Sukkah, Daf Mem Het, Part 2
Introduction
Today’s sugya begins with a new mishnah concerning eating in the sukkah on the last day of Sukkot.
משנה. סוכה שבעה, כיצד? גמר מלאכול – לא יתיר את סוכתו, אבל מוריד את הכלים מן המנחה ולמעלה מפני כבוד יום טוב האחרון של חג.
Mishnah: The sukkah is for seven days.
How so? Once he finished eating [his meal on the seventh day], he should not untie his sukkah, but he removes its contents from the time of minhah and onwards in honor of the last day of the festival.
The mishnah teaches that one should eat his last meal in the sukkah for lunch on the seventh day of Sukkot and then start to bring his nice things, his dishes, his bed, his couch etc., into the house as a sign of respect for Shmini Atzeret. However, he should not undo his sukkah because he might still need to eat in there if he wants to eat again before the day is over. Taking the sukkah down before Sukkot is completely over might also be perceived as a sign of disrespect for Sukkot. It might make it look like he couldn t wait to take down his sukkah.
גמרא. אין לו כלים להוריד מהו?
אין לו כלים? אלא כי אשתמש במאי אשתמש – אלא: אין לו מקום להוריד כליו מהו?
רב חייא בר אשי אמר: פוחת בה ארבעה,
ורבי יהושע בן לוי אמר: מדליק בה את הנר.
ולא פליגי: הא – לן, והא – להו.
GEMARA. If he has no vessels to remove, what should he do?
If he has no vessels! What then did he use when he was in [his Sukkah]?
Rather say: If he had no place to put his vessels what shall he do?
R. Hiyya b. Ashi said, He removes four handbreadths [of the roof],
And R. Joshua b. Levi said, he should kindle a lamp in it.
In fact, however, they do not disagree, the latter referring to us [Babylonians], and the former to them [the Palestinians].
The Talmud asks what he should do if he has no place to put the vessels that he was using in the Sukkah. In essence the Talmud is asking what he should do to signify that he has finished his observance of the ritual of the sukkah if he is not for some reason able to remove the vessels that he was using in the sukkah.
R. Hiyya b. Ashi says that he should open a hole in the roof of the sukkah four handbreadths wide. A hole of this size would disqualify the sukkah. This would signify that he is finished sitting in the sukkah. R. Ashi says that he should light a lamp in there, for such a lamp is not appropriate for a small sukkah.
The Talmud then notes that these two positions do not contradict each other. In Eretz Yisrael, where R. Hiyya b. Ashi lives, they could completely disqualify the sukkah because they didn’t sit there on the night between the seventh and eighth. Sukkot was over by then. In contrast, in Babylonia where they didn’t know if the eighth day was really the eighth or was actually the seventh, they would dwell in the sukkah that night. Therefore, they could not disqualify it. The lamp was sufficient to signify that at least the certain part of Sukkot had been completed. It does not disqualify the sukkah.
הא תינח סוכה קטנה, סוכה גדולה מאי איכא למימר?
דמעייל בה מאני מיכלא. דאמר רבא: מאני מיכלא – בר ממטללתא, מאני משתיא – במטללתא.
This is good for a small sukkah but what can be said with regard to a large Sukkah? One might bring into it eating utensils, since Rava said: Eating utensils must be kept outside the Sukkah; drinking vessels in the Sukkah.
Bringing in a lamp to signify that the sukkah will no longer be used is appropriate only for a small sukkah. It does not mean anything for a large sukkah, because one is allowed to bring a lamp into a large sukkah. So what should one do to signify that he is no longer using a large sukkah?
The answer is to bring in eating utensils. We have learned elsewhere that one does not bring these into the sukkah because they are dirty. So if he brings them in, he will be signifying that his dwelling in the sukkah is basically over.