Sukkah, Daf Heh, Part One
Introduction
This week’s daf begins by explaining the derivation for the minimum height of a sukkah ten handbreadths.
ושאינה גבוהה עשרה טפחים. מנלן? אתמר, רב ורבי חנינא ורבי יוחנן ורב חביבא מתנו. בכולה סדר מועד, כל כי האי זוגא חלופי רבי יוחנן ומעיילי רבי יונתן. ארון תשעה וכפורת טפח – הרי כאן עשרה, וכתיב +שמות כה+ ונועדתי לך שם ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת ותניא, רבי יוסי אומר: מעולם לא ירדה שכינה למטה, ולא עלו משה ואליהו למרום, שנאמר +תהלים קט"ו+ השמים שמים לה’ והארץ נתן לבני אדם.
ONE WHICH IS NOT TEN HANDBREADTHS HIGH. How do we know this?
It was stated: Rav, R. Hanina, R. Yohanan and R. Haviva taught: (throughout all Seder Mo’ed when these pairs are mentioned together [some] substitute the name of R. Yonatan for that of R. Yohanan), the ark [of the covenant] was nine handbreadths high, and the ark cover one handbreadth, making a total of ten handbreadths, and it is written, "And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the ark-cover" (Exodus 25:22) and it has been taught, R. Yose stated: The Shechinah never descended to earth, nor did Moses or Elijah ever ascend to Heaven, as it is said, The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to humanity" (Psalm 119:16).
The underlying assumption of this section, one which is unstated, is that the place in which we sit in the sukkah is the realm of humanity. We sit on "earth" and God doesn’t descend all the way to earth. The midrash claims that the meeting point for God (the Shekhinah God’s immanent presence) was immediately above the ark of the covenant and its cover. The ark was 9 handbreadths high and the cover (the kaporet) was another handbreadth high, meaning that God spoke to Moses from right at the level of 10 handbreaths. This means that the skhakh must be at least ten handbreadths high, thereby in a sense reenacting the meeting point between God and Moses in the Tabernacle.
The midrash is based on the verse in Psalms that claims that God has given the earth to humanity. There is a realm into which God does not enter, however we might understand that concept.
There is an interesting ramification in this piece for our experience of sitting in the sukkah. The skhakh separates us from God, but it is right at the point of the skhakh in which we encounter the divine. The skhakh which symbolizes protection is also a meeting place between the human realm and the realm of God.
ולא ירדה שכינה למטה? והכתיב +שמות יט+ וירד ה’ על הר סיני! למעלה מעשרה טפחים. – והכתיב +זכריה יד+ ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא על הר הזיתים! – למעלה מעשרה טפחים.
But did the Shechinah not descend to earth? Isn’t it written, "And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai?" (Exodus 19:20)?
That was above ten handbreadths [from the summit].
But is it not written, "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives?" (Zechariah 14:4)?
Above ten handbreadths.
The Talmud now critiques the notion that God never came down to earth. There are indeed verses that, at least according to their simple meaning, show that God did indeed come down to earth.
For both of these and in the following section the Talmud offers strained solutions, a phenomenon not at all atypical in rabbinic literature. God did not really come all the way down to earth, according to this passage. God stopped right at the ten handbreadths limit. Thus even when the Bible seems to say that God did descend to earth, the rabbis interpret it to mean that God still didn’t really enter the human realm.
ולא עלו משה ואליהו למרום? והכתיב +שמות יט+ ומשה עלה אל האלהים! – למטה מעשרה. – והכתיב +מלכים ב ב+ ויעל אליהו בסערה השמים! – למטה מעשרה. –
But did not Moses and Elijah ascend to Heaven? Is it not in fact written, "And Moses went up unto God?" (Exodus 19:3).
[That was] to a level lower than ten [handbreadths from heaven].
But is it not written, "And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven?" (II Kings 2:11)
[That was] to a level lower than ten handbreadths.
After having shown that God doesn’t descend to earth the Talmud now tries to prove that people don’t go up to heavens, despite the fact that the Bible seems to occasionally describe humans ascending to heaven. In each of these cases the rabbis say that the person, specifically Elijah or Moses, didn t really go to the heavens. They always remained ten handbreadths away from heaven.
Some of you may be a bit bothered by these passages if the Bible says that God came down to earth or that man went up to the heavens, who are the rabbis to deny it.
I think this is a classic demonstration of how the rabbis impose their own thoughts upon biblical readings. While in the biblical view, the realms of God and humanity are not totally separate, in the rabbinic view they are. This is not really the place to discuss why this is so. What I wish to demonstrate is that when we read these types of passages we should appreciate that we are seeing the dynamic changes that occurred between the world view of the Bible and that of the rabbis.
והכתיב +איוב כו+ מאחז פני כסא פרשז עליו עננו, ואמר ר’ תנחום מלמד שפירש שדי מזיו שכינתו ועננו עליו! – למטה מעשרה. – מכל מקום מאחז פני כיסא כתיב! – אישתרבובי אישתרבב ליה כסא עד עשרה, ונקט ביה.
But is it not written, "He seizes hold of the face of His throne, and He spreads His cloud upon him," (Job 26:9) and R. Tanhum said: This teaches that the Almighty spread some of the radiance of his Shechinah and his cloud upon him?
That was at a level lower than ten handbreadths.
But in any case is it not written, "He seizes hold of the face of His throne"?
The throne was well lowered for his sake until [it reached a level] lower than ten handbreadths [from Heaven] and then he seized hold of it.
The Talmud now uses another midrash, this time from a difficult verse in Job, to show that man can ascend to heaven. The verse implies that man went up into the heavens so that God could spread some of his cloud upon him.
The resolution only solves the second half of the verse. God lowered his radiant cloud to a level lower than ten handbreadths. But what about the throne? That too according to the Talmudic resolution was lowered into the human realm where man can grasp it.
Thus, if we were to summarize, God and the Divine meet, but only right at the threshold. God never comes into the human realm and humans never enter the divine realm. At best, God lowers some of his accoutrements, his cloud and his throne, into the human realm. But true meeting on an equal level within the same realm, does not seem to occur.