Sukkah 2a (ב.) — the Talmud in English

The mitzva of sukkah is stated twice in the Torah: In the portion of Emor [Leviticus 23:42] — " In sukkot you shall dwell for seven days. Every citizen in Israel shall dwell in sukkot. So that your generations may know that in sukkot I caused the Children of Israel to dwell when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God." And in the portion of Re'eh [Deuteronomy 16:13] — " The festival of Sukkot you shall make for yourself for seven days, when you gather in from your threshing floor and your winepress." The chapter before us will explain: the form of the sukkah, how it is erected, and what it is made of. Mishna:

The first Mishna opens with an explanation of three principal matters in the laws of sukkah.

The first: the laws concerning the height of the sukkah—what is the greatest permitted height and what is the least permitted height.

The second: the number of walls of the sukkah.

And the third: the law concerning the roofing, that its shade be greater than the sunlight that enters it.

a. The Mishna first presents a dispute among tannaim concerning the greatest permitted height of a sukkah:

A sukkah

that is higher than twenty cubits,

meaning that its roofing is more than twenty cubits above its floor,

is invalid.

The Gemara brings several differing explanations for this invalidation.

And Rabbi Yehuda deems it valid. The Mishna continues by explaining the least permitted height, below which the sukkah is invalid:

A

sukkah

that is not ten handbreadths high,

so that a person can dwell in it only with great difficulty, and it is therefore considered "an inferior dwelling," unfit for fulfilling the mitzva of sukkah,

is invalid.

b.

A

sukkah

that does not have

at least

three walls,

c.

A

sukkah

whose sunlight is greater than its shade is invalid.

The reason for the invalidation of a sukkah whose sunlight is greater than its shade is that the sukkah is named after its roofing. If the roofing is so sparse that it shades only a minority of the sukkah, this is considered as though the sukkah were not roofed at all, since this shade is nullified by the majority. Therefore, such a structure is not called a sukkah.

Even if the roofing and the open space above are equal in area, but below, on the floor of the sukkah, there is more sunlight than shade, the sukkah is invalid, since the shade below is nullified by the majority of sunlight [see below, 22b].

Gemara:

The Gemara discusses why the tanna in our Mishna used the expression "invalid" when explaining the law of the height of a sukkah ["A sukkah that is higher than twenty cubits is invalid"], rather than using language of a remedy, stating that in order to validate such a sukkah one must reduce its height until it is lower than twenty cubits. This is similar to the wording used by the tanna at the beginning of tractate Eruvin concerning a crossbeam higher than twenty cubits at the entrance of a mavoy, where the tanna did not say that it is "invalid" for making the mavoy permissible; rather, he said the opposite—that it can be validated by lowering the crossbeam below twenty cubits: We learned there,

at the beginning of tractate Eruvin [2a]:

A mavoy that is higher than twenty cubits,

that is, its crossbeam was placed more than twenty cubits above the ground, it is forbidden to carry from the private domain into it or to carry within it, unless

one reduces

the height,

that is, lowers the crossbeam or raises the ground beneath it, until the crossbeam is placed at a height below twenty cubits.

Rabbi Yehuda says: He need not lower it

Rabbi Yehuda says: It is not necessary

to lower it, because even when the crossbeam is above twenty cubits, it can be discerned, and it serves as a distinguishing sign for the residents of the mavoy, preventing them from coming to carry an object from it into the public domain. [Alternatively, this is because in his view the enactment of the crossbeam is not for purposes of recognition, but because it is considered a partition; therefore, even though the crossbeam is higher than twenty cubits, it is effective as a partition.]

The Gemara now discusses:

What is different with regard to a sukkah, where he taught,

that the tanna taught in our Mishna the language of invalidity, "A sukkah that is higher than twenty cubits

is invalid,"

and the tanna did not explain that it is possible to validate it by lowering the roofing to a height of no more than twenty cubits?

And what is different with regard to a mavoy, where he taught a remedy,

that the tanna taught in the Mishna that one may lower the crossbeam at its entrance in order to permit carrying within it on Shabbat?!

The Gemara explains: The law of a sukkah differs from that of a mavoy. For the measure of twenty cubits concerning the height of a

sukkah

is a law

from the Torah,

and this halakha had already been stated at Sinai before this Mishna was taught. Therefore,

he taught

the expression

"is invalid,"

because the sukkah was not made in accordance with the halakha transmitted from Sinai, which had already been taught.

But

a mavoy,

whose entire law is only

rabbinic, he taught

in it

a remedy. The reason is that the source for the requirement that the height of a mavoy be no more than twenty cubits is this very Mishna. It is not a Torah law transmitted from earlier times, and the Mishna does not ordinarily say "invalid" except with regard to something whose invalidity was known even before the Mishna was taught. There is also a distinction between a sukkah and a mavoy:

There is also another distinction between a sukkah and an alleyway:

Alternatively, if you wish, say:

Even if

with regard to a Torah law he also teaches

the expression

"a remedy"

wherever possible,

however,

with regard to

a sukkah, whose matters are numerous,

whose laws are many, and it is impossible to specify for every invalidation what its remedy is, therefore

he stated it concisely and taught

the unequivocal expression "invalid," so as not to lengthen his words by detailing the remedy for each and every invalidation. But

a mavoy, whose matters are not numerous,

its laws are not numerous in that Mishna,

he taught

in it the expression

"a remedy."

The Gemara asks:

From where are these matters

that we learned that a sukkah higher than twenty cubits is invalid?

The Gemara brings the statements of three amoraim, who gave three different reasons for invalidating a high sukkah:

a.

Rabba said: For the verse states: "So that your generations may know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in sukkot."

The Gemara now assumes that from this verse we learn that the person sitting in the sukkah must see and know that he is sitting beneath the shade of the sukkah.

[For if the intention of the verse were to say that future generations should know that the Holy One, blessed be He, caused the Children of Israel to dwell in booths of clouds of glory, it would have been sufficient for it to write: "You shall dwell in sukkot for seven days, because I caused them to dwell in sukkot." Why, then, did the verse add "so that your generations may know"? Rather, it is proven that the verse comes to teach us that one who sits in a sukkah must know that he is sitting in it.]

Therefore, if the sukkah is

up to twenty cubits high, a person knows that he is dwelling in a sukkah,

since his eye can discern the roofing.

But if the roofing is

higher than twenty cubits, a person does not know that he is dwelling in a sukkah,

because

his eye does not dominate

the roofing,

the eye.

And the Torah said, "so that your generations may know": make a sukkah whose dwelling is perceptible to you, meaning a sukkah that is not twenty cubits high.

b.

Rabbi Zeira said:

We learn this law

from here,

as it is written [Isaiah 4:6]:

"And there shall be a sukkah for shade by day from the heat."

This indicates that roofing is called roofing only if it is made for shade [as explained above, that "the sukkah is called by the name of its roofing," and therefore the purpose of the roofing—making shade—defines the essence of the sukkah].

Therefore, if the sukkah is

up to twenty cubits high, a person sits in the shade of the sukkah,

that is, in the shade of the roofing.

But if the roofing is placed

higher than twenty cubits, a person does not sit in the shade of the sukkah, but in the shade of the walls.

Since the sun comes somewhat from the side, the walls of the sukkah cast some shade inside the sukkah. When its walls are higher than twenty cubits, they cast shade from the side over the entire area of the sukkah, while the roofing above casts no shade at all.