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Week 34 - Sunday- 16 July 2000

SUKKAH: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 2

If someone supported his sukkah with the legs of a bed, it is valid. R. Yehudah says: If it cannot stand by itself, it is invalid. A Sukkah in disarray or one that has more shade than sun, is valid. If thickly covered like a house even though the stars are not visible from within, it is valid.

Kehati

If someone supported his Sukkah with the legs of a bed - even though every time the bed is moved the entire sukkah moved with it (so Ravad) or else whenever the legs are moved the entire roofing collapses, nevertheless -- it [the sukkah] is valid.

R. Yehudah says: If it cannot stand by itself - if the sukkah rests entirely on the bed-legs so that the entire sukkah moves or the roofing collapses) whenever the bed is moved, then - it is invalid. R. Yehudah follows his principle that a sukkah denotes a permanent abode, and therefore such a sukkah is not valid. According to another view R. Yehudah does not take issue with the First Tanna but merely asserts that the latter sanctioned such a sukkah only if the covering rested on fixed legs as well as on the legs of the bed so that if the bed were removed the covering would still remain in place. However if it rests on movable support alone, the sukkah is invalid (Rosh).

A Sukkah in disarray - (meduvlelet according to the Gemara is synonymous with mevulbelet, jumbled) i.e., the branches of the sekhakh rise and drop in disorder, drawing more sun than shade, but if properly placed would yield more shade than sun, and the distance between the high and low branches does not exceed three handbreadths -

Or one that has more shade than sun - even though the covering is sparse and thin - is valid. An alternative view in the Gemara renders meduvlelet as meduldelet - "sparsely covered" and not as "disorderly". The text is emended from "whose" shade exceeds the sun instead of "or one that has…" It is the self-same sukkah which though sparsely covered yet affords more shade than sun.

If [the sukkah is] thickly covered like a house - the covering being so dense that it resembles the ceiling of a house - even though the stars are not visible from within, it [the sukkah] is valid. Hence we learn that at the outset the sukkah covering should not be packed so tightly that the stars are invisible from within (Gemara).

SUKKAH: CHAPTER 2: MISHNAH 3

If one erects a sukkah on top of a wagon or on the deck of a ship, it is valid, and one may enter it on a Festival. On a tree-top, or on the back of a camel is valid but one may not go up into it on the Festival day. If two were formed by a tree and one was man-made or else two were man-made and one formed by a tree it is valid, but one may not go up into it on the Festival day. If three were man-made and one by a tree, it is valid and one may enter it on the Festival day. This is the rule: Wherever if the tree were removed it would remain standing by itself, it is valid and one may go up into it on the Festival day.

Kehati

If one erects a Sukkah on top of a wagon - even though it is not stationary -

Or on the deck of a ship - at sea, at the mercy of winds which can carry the structure away - it is valid. The Gemara stipulates that the sukkah on the ship must be strong to resist normal mainland winds. The mishnah accordingly teaches that though such a sukkah is unable to withstand sea winds, it is valid since it does constitute a temporary dwelling,

And one may enter it on a Festival. This sentence is superfluous, yet since the latter portion of the mishnah contains the converse, "One may not enter it on a Festival", this was included here.

On a tree-top,

Or on the back of a camel is valid - and may be used on the intermediate days - but one may not go up into it on the Festival day - it being forbidden to climb a tree or mount an animal on a Festival day (Betzah 5:2).

If two walls were formed by a tree - the covering rested on a tree on two sides - and one was man-made - and it rested on the ground,

Or else two walls were man-made and one formed by a tree - and the covering rested on it - it is valid, but one may not go up into it on the Festival day - since people were accustomed to place utensils on the covering and would thus be using a tree on the Festival, which is prohibited (Rashi, Shabbat 154b).

If three walls were man-made and one - the fourth was formed - by a tree, it is valid and one may enter it on the Festival day - since the sukkah is fully supported by three man-made walls, and the fourth supplied by the tree is actually unnecessary (for the validity of the sukkah).

This is the rule: Wherever if the tree were removed it the sukkah would remain standing by itself - being held up by three man-made walls - it is valid and one may go up into it on the Festival day. "This is the rule", an amplifying statement, is understood by some to include a sukkah having two man-made walls if parallel to each other. Here even if the tree were removed, the sukkah would still remain standing, hence it is valid and one may enter it on the Festival (R. Nissim).

NOTE: In our exposition of the latter portion of the mishnah, we have taken the statement "two formed by a tree" to refer to the walls. This is the view of Rashi and Rambam. The expression "go up into it", not applicable in this instance, meant simply "entering" it inasmuch as a sukkah was generally erected on housetops (Rashi, Shabbat 154b). Other expositors take the mishnah to refer to the floor of a sukkah, which rested partially on trees and partially on pillars driven into the ground. "Two man-made and one formed by a tree", or "two formed by a tree and one man-made" would then signify that on two sides the sukkah rested on poles driven into the ground by human agency, while on one side the floor-board rested on a tree; or vice versa. If the tree were removed, the sukkah could not remain in position, hence one is not allowed to ascend into it on the Festival day, since one must not climb a tree on the Festival day (R. Nissim, Rashi, sukkah 22b).

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