Sukkah, Daf Zayin, part 1
Introduction
Today’s section discusses the one handbreadth wall that both the sages and R. Shimon allow to complete the mandated 3 or 4 walls of the sukkah.
ואותו טפח היכן מעמידו? – אמר רב: מעמידו כנגד היוצא. אמרי ליה רב כהנא ורב אסי לרב: ויעמידנו כנגד ראש תור! שתיק רב.
This handbreadth [of a wall] where does he place it?
Rav said: He places it opposite the departing wall.
R. Kahana and R. Assi said to Rav: Why not place it opposite the head of the diagonal wall?
Rav remained silent.
Rav says that the one handbreadth wall should be placed directly opposite one of the "departing walls." Basically this means that if one wall runs east-west and the other south-north, he should attach it to either one of the walls. The handbreadth wall would be directly opposite the other wall.
Two other sages ask why he should not place it in another way. The Hebrew and English are a bit hard to understand here and there are various interpretations. One interpretation is that he should place this wall diagonally so that it curves in a bit, creating the impression that the Sukkah is actually enclosed. Another possibility is that it is placed opposite both existing walls. The full walls are on one side and the handbreadth wall is opposite them, creating the illusion that there are actually four walls.
Rav didn’t answer their question.
איתמר נמי, אמר שמואל משמיה דלוי: מעמידו כנגד היוצא. וכן מורין בי מדרשא: מעמידו כנגד היוצא.
It was also stated: Shmuel said in the name of Levi: He places it opposite the departing wall.
And so they rule in the Bet Midrash: He places it opposite the departing wall.
The Talmud brings two other opinions that concur with Rav from above.
רבי סימון, ואיתימא רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר: עושה לו טפח שוחק, ומעמידו בפחות משלשה טפחים סמוך לדופן, וכל פחות משלשה סמוך לדופן כלבוד דמי.
R. Simon (or, as some say, R. Joshua b. Levi) ruled: One makes [the additional wall of the width of] a loose handbreadth and places it within three handbreaths of the wall, since whatever is less than three handbreadths from the wall is regarded as joined to the wall.
There is now a third opinion about where to put the third wall. The third wall should be a "loose" handbreadth which is like a handbreadth with expanded fingers. He then places that handbreadth within three handbreadths of one of the existing walls. Less than three handbreadths is considered to be halakhically insignificant. This way he now has a four handbreadth wall. Four handbreadths is a majority of the minimum size for a wall seven handbreadths. So in this way he has a wall that is more than half of what it needs to be.
אמר רב יהודה: סוכה העשויה כמבוי – כשרה, ואותו טפח – מעמידו לכל רוח שירצה.
Rav Judah said: A sukkah made like an [open] alley-way is valid, and this handbreadth [wall] is placed in whatever side one pleases.
One can make a sukkah with two parallel walls. The third wall can be placed in the middle between the two, wherever he so wishes.
רבי סימון, ואיתימא רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר: עושה לו פס ארבעה ומשהו, ומעמידו בפחות משלשה סמוך לדופן, וכל פחות משלשה סמוך לדופן כלבוד דמי.
R. Simon (or, as some say, R. Joshua b. Levi) says, He makes a strip of slightly more than four [handbreadths] and places it within three handbreadths of the wall, since whatever is less than three handbreadths from the wall is regarded as joined to the wall.
There is another opinion concerning the sukkah built like an alleyway. According to this opinion he must make a wall that is at least a little bit more than four handbreadths. He places this strip within three handbreadths of one of the walls, which means that it counts as being joined to the wall. That allows there to be a 7 handbreadth wall, fulfilling the minimum requirement.
ומאי שנא התם דקאמרת סגיא טפח שוחק, ומאי שנא הכא דקאמרת בעיא פס ארבעה?
But why did you say in the previous case that one loose handbreadth suffices while here you say that there must be a strip of four handbreadths?
The Talmud now notes that R. Simon (or R. Joshua ben Levi) seems to contradict himself. Above he said that it was sufficient to have one loose handbreadth, but here he said that the strip must actually be four handbreadths.
התם דאיכא שתי דפנות כהלכתן – סגי ליה בטפח שוחק, הכא דליכא שתי דפנות, אי איכא פס ארבע – אין, אי לא – לא.
There where there are two valid walls, a loose handbreadth suffices, but here where there are not two valid walls, if there is a strip of four handbreadths it is valid, otherwise, it is not [valid].
In the other case there are already two walls forming a right angle. These are basically 2/3 of a valid sukkah. Since they are already valid, we only need one more handbreadth wall to create a proper sukkah. But in this case where the two walls are not connected, we need a four handbreadth wall to create a proper sukkah.