Sukkah 42b — the Talmud in English

A minor who

knows how to slaughter, they may eat from his slaughtering

even though he is not proficient in the laws of slaughter, as will be explained shortly.

Rav Huna said: And that an adult is standing over him,

and supervising him so that he slaughters properly: that he does not pause during his slaughtering, and does not press the knife against the animal’s neck—for through this it becomes forbidden as “pressed slaughter,” since it did not die only through the cutting of the knife, but also because of the pressure. Rather, he moves the knife back and forth in a movement of cutting alone.

A minor who

can eat an olive-sized quantity of grain, one distances oneself from his excrement and urine by four cubits,

if an adult wishes to pray, since from the time that he tastes the taste of grain his excrement stinks, provided that he ate an olive-sized quantity of grain.

Rav Hisda said: And that he can

the minor

eat it

the olive-sized quantity of grain

within

the time of

“eating a pras.”

For if he delays in eating it longer than this measure of time, his eating does not combine to constitute the measure of an olive-sized quantity.

The time of “eating a pras” is the time required to eat half a loaf [of eight eggs; from this is derived the word pras, whose meaning is a portion], which is a measure of four eggs.

The complete loaf of eight eggs is the loaf by which one measures the food of two meals, which is the measure required for the eruv of boundaries.

Rav Hiyya, son of Rav Yeiva, said: And with regard to the

excrement of

an adult, even though he cannot

this adult

eat

an olive-sized quantity

within the time of eating a pras,

one must distance oneself from his excrement,

as it is written [

Ecclesiastes 1]:

“And he who increases knowledge increases pain,”

for his excrement stinks.

A minor who

can eat an olive-sized quantity of roasted meat

he is included with the members of the group, and

they slaughter the Passover offering for him, as it is stated [

Exodus 12]:

“A man according to his eating,”

that he be fit to eat.

Rabbi Judah says: Until he can discern

what is fit for

eating.

How?

If, when

they give him a pebble [

a stone], he recognizes that the pebble is fit for nothing

and throws it,

whereas when they give him a

nut

he recognizes its value

and takes it

to eat it, he is fit to be included for the Passover offering.

We have completed for you the chapter “The Stolen Palm Branch.”

Mishna:

A. The mitzva of taking

lulav

in the Temple, which is practiced in the Temple, by Torah law, on all seven days of the Festival of Sukkot.

And

likewise the mitzva of

aravah

which is practiced in the Temple on these seven days [and the Gemara will explain what the nature of this taking is: whether it is an enactment of the Prophets or merely a custom that they instituted, and whether the intention is that the priests take aravah branches in their hands and walk around the altar with them, or that they stand aravah branches upright and incline their height around the altar]—

There are times when the lulav and the aravah do not “override” Shabbat, and then their mitzva is fulfilled only for

six

days, out of the seven days of the Festival of Sukkot.

And

there are times when they “override” Shabbat. And then they are practiced for

seven

days—that is, on all the days of the Festival of Sukkot.

And the Mishna below will explain when they “override” Shabbat and when they do not.

B. The mitzva of reciting

the Hallel

in its entirety, without omission.

And

likewise the mitzva of

rejoicing

through eating the meat of peace-offerings.

They are practiced on all

eight

days, including the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret.

C. The mitzva of dwelling in

a sukkah,

and

likewise the mitzva of

the water libation

upon the altar—

They are practiced throughout all

seven

days of the Festival of Sukkot, but not on Shemini Atzeret.

D.

The flute,

with which they play, and likewise the other musical instruments with which they play at the “Celebration of the Place of the Drawing,” which they would conduct in honor of drawing the water for the water libation, did not override Shabbat or a Festival day.

Therefore, when the first Festival day fell on one of the weekdays of the week, they played it only for

five

days, since they could not play on it either on the first Festival day or on the Shabbat of the intermediate days.

And

if the first Festival day had fallen on Shabbat, they would have played it for

six

days, because six weekdays remained.

And now the Mishna explains how these principles are practiced:

Concerning that which we learned:

lulav

is practiced for

seven

days—

how so?

The first Festival day of the Festival

of Sukkot

that falls on Shabbat—

they take

lulav

in the Temple for

seven

days.

Because the mitzva of taking lulav in the Temple on the first Festival day “overrides” Shabbat [and the “overriding” consists in the fact that the Sages did not decree that it should not be taken, but it is not an actual overriding of the prohibition of Shabbat, since taking the lulav involves no labor; whereas carrying it through the public domain was indeed not permitted].

And

if the first Festival day falls on

all the other days,

they take the lulav for only

six

days, because the Sages decreed that lulav should not be taken on the Shabbat of the intermediate days, even in the Temple.

And concerning that which we learned: the mitzva of

aravah for seven

days—

how so?

The seventh day of aravah

[which is nowadays called “Hoshana Rabba”],

that falls on Shabbat—

the mitzva of

aravah

is practiced in the Temple all

seven

days, and the Sages did not decree that it should not be fulfilled on Shabbat, out of concern lest one carry it through the public domain, since the mitzva of aravah in the Temple on the seventh day overrides Shabbat.

And

if the seventh day falls on

all the other days—

the mitzva of aravah is practiced for only

six

days, because the Shabbat of the intermediate days is not overridden on account of the mitzva of aravah.

And the reason for the distinction between the mitzva of aravah on the seventh day, which overrides Shabbat, and the mitzva of aravah on the other days, which does not override Shabbat, will be explained in the Gemara.

And now the Mishna adds and explains:

The mitzva of lulav,

which is practiced in the Temple even on Shabbat, when the first day falls on Shabbat—

how

would they practice carrying the lulav?

The first Festival day of the Festival that falls on Shabbat—

they would bring

all the people

their lulavs

on the eve of Shabbat

to the Temple Mount,

because it is forbidden to carry the lulav on Shabbat in the public domain,

and the attendants

the assistants

would receive them

their lulavs,

and arrange them on a platform.

And

the

elders

would

place the

lulavs

of theirs in the chamber.

And

the court would

instruct them,

all of them,

to say:

Whoever has my lulav come into his hand—

behold, it is his as a gift.

And they instituted this lest they exchange their lulavs, and it was necessary to say this so that they would fulfill their obligation with it, and the lulav would not be invalid as stolen or borrowed.

On the morrow,

they would

rise early and come

to the Temple.

And the attendants

would

throw them

the lulavs

before them.

And they would snatch

the lulavs,

and

they would

strike one another

at the time of the snatching.

And when the court saw that they had come into danger—

they instituted that each and every person should take

the lulav on Shabbat

in his home,

and not in the Temple.

Gemara:

It is explained in the Mishna that before the enactment of the court that each person should take the lulav in his home, they would take the lulav in the Temple on Shabbat only when the first Festival day fell on it, but not on the Shabbat of the intermediate days of Sukkot.

And we raise an objection concerning it:

Why

does the mitzva of lulav in the Temple, which is by Torah law all seven days, not also override the Shabbat of the intermediate days? After all,

the carrying

of the lulav is like carrying wood

merely

considered,

and

if so,

let it override Shabbat—and for what reason did the Sages see fit to decree and abolish the mitzva!?

Rabba said: It is a decree lest one take it

the lulav on Shabbat

in his hand and go

through the public domain

to

someone who is

expert

in shaking the lulav or in the blessing over the lulav, in order

to learn

from him the order of the shakings or the blessings,