Sukkah Daf Bet (2), part one

 

Mishnah

A sukkah which is more than twenty cubits high is not valid.

Rabbi Judah validates it.

One which is not ten handbreadths high, or which does not have three walls, or which has more sun than shade, is not valid.

 

סוכה שהיא גבוהה למעלה מעשרים אמה – פסולה, ורבי יהודה מכשיר. ושאינה גבוהה עשרה טפחים, ושאין לה שלש דפנות ושחמתה מרובה מצלתה – פסולה.

The first opinion in the Mishnah sets twenty cubits as the maximum height of a sukkah. This is about 10 meters, quite high. Anything over that height is invalid. Rabbi Judah does not believe that there is any height limit to a sukkah. The Talmud will extensively discuss why there should be any limit to a sukkah’s height.

The second section of the mishnah adds three more restrictions. 1) A sukkah must be at least ten handbreadths high. Since there are 5 handbreadths to a cubit, this is about half of a meter. The sukkah must have three walls. And the skhakh, the roof of the sukkah, must make it so there is more shade in the sukkah then sun.

 

GEMARA.

We have learned elsewhere : [The crossbeam] of an alley [whose entrance] is more than twenty cubits high should be lowered. Rabbi Judah says: this is unnecessary.

Now why is it different that when it comes to the Sukkah it is declared invalid, while with when it comes to [the cross-beam over] the alley, a remedy is indicated?

 

גמרא. תנן התם: מבוי שהוא גבוה מעשרים אמה – ימעט, רבי יהודה אומר: אינו צריך. מאי שנא גבי סוכה דתני פסולה, ומאי שנא גבי מבוי דתני תקנתא?

 

The Talmud begins by referring to a similar mishnah from Eruvin 1:1. In order to carry within an alley on Shabbat, one must put a beam on top of the entrance to the alley (see my Mishnah Yomit commentary for more info). The first opinion in this mishnah holds that if this beam is higher than twenty cubits it must be lowered.

The Talmud in Sukkah asks why the mishnah from Sukkah simply declares that a sukkah over 20 cubits high is invalid whereas the mishnah in Eruvin says that one may lower the beam. Why couldn’t Mishnah Sukkah say to lower the skhakh?

 

With regard to the Sukkah, since it is a toraitic mitzvah, it taught that it was invalid; with regard to [the cross-beam over] an alley, since it is only derabanan, a remedy is given.

 

סוכה דאורייתא – תני פסולה, מבוי דרבנן – תני תקנתא.

 

 

The first answer the Talmud provides is that the Sukkah is a toraitic commandment. Therefore, a Sukkah over 20 cubits high is invalid. The Torah does not, according to the first opinion, count sitting in such a sukkah as fulfilling the mitzvah. Carrying in an alleyway without a cross beam on Shabbat is only "derabanan" prohibited by rabbinical law. Therefore, the mishnah in Eruvin provided a means to remedy the problem by lowering the cross-beam.

 

And, if you wish, you may say that even with a toraitic mitzvah a remedy may be given, but with regard to the sukkah, since there are many rules about it, it was briefly stated, invalid. [While in the case of a cross-beam over] an alley, since it has only one rule, it taught a remedy.

 

ואיבעית אימא: בדאורייתא נמי תני תקנתא. מיהו, סוכה דנפישין מיליה פסיק ותני פסולה, מבוי דלא נפיש מיליה – תני תקנתא.

 

The second explanation as to the difference between the two mishnayot is that when it comes to the sukkah, there are several rules in the mishnah. In order to lump them all together and use the same phrase for each, the mishnah simply taught "it is invalid." But when it comes to the cross-beam over the alley, since there is only one rule, that it must not be more than 20 cubits high, the mishnah could be more specific and teach the remedy of lowering the beam.