the first meal is required.

Furthermore, Rabbi Eliezer said that if one missed the first meal in the Sukkah, he can compensate it by eating another meal, and even on the Holiday right after Sukkot, which is called Shemini Atzeret, the Eighth-day Holiday. But how could Rabbi Eliezer say that - one is not allowed to sit in the Sukkah for an extra day! - By then, Rabbi Eliezer changed his mind. He agrees that fourteen meals are not required, and now he argues that one can fulfill his obligation after Sukkot, just as it is true on the eighth day of Passover.

The Prayer Before the Meal by Jan Steen

Sukkah 26 - A guarantor needs another guarantor in turn

Someone who is sick is exempt from the obligation of a sukkah: he does not have to sleep there, and he does not have to eat there. Even his attendants can go out of the sukkah and sleep outside. One who feels discomfort - such as the smell of the floor - is not obligated to be in the sukkah. If so, why did we have to mention the sick person? Surely, the sick is uncomfortable. The difference is that the sick can take his attendants with him, but it does not apply to the attendants of an uncomfortable person. 

One can eat a light snack outside the sukkah but not take a catnap. But with tefillin, catnap is allowed; what is the difference? Is it because he can appoint an overseer who will wake him up? Rav Mesharshia objected: that's not an explanation - guarantor needs his own guarantor, and your overseer may fall asleep as well! Rather, one should not nap outside the sukkah because even a nap refreshes him and counts as sleep. With tefillin, the concern is that he should not pass gas, and that won't happen while catnapping.

Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was extra strict with himself and ate and drank even small amounts only in the sukkah. Nevertheless, this kind of strictness is permitted and is not considered presumptuous.

Art: The Sick Child by J. Bond Francisco

Shabbat 100

Shabbat 99

Shabbat 98

Shabbat 97

Shabbat 96

Shabbat 95

Shabbat 93

Shabbat 91 - Storing food, and then carrying it

Previously, we learned that one should not carry food on Shabbat in the street. We also detailed the amount of food one must carry to incur liability, depending on the type of food.

Now, if he first stores food in a designated place, then his action shows that this stored amount is significant in his eyes. Then, he is liable for even a smaller amount of food if he carries it. Let's see the details.

If one stores a minute amount of seed for planting, or as a sample to show to prospective customers, or to use as medicine - and then he carries it to the street on Shabbat, he is liable. All other people, however, are only liable for standard amounts.

If he (the one who stored the grain) decides against planting, the seed loses the importance he attached to it. If he carries it back, he is only liable for the standard amounts.

A dissenting opinion: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says that once the first person stores the food intending it for planting, anyone else becomes liable if he carries this amount. Thus, the thought of the first one made the second one liable.

Art: Sower With Setting Sun - Vincent van Gogh

Shabbat 92

Shabbat 5

Shabbat 2 - From the house to the street

On Shabbat, one should not take things from his house into the street and vice versa. This is one of the thirty-nine "labors" prohibited on Shabbat.

At first glance, it seems strange and hard to find in the Torah. However, "and the people were restrained from bringing more" refers to this. The people were not allowed to carry from their private domain into a public one, and it happened on Yom Kippur, which has the same laws as Shabbat.

For example, if a poor man is standing outside a house and a householder is inside - and if the poor man extends his hand with an object and places it into the hand of a householder - the poor man is liable for bringing the object in on Shabbat. Similarly, the poor man should not take objects out of the house.

Thus, there are two prohibited acts that the man can do while standing outside. However, if the poor man extends his hand inside, but now the householder takes the basket from him - since the poor man performed only half of the act - he has not violated Shabbat. The Sages prohibited it, nevertheless, to prevent him from doing a complete act.

Thus, the rule is that "there are two ways to violate Shabbat, which are really four" - two more were added by the Sages.

Art: Pittoco Sitting by Giacomo Ceruti

Brachot 64 - Do Not Force Your Luck (Blessing)

The rule is that one should not force one's luck. The time to become rich or attain a position of power will come as predestined. It may be taken from you altogether if you try to force it. This happened to Absalom, the son of Kind David. Absalon tried to seize kingship from his father by force and failed.

There were two candidates to lead the Academy in Babylonia. Rav Yosef was called "Sinai" because his knowledge was broad and precise, as if it were acquired on Sinai. Rabbah was called an "uprooter of mountains" because of his supreme logic. From Israel came the advice to choose Rav Yosef because everyone needs knowledge, like wheat. But Rav Yosef declined because astrologers predicted that he would live for only two years after he became the head. During the twenty-two years that Rabbah was the head, Rav Yosef carefully avoided all signs of honor that would be due him. Ultimately, he became the head and lead for two and a half years.

Torah scholars increase peace in the world. God will give might to His nation; God will bless His nation with peace.

Art: Reconciliation of David and Absalom by Rembrandt van Rijn

Brachot 62 - Bedside Manners (Blessings)

The Talmud lists various laws of behavior in a latrine. Ben Azzai told how he once entered after Rabbi Akiva into the latrine and what three rules he learned by observing him. Rabbi Yehudah said to him: "Did you then act so brazenly towards your teacher?!" Ben Azzai replied, "His behavior is Torah, and I must study it."

Rav Kahana once hid under the bed of his teacher, Rav. He wanted to observe Rav's actual practice in fulfilling the laws of marital relations. He heard how Rav first spoke idle words with his wife, then laughed with her, and then fulfilled his marital obligations. From beneath the bed, he said, "The teacher's mouth is like one's who never tasted the dish!" Rav said to him, "Kahana, are you here?! Go out, for it is not proper (for you to be here)." Rav Kahana replied, "Your behavior is Torah, and I must study it!"

