Sunday, August 1, 2021

Sukkah 28 - All Israel can use one sukkah

Another mitzvah of Sukkot is "waving the branches" - the palm branches, citron, and so on. One should own them at the time of waving because the requirement is "take for yourself." Could it be that one should own the sukkah as well? - No, all Israelites can sit in one sukkah because it says, "All the natives in Israel will sit in a Sukkah," that is, they can sit in one sukkah.

The sukkah should be big enough to contain his head and most of the body, but the table can stay outside. The School of Shammai disagrees: the table must be inside, or else he might be drawn after it and eat outside the sukkah. Now they bring evidence. The Sages from both schools once visited Rabbi Yochanan ben HaChoranit and found him sitting in a sukkah with the table outside and said nothing. But they disagree about this evidence: the School of Shammai says that the Sages spoke up and told him, "If this is how you always conducted yourself, you never fulfilled this mitzvah in your life!'

Art: The Palm by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

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