Sukkah 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

Rav Safra said to him:

Moses—

that is, the great man of the generation, for the great man of the generation is always compared to Moses our Teacher—

and is what you said well?

Rather:

between

there,

with regard to “Blessed is he who comes,”

and

between

here,

with regard to “May His great Name be blessed,” he intends

to conclude the matter;

that is, his intention is to finish his statement,

and

in such a case

we have no concern.

We learned in our Mishna:

In a place where it is customary to repeat

he should repeat:

And we learned in a beraita:

The tanna taught: Rabbi repeats sections of it,

from “I thank You” onward, until the end of Hallel.

Whereas

Rabbi Elazar ben Perata adds to it

that in Hallel one should repeat

sections

more than Rabbi repeats.

The Gemara explains:

What does “adds” mean

with regard to Rabbi Elazar ben Perata? Which sections did he repeat more than those that Rabbi repeated?

Abaye said: He adds

that one should

repeat from “I thank You” and onward,

as is our practice. The reason he did not repeat from the beginning of the psalm is that the psalm itself repeats its words up to that point, as explained above, on folio 38a. [“I called upon God” corresponds to “Answer me in the expanses of God”; “God is for me” is repeated twice; “It is better to take refuge” is repeated twice; “They surrounded me” and “They surrounded me”; “He pushed me” and “You pushed me”; “And God was for me salvation” and “All song and salvation”; “The right hand of God” And the Ritba wrote: “The Master, Rabbi Yitzhak, of blessed memory, wrote: ‘Thus we received from great Sages and men of action: Rabbi would repeat only until “Please, prosper,” and Rabbi Elazar ben Perata would add to Rabbi’s repetitions from “Blessed is he who comes” until the end of the chapter. And we hold that the halakha follows Rabbi when he differs from an individual colleague.’ This explanation does not accord with the version in our books, for it implies that Rabbi would repeat until “I thank You,” and Rabbi Elazar ben Perata added from that point until the end of Hallel. -

is repeated twice; “I shall not die” corresponds to “He has not given me over to death”; “Open for me the gates of righteousness” corresponds to “This is the gate of God.” But from “I thank You” onward it is not repeated].

We learned in our Mishna: In a place where it is customary

to recite a blessing, he should recite the blessing:

Abaye said: They taught

that the blessing depends on local custom

only

with regard to the blessing

after it.

But

the blessing

before it is a mitzva to recite.

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: With regard to all the mitzvot, one recites the blessing over them immediately before

before

performing them.

And from what is it inferred that this word “immediately before”

mentioned in Shmuel’s statement

means precedence?

For Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said, as it is written:

[II Samuel 18:23]

“And Ahimaaz ran by way of the plain, and he passed the Cushite.”

That is, he preceded the Cushite and ran ahead of him.

Abaye said: We derive it from here

[Genesis 33:3]:

“And he passed before them.”

And if you wish, say: We derive it from here

[Micah 2:13]:

“Their king shall pass before them, and God at their head.”

Mishna:

One who purchases a lulav

[not specifically a lulav; rather, all the species of the lulav are included ],

from his fellow

an am ha-aretz [Rashi does not have “his fellow,” since the discussion is about an am ha-aretz, as explained in the Gemara, and an am ha-aretz is not considered the fellow of a ḥaver],

during the Sabbatical Year,

should ask that am ha-aretz to

give him

the

etrog as a gift,

because he is not permitted to purchase it

from him with money

during the Sabbatical Year,

for the reason that will be explained below.

Gemara:

The Gemara inquires: If

he did not wish

that am ha-aretz

to give him

the etrog

as a gift, what is the law

[what should he do]?

Rav Huna said: He should purchase the lulav from him at an inflated price, more than its actual value, until he

He should purchase the lulav from him at an inflated price, more than its value, until he

causes him to include

the

value of

the

etrog in the price of the lulav.

That is, if the am ha-aretz is unwilling to agree to give him an etrog as a gift, he should give him its value in payment for something else, stipulating with him that the etrog will remain a gift to him.

The Gemara asks: Why must he take the etrog from him as a gift,

and let him give him

money

outright?

What difference does it make that he purchases it with money?

The Gemara explains: It is impossible to give him its value outright,

because one may not give the money received for produce of the Sabbatical Year to an am ha-aretz.

For so we learned in a beraita,

as it was taught: One may not give the money received for produce of the Sabbatical Year to an am ha-aretz, beyond the amount of food for three meals.

The reason is that the Torah says: “The Sabbatical produce of the land shall be yours to eat,” and the Sages expounded: “To eat”—but not for commerce. That is, all produce of the Sabbatical Year and its money must be consumed during the Sabbatical Year; it was not given to be used for commerce, whereby one would conceal the money in his house and increase his wealth.

Ammei ha-aretz are suspected of this, and for that reason they prohibited taking anything from them and placing money of the Sabbatical Year in their hands, lest they conceal the money and fail to eliminate it, in which case one transgresses, “You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.”

But food for three meals may be given to them from produce of the Sabbatical Year, since there is reason for concern that they require it for the Shabbat meal. And since this amount was permitted on Friday, it was also permitted on weekdays.

And if

he forgot and

gave

him money that was payment for produce of the Sabbatical Year—for example, he purchased produce of the Sabbatical Year from him—

he should say

that ḥaver who gave him the money:

“These coins

that I gave him, which possess the sanctity of the Sabbatical Year,

shall be redeemed onto produce

that is not from the Sabbatical Year

which I have in my house,

and that produce shall enter into sanctity in their place.”