Sukkah, Daf Zayin, Part 5
Introduction
Today’s section goes on to discuss the next section of the Mishnah, which teaches that a sukkah that lets in more sun than shade is not valid.
ושחמתה מרובה מצלתה פסולה. תנו רבנן: חמתה – מחמת סיכוך, ולא מחמת דפנות. רבי יאשיה אומר: אף מחמת דפנות.
OR WHICH HAS MORE SUN THAN SHADE IS NOT VALID.
Our rabbis taught: Sunshine due to the [lack] of skhakh, but not sunshine due to [the gaps in] the wall. R. Yoshayah says: Even where it is due to [the gaps in] the walls.
According to the first opinion in this baraita, the mishnah refers only to the skhakh. The skhakh must be able to provide the sukkah with more than 50 per cent shade. But if sun enters the sukkah from the sides due to gaps in the walls and covers more than 50 per cent of it, the sukkah is still valid. In other words, this halakhah is really about the amount of skhakh and not so much about the amount of sun actually in the sukkah.
R. Yoshayah says that the walls must also provide shade for the sukkah. If they allow more than 50 per cent sunshine to enter the sukkah, the sukkah is not valid.
אמר רב יימר בר שלמיה משמיה דאביי: מאי טעמא דרבי יאשיה – דכתיב +שמות מ+ וסכת על הארון את הפרכת. פרכת מחיצה, וקא קרייה רחמנא סככה. אלמא: מחיצה כסכך בעינן.
Rav Yemar b. Shelemiah said in the name of Abaye: What is the reason of R. Yoshayah? As it is written: "And you shall cover the ark with the veil" (Exodus 40:3). Now since the veil was a partition and the Torah called it a covering it is evident that a partition [for the sukkah] must be as [close] as the covering.
Abaye offers a biblical prooftext for R. Yoshayah’s opinion. The Torah uses the verb "and you shall cover," the same word for skhakh, in reference to the veil placed over the ark. This veil, according to Abaye, served as a partition, just as the walls of the sukkah do. And since the veil was completely closed, i.e. there were no gaps in it, the walls of a sukkah must also be completely closed.
ורבנן: ההוא דניכוף ביה פורתא, דמחזי כסכך.
And as for the rabbis? It means that the veil should bend over a little [at the top] so that it might look like a covering.
The rabbis respond (or the gemara responds on their behalf) that this veil didn’t fully cover the ark. It was not a true partition; it just went over the sides a little bit. Therefore, we can’t use the veil to learn anything about the walls of the sukkah.