Art: In Bed by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Sukkah 14 - A board on the sukkah

Normally, the sukkah is covered by s'chach made of branches that keep out most of the sun and do not leave large holes. If he places a board on top of his sukkah, many complications and disagreements arise.

Earlier, we introduced the idea of a "bent wall" ("dofen akumah.") When a part of the s'chach next to the sukkah's wall is made of material that is invalid for s'chach - such as a board - it can still be valid. You just look at this part of the s'chach as a continuation of the wall and call it a "bent wall." The result is that one cannot sleep under this part or eat under it - the normal use of s'chach - but the sukkah is valid.

Now let's go back to boards that are not next to the wall and therefore are not considered a "bent wall." If the board is wider than four handbreadths, all agree that it invalidates the sukkah. If it is narrower than three handbreadths, all agree that it is just a stick and is valid. The boards that are between three and four handbreadths are in dispute. Rabbi Yehudah says that they are OK - because any significant "place" should be at least four by four handbreadths, and they are less than that. Rabbi Meir says that any hole that is less than three handbreadths is considered "glued," following the principle of "glue," "lavud." And these boards are wider than this, so they invalidate the sukkah.

But what is wrong with the boards in the first place? It turns that the roofs at this time were made of boards four handbreadths wide. So, if one uses such boards, he may come to simply sit at home. And we want him out in the sukkah.

Art: The Tree of Crows by Caspar DavidFriedrich

Sukkah 13 - Bundles that are valid for s'chach

Earlier, we said that one who puts bundles on the top of the sukkah makes the s'chach invalid. We also explained that the s'chach must be made for Sukkot, and with bundles, there is a danger to re-use the old ones. 

However, there are many exceptions to this rule. If one uses the offshoots of the date palm, the s'chach is valid. These are bundled together by nature, not by human hands. Even if he later binds these offshoots with a rope, it is still not a bundle. They are already one, and you cannot bundle them more.

In Sura, it was the custom for the merchant to bundle the branches of s'chach to make them of a standard size. People who bought these bundles would always untie them to dry. In this case, too, there is no concern that people will keep bundles on their sukkah, and it was therefore allowed. 

The Talmud also find parallels between those bundles and the bundles of hyssop used in applying the ashes of the Red Heifer to clarify how many items constitute a bundle.

Art: Palm Tree at Bordighera by Claude Monet

Sukkah 12 - Clouds of glory

One should dwell in a sukkah because "your generations should know that I (God) made the Children of Israel live in sukkahs." Some translate the word "sukkahs" as "Clouds of Glory." They further compare it to the "mist ascending from the earth," and mist is the beginning of every cloud. Just as mist ascending from the earth cannot become ritually impure, so the s'chach material covering the sukkah must be of something that cannot become ritually impure.

Others translate the word "sukkahs" as huts. Where do they derive the ritual purity of the s'chach? - From the fact that it is made from refuse branches that cannot become impure.

If one puts bundles of branches on the top of a sukkah, he makes it invalid. But if he unties the bundles, it is valid. What is the reason for this? One might put bundles on the roof of a shed to dry them out and later decide to use it as a sukkah. If he does this, the sukkah is invalid because it should be made for the Holiday and not pre-made. Such a situation would be hard to detect visually, and this law prevents possible confusion.

Art: Tree Branches. Charles Reginald Aston

Sukkah 11 - What is s'chach?

Sukkah means a hut, and it is covered by a covering called "s'chach." However, until now, we had no definition of what valid s'chach is. We will give it soon, but first, let's look at some additional rules.

If one adds a sheet to his s'chach, the sukkah is invalid. He may have put the sheet above the s'chach to protect from excessive sun. Or, he may have put the sheet beneath the s'chach because of the falling leaves. The sukkah is invalid because now the sheet serves as a covering; the s'chach serves no purpose - and is considered non-existent.

If he smartly used the grapevine or ivy and, without cutting the branches, lifted that and added them to his s'chach, it is invalid - because the sukkah should be made from the "leftover of the threshing floor and winepress." He can cut the branches now, and it will be valid.

The rule: s'chach should be made of material that cannot become ritually impure. Therefore, it cannot be made of food, utensils, or clothing. The s'chach material must also grow from the soil.

Art: Cottage with Peasant Coming Home by Van Gogh

Sukkah 10 - Sukkah atop another sukkah

If one builds a sukkah atop another sukkah, the upper one is valid, but the bottom is not. Why? The Torah instructed to live in a sukkah, not in a sukkah under another sukkah, and incidentally not in a sukkah under a tree or inside a house. But maybe the logic is just the opposite: the Torah told to live in "huts," so sukkah atop another one is just right! - Look at the spelling of the word "sukkot," it is missing a vav, which implies singular.

Rabbi Yehudah disagrees and says that if there are no tenants in the upper sukkah, then the lower one is valid. That is hard to understand: the sukkah should be valid on its own merits, and the tenants should not matter! Maybe Rabbi Yehudah means that the upper sukkah is not livable? But then it's hard to understand the logic of the first few view who validates the top one.

The truth is that they only argue in the marginal case where the upper sukkah is livable but very shaky. The Sages say that the sukkah must be a temporary dwelling, so the top shaky sukkah is good. Rabbi Yehudah insists that one should make the sukkah his dwelling for seven days, and people don't live in shaky dwellings, so he validates the lower one.

The cottage by Van Gogh