Sukkah, Daf Kaf Aleph, Part 1

 

Introduction

Today’s section begins with a mishnah from Ohalot 3:7 that deals with the definition of a tent with regard to the issue of "overshadowing." Overshadowing means that if a dead body or piece thereof is found in the same covered area as is an object susceptible to impurity, the object is defiled. There are also other ramifications within the realm of purity laws to something being considered a "tent."

 

תנן התם: אחד חור שחררוהו מים או שרצים, או שאכלתו מלחת, וכן מדבך אבנים, וכן סואר של קורות – מאהיל על הטומאה. רבי יהודה אומר: כל אהל שאינו עשוי בידי אדם – אינו אהל.

 

We have learned elsewhere, Both a hole which has been hollowed out by water or by insects or eaten through by saline corrosion, and similarly a row of stones, or a pile of beams, overshadow uncleanliness.

R. Judah said, Any tent which is not made by the hands of man is not considered a tent.

 

Any structure, no matter how it is made, can act as an ohel, a tent. Earlier in this mishnah from Ohalot it was taught that if there are spaces that are one handbreadth wide, long and tall between the different parts, then the part on top is treated separately from the part below.

Rabbi Judah says that only human-made structures can serve as an ohel.

 

מאי טעמא דרבי יהודה?

יליף אהל אהל ממשכן; כתיב הכא +במדבר יט+ זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל וכתיב התם +שמות מ+ ויפרש את האהל על המשכן, מה להלן בידי אדם – אף כאן בידי אדם. – ורבנן: אהל אהל ריבה.

 

What is the reason of R. Judah? He deduces it from the word tent [common to this and to] the Tabernacle. It is written here (Numbers 19:14), "This is the law, when a man dies in a tent," and it is written there (Exodus 40:19), "And he spread the tent over the Tabernacle" Just as there [ tent means one] made by the hands of man, so here [it means one made] by the hands of man.

And the rabbis? The word tent occurs many times, to include [all tents].

 

The Talmud says that Rabbi Judah derives his halakhah, that only human made tents count as "tents," from the fact that the same word is used in Numbers concerning purity as is used in Exodus concerning the "tent" that was used in making the Tabernacle. Just as that was a real tent so too the tent in Numbers 19 which conveys impurity must be a real "tent," meaning it must at least have been made by human hands. A tent made by animals or water does not count as a tent.

The Talmud then asks the typical question how can the rabbis hold otherwise? How do they deal with the fact that "tent" should imply that it is made by human hands. The answer is that the Torah uses the word "tent" several times in Numbers 19:14. The repetitions of the word are interpreted to mean that any structure that has the dimensions of a "tent" can act as a tent, even if it was not made by human hands.