Sukkah 21a (כא.) — the Talmud in English

Because he

derives

by a gezerah shavah from the word “

tent” to the word “

tent”

from the Tabernacle—

It is written here,

with regard to a tent in the impurity of a corpse:

“This is the law: When a person dies in a

tent,”

“Anyone who enters the tent and anything that is in the tent shall be impure for seven days”—

And it is written there,

concerning the goat-hair curtains that covered the Tabernacle:

“And he spread the

tent”

over the Tabernacle—

Just as there—

in the Tabernacle—there was a tent

made by human hands,

so

here—

with regard to the impurity of a corpse—we require a tent

made by human hands

as well.

And we explain:

And the Rabbis,

who disagree with Rabbi Yehuda, derive their position from the principle that the repeated words

“tent” and

“tent”

expand the law;

that is, many tents are written in the passage concerning a tent and the impurity of a corpse, to include a tent that arose on its own.

And we raise an objection:

And

is it so that

Rabbi Yehuda holds that any tent not made by human hands is not a tent?!

But we can juxtapose:

We learned in a Mishna in tractate Parah: They would render impure the koen who burned the red heifer, and immerse him immediately, and he would burn the heifer before sunset; and the reason they did so was to refute the Sadducees, who would say that he is fit only after sunset.

Since one who immersed that day is fit to participate in the preparation of the red heifer, the Sages instituted many stringencies concerning it so that people would not treat it lightly. They decreed that all the procedures of the red heifer be performed with vessels made of dung, stone, or earth, which are not susceptible to ritual impurity. The Sages also required the koen who burned the red heifer to separate for seven days before its burning; his fellow kohanim were not to touch him, and they sprinkled upon him the ashes of the red heifer throughout all seven days in order to purify him.

They further instituted for this reason an additional stringency concerning the drawing of the water for the water of purification: They would safeguard those who drew the water with an extra degree of care, even from impurity of the unknown grave—that is, lest they become impure from the impurity of a grave located in the ground, which causes the impurity to break through and rise to the sky. They would provide this safeguarding only for those drawing the water of purification, but not for the one who burned the heifer, since it was impossible to safeguard him from a seminal emission: The burning of the heifer was performed only by an adult who could experience a seminal emission, and they did not take into consideration an emission that occurred without sensation. Since that was the case, they did not safeguard him even from the impurity of an unknown grave. This was unlike the drawing of the water, for which they would take children as young as seven or eight, with regard to whom there was no concern that they might have experienced a seminal emission [Ritva; see Tosafot].

There were courtyards in Jerusalem built upon rock, with an empty space beneath them because of the impurity of an unknown grave [

a doubtful grave] , and because of the empty space above the grave, the impurity did not break through and render impure the person sitting upon the rock. And they would bring pregnant and postpartum women there

upon the rock,

and raise their sons there for the sake of the red heifer.

And

when they needed to draw water from the Shiloah spring in order to sanctify the water of purification, they would

bring oxen, with doors upon their backs, and children sitting upon them

so that they would not become impure through an unknown grave, since the doors interposed before the impurity,

and stone cups,

which do not become impure,

in their hands,

since all the procedures of the red heifer were performed with stone vessels and the like, which do not become impure—

They reached

the children

the

Shiloah

spring,

and descended

the children

into the water and filled them

from the waters of the Shiloah, filling the cups in their hands,

and they ascended

the children

and sat down

upon the doors—

They proceeded until they reached the Temple Mount. When they reached the Temple Mount, they would descend and proceed on foot, for the Temple Mount and the courtyards were hollow beneath them because of the impurity of an unknown grave. At the entrance to the courtyard, they would take the ashes and place them in the water in the cups [Meiri].

Rabbi Yosei says:

The children would not descend from the oxen. Rather:

From where he was, he would lower

and fill, because of the impurity of an unknown grave;

whereas the Sages hold: We require “drawing,” and not that he lower the cup by a rope.

And it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda says: They would not bring doors, but only oxen,

whose bellies were broad, and the oxen themselves served as the tent that interposed against the impurity.

And this presents a difficulty to Rabbi Yehuda, who holds that a tent not made by human hands is not a tent, from his own words in this beraita:

But oxen are a tent not made by human hands, and it is taught: Rabbi Yehuda says: They would not bring doors, but only oxen!?

When Rav Dimi came, he said that Rabbi Elazar said:

Rabbi Yehuda stated his position only with regard to a tent that is one handbreadth wide, but

Rabbi Yehuda concedes

with regard to the bellies of oxen, which form a tent whose width is

the size of a fist,

and this means the fist of Ben Avtiah, which was as large as the head of any person.

It was likewise taught in a beraita: And Rabbi Yehuda concedes with regard to rock projections [

rocks that fall and break apart in the wind, leaving a large hole where they detached]

and clefts in the rocks [

splits in the rocks], that although it is not a tent made by human hands, it is a tent, since they are as wide as the size of a fist.

And we are astonished:

But the door contains several fistfuls

from the ground to the door [Rashi ],

and it is taught: Rabbi Yehuda says: They would not bring doors, but only oxen.

And it had entered our minds that they did not bring doors because that is not the normal manner of making a tent; if so, the difficulty concerning the oxen is all the stronger [Rashi ]?!

Abaye said:

This is what Rabbi Yehuda is saying:

They did not need to bring doors,

but the oxen themselves sufficed; nevertheless, doors would also have been acceptable.

Rava said:

Actually, this is what Rabbi Yehuda is saying:

They did not bring doors at all,

but not for the reason that had entered our minds. Rather:

Because a child’s mind is haughty toward him [

he feels secure] when sitting upon a door and is not afraid of falling, there is concern

that he might stick out his head or one of his limbs and become impure

through the impurity of an unknown grave—

and therefore they brought oxen rather than doors, because, being afraid of falling from them, the child would not extend his head beyond the width of the ox, and would not become impure.