Sukkah, Daf Kaf Heh, Part 5

 

Introduction

The Talmud now goes back to discussing the source concerning the mourner being exempt from the mitzvah of sukkah.

 

גופא א"ר אבא בר זבדא אמר רב אבל חייב בכל מצות האמורות בתורה חוץ מתפילין שהרי נאמר בהן פאר מדאמר ליה רחמנא ליחזקאל (יחזקאל כד) פארך חבוש עליך וגו‘ את הוא דמיחייבת אבל כ"ע פטירי וה"מ ביום ראשון דכתיב (עמוס ח) ואחריתה כיום מר

 

[Going back to] the main text: R. Abba b. Zavda said in the name of Rav: A mourner is obligated in all the commandments of the Torah with the exception of tefillin since the word "beauty" is applied to them .

Since the God said to Ezekiel, "Bind your beauty upon yourself," (Ezekiel 24:17) you are obligated in this, but all other people are exempt. This, however, applies only to the first day, since of that day it is written, "And the end of it is as a bitter day" (Amos 8:10).

 

In Ezekiel 24:15-17 God tells Ezekiel that he is about to take his wife away from him but that he is not allowed to mourn over her. God specifies certain ways in which Ezekiel is to behave. The rabbis use these verses to derive some of the laws of mourning. Among His instructions, God tells him, "Put on your turban." The word for "turban" can also be translated as "your beauty" and the rabbis interpret this to mean tefillin. Ezekiel was told specifically to put on his tefillin their presence upon him was a sign that he wasn’t mourning. But all other mourners are not allowed to wear their tefillin while mourning.

However, this only applies to the first day of mourning. After the first day, even a mourner must put on his tefillin.

ואמר רבי אבא בר זבדא אמר רב אבל חייב בסוכה.

פשיטא! מהו דתימא? הואיל וא"ר אבא בר זבדא אמר רב מצטער פטור מן הסוכה האי נמי מצטער הוא קמשמע לן ה"מ צערא דממילא אבל הכא איהו הוא דקא מצטער נפשיה איבעי ליה ליתובי דעתיה.

 

R. Abba b. Zavda also said in the name of Rav, A mourner is obligated in the Sukkah.

Is not this obvious?

What might I have said? Since R. Abba b. Zavda said in the name of Rav that he who is in discomfort is exempt from the obligation of Sukkah, this [one] is also in discomfort, therefore he informs us that this applies only to discomfort that comes on its own, but [the mourner] since it is he himself who is the cause of his discomfort, he must settle his mind.

 

The Talmud now quotes another statement by R. Abba b. Zavda. He holds that a mourner is obligated to sit in the sukkah.

But, the Talmud asks, isn’t this obvious! We just said above that a mourner is obligated for all of the mitzvot in the Torah. Why issue a separate statement saying that he is obligated to sit in the sukkah?

The answer comes in light of another statement by R. Abba b. Zavda. In this other statement he says that one who is experiencing discomfort by sitting in the sukkah need not stay there (we shall examine this later in the chapter). We might have thought that the mourner is also experiencing discomfort and should be exempt from the sukkah. Therefore, R. Abba bar Zavda teaches us that the discomfort that exempts one from sitting in the sukkah is only discomfort that is a result of sitting in the sukkah. It is externally caused (too hot, too cold, bugs) and therefore cannot be controlled. In contrast, the discomfort to the mourner is caused by his own emotions. He must settle his thoughts such that he can be in the sukkah, even after a relative has died.

We should note that during the festival one does not mourn. So the person is not really a "mourner" but rather someone who has just experienced the death of a relative over whom he would have had to mourn. Finally, I should also note that today a mourner puts on tefillin after the burial, but not before the burial.