Sukkah, Daf Mem Heh, Part 6
בשעת פטירתן מה הן אומרים וכו’. והא קא משתתף שם שמים ודבר אחר, ותניא: כל המשתף שם שמים ודבר אחר נעקר מן העולם, שנאמר +שמות כב+ בלתי לה’ לבדו! – הכי קאמר: ליה אנחנו מודים ולך אנו משבחין, ליה אנחנו מודים, ולך אנו מקלסין.
When they departed, what did they say?
But doesn’t he associate the name of God with something else and it has been taught: Whoever associates the name of God with something else is uprooted from the world, as it is said, Save to the Lord alone (Exodus 22:19)?"
This is what he meant: To the Lord we give thanks, and to You we praise; to the Lord we give thanks and You we admire.
The Talmud refers to R. Eliezer’s statement that when leaving the altar at the end of the aravah ritual they people would say, "To the Lord and to you, O altar, to the Lord and to you, O altar." This seems to be a transgression of the prohibition of "associating the name of God with something else." The resolution is that the people thank God and "praise" the altar. They understand that ultimately it is God that is worthy of thanks, for God is the source of goodness and atonement. But the altar is still the vehicle through which atonement is achieved. Therefore, it is worthy of praise.
כמעשהו בחול. אמר רב הונא: מאי טעמא דרבי יוחנן בן ברוקה – דכתיב +ויקרא כג+ כפת – שנים, אחת ללולב ואחת למזבח. ורבנן אמרי: כפת כתיב. רבי לוי אומר: כתמר, מה תמר זה אין לו אלא לב אחד – אף ישראל אין להם אלא לב אחד לאביהם שבשמים.
As was its performance on a weekday.
R. Huna said: What is the reason of R. Yohanan b. Beroka? As it is written, "Branches" which implies two, one for the lulav and one for the altar.
But the Rabbis say: The word "branches" is written defectively (כפת).
R. Levi said: [The reason of R. Yohanan b. Beroka is that Israel is] compared to the date-palm; as the date-palm has but one heart also Israel has but one heart for their Father in Heaven.
In the mishnah R. Yohanan b. Beroka says that on the seventh day they would bring palm branches, lulavim, and "they would beat them on the ground at the sides of the altar, and that day was called [the day of] the beating of the palm branches. This, according to the Talmud, is a dispute between the sages and R. Yohanan ben Beroka. The former hold that this ceremony is done with the aravot, whereas the latter holds that it is done with the lulav.
The Talmud brings up midrashic support for each position. R. Yohanan b. Beroka derives his halakhah from the plural form of "branches" whereas the rabbis do not derive anything from the plural form because its written defectively, without the vav.
R. Levi finds midrashic meaning in the fact that there is only one lulav. There is only one lulav, because the palm tree has only one heart, just as Israel has one collective heart, directed at God in heaven.
אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל: לולב שבעה, וסוכה יום אחד. מאי טעמא? לולב דמפסקי לילות מימים – כל יומא מצוה באפיה נפשיה הוא, סוכה דלא מפסקי לילות מימים – כולהו שבעה כחד יומא אריכא דמו.
Rav Judah said in the name of Shmuel: [The blessing is recited over] the lulav for seven [days] and over the Sukkah for only on one day.
What is the reason?
In the case of the lulav where the nights interrupt the days, each day is a separate commandment; in the case of the Sukkah where the nights do not interrupt the days, all seven days are regarded as one long day.
This section is a dispute about saying the blessing over the sukkah and the lulav. At the heart of the issue is whether sitting in the sukkah or taking the lulav for seven days is seven independent performances of the mitzvah or one long performance of the mitzvah.
Rav Judah says that since one should be dwelling in the sukkah night and day, it is one long performance. You say one blessing. But the lulav cannot be taken at night, therefore it is seven independent performances, and one blesses every day.
ורבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן: סוכה שבעה, ולולב יום אחד. מאי טעמא? סוכה דאורייתא – שבעה, לולב דרבנן – סגי ליה בחד יומא. כי אתא רבין אמר רבי יוחנן: אחד זה ואחד זה שבעה. אמר רב יוסף: נקוט דרבה בר בר חנה בידך, דכולהו אמוראי קיימי כוותיה בסוכה.
Rabbah b. Bar Hana said in the name of R. Yohanan: [The blessing is recited over] the Sukkah for seven days and over the lulav for one day.
What is the reason? For the Sukkah which is a Toraitic commandment [the blessing must be recited all] seven [days]; in the case of the lulav which is only a rabbinical commandment [a blessing on] one day suffices.
When Rabin came he said in the name of R. Yohanan: Both this one and that one for seven days.
R. Yoseph said: Hold fast to the decision of Rabbah b. Bar Hana, since with regard to Sukkah, all the amoraim adopt the same position as he.
Rabbah b. Bar Hana holds that one blesses over the Sukkah every day for it is a toraitic commandment for seven days. But outside the Temple the lulav is only toraitic for one day, therefore one blesses for only one day.
Rabin holds that one recites both blessings for seven days. This is the accepted halakhic ruling. We bless on the lulav once a day, when the mitzvah is fulfilled. But we bless on the sukkah every time we eat a meal in there, as long as we left in between meals.
Despite this, R. Yosef holds that we prefer Rabbah b. Bar Hana because all of the other amoraim hold as he does.