Sukkah 45a (מה.) — the Talmud in English

And is it in order to dry them

for the lulavim

that he needs—and therefore he spreads them out lying down on the roof of the platform? But a dry lulav is invalid!

Rather, say:

Instead, say:

they would arrange the lulavim

on top of the platform,

as they would lean them upright against the wall of the platform.

Rabḥa said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda: The Temple Mount—

had a double colonnade.

It was built with rows of platforms, one inside the other,

one colonnade inside another.

Mishna:

1.

The mitzva of the willow—

how is it performed?

There was a place below Jerusalem, called Motza.

They would

go down there and gather from there large branches

of willow

and come and stand them upright at the sides of the altar.

And their tops—

the tops of the large branches were

bent over the altar.

They sounded a tekia, a terua, and a tekia—

as an expression of joy.

Every day,

during the first six days of the festival, they would

circle the altar once and say: “Please, Lord, save now; please, Lord, grant success now.”

Rabbi Yehuda says:

This is what they would say: “

I and He—

please, save now.”

As this has the same numerical value as “Please, Lord” [78], and likewise it is composed of two Names from among the seventy-two Names from which the explicit Name is composed.

And on that day,

the seventh, they would

circle the altar seven times.

At the time of their departure,

their parting from the altar,

what

would they

say? “

How beautiful you are, O altar! How beautiful you are, O altar!”

For we bestow this beauty upon you because you atone for us [Rashi on page b].

Rabbi Elazar says:

This is what they would say: “How beautiful

is He, and you, O altar! How beautiful

is He

and you, O altar!”

This will be explained in the Gemara.

2.

As is its performance

in fulfilling the mitzva of the willow

on a weekday—

so is its performance on Shabbat.

Except that they would gather them on the eve of

Shabbat

and place them in golden basins

filled with water,

so that they would not wither,

so that the willows would not deteriorate.

3.

Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Beroka says:

On the seventh day, whether on a weekday or on Shabbat,

palm branches,

branches,

would be brought, and they would beat them on the ground beside the altar.

And that day

was

called “

Day of

beating the palm branches.”

4. Even after fulfilling the mitzva involving the etrog, lulav, and willow, the lulavim and etrogim remained “set aside for their mitzva” for the entire day.

And in order to rejoice immediately upon completing the fulfillment of these mitzvot, the adults would take the lulavim and etrogim of the minors, which had not been set aside for the mitzva.

And this is what they did:

F

rom

the hand

of the

infants—

they would

snatch away their lulavim.

A

nd they would

eat

their

etrogim.

Gemara:

A tanna

taught in a beraita: Motza

was a place

called “

Kalneya”

was.

And we raised a difficulty:

And as for our tanna,

for what reason did he call it “

Motza”?

Since it was exempted from the king’s tax,

because this place had been excluded from the obligation to pay the king’s tax,

he called it “

Motza.”

We learned in the Mishna:

And they come and stand them upright at the sides of

the altar.

A tanna

taught: The willows

were numerous and long;

they

were eleven cubits high, so that they would lean

over

the altar

to the measure of

one cubit.

Marimar said in the name of Mar Zutra: Learn from this

that the bases of the willows

were placed on the foundation,

and not on the floor of the Temple courtyard beside the altar.

For if it enters your mind

that

on the ground,

on the floor of the Temple courtyard,

they were placed—

it is impossible for the tops of the willows to be “leaning,” tilted downward, one cubit over the altar.

For

since,

the height of the altar from the floor of the Temple courtyard to its top was nine cubits, as explained below:

The altar was built in the form of three cubes, one on top of the other.

a. The bottom cube, called the “foundation of the altar,” was one cubit wider on each side than the middle cube above it, and was one cubit high.

b. The middle cube was narrower than the bottom one by one cubit on each side, and wider than the upper cube by one cubit on each side.

On the surface of this one-cubit-wide ledge was the sovev, intended for the priests to walk upon in order to place the blood of sin-offerings on the corners of the altar.

The height of this cube was five cubits.

c. The upper cube was three cubits high, and was narrower than the middle cube by one cubit on each side.

On the corners of the surface of the upper cube were four “horns,” each one cubit by one cubit and one cubit high.

And so we learned in tractate Middot [3a]:

a. Above the floor of the Temple courtyard, the altar’s height

rose

by the measure of

one cubit.

And it narrowed,

and there the width of the altar was reduced by the measure of

one cubit.

And

this is

the part of the altar called the “

foundation

of the altar.”

b. And afterward its height rose and

increased by five

cubits.

And it narrowed by one cubit.

And the place where it narrowed by one cubit

is

the part of the altar called the “

sovev.”

c. And afterward the height

rose

another

three

cubits.

The surface above is the top of the altar, and at its four corners were the four horns, each horn being one cubit high. And

this is the “

place of the horns.”

It follows that the height of the altar, from the floor to its top, was nine cubits.

And for the willows to be “leaning” [tilted] one cubit above the altar, they had to be raised at least two cubits above it, because below this height it would be impossible to tilt them one cubit over the altar, and they could only be folded over it.

And if so, for the willows to be

leaning

[tilted, when bent in a downward-sloping manner rather than folded at a right angle]

over the altar—

how can this be found

if we set them on the floor of the Temple courtyard?

For since the willows were eleven cubits high, if their bases were set on the floor of the Temple courtyard, they would not retain a height of two cubits at their tops above the height of the altar, since there are two cubits of difference between the place where they stand on the floor of the Temple courtyard and the top of the altar, owing to the one-cubit narrowing at the foundation and the one-cubit narrowing at the sovev; and they would have to be tilted diagonally from the place where they stand to the top of the altar.

It would therefore follow that when they reached the top of the altar, standing diagonally, their tops would no longer retain two cubits, so that it would be possible to tilt them one cubit over the altar.

Rather, can one not conclude from this: on the foundation,

on the floor of the altar’s foundation,

they were placed,

the bases of the willows were placed.

It follows that the tops of the willows, had they been upright, would have been thirteen cubits above the height of the altar. Thus, they could be tilted diagonally toward the top of the altar, while still retaining two cubits of height, which could be tilted one cubit over the altar.

And we conclude:

Learn from this.

Rabbi Abbahu said: What is the verse

from which we learn that the willows must extend above the height of the top of the altar?

As it is stated

Psalms 118]: “

Bind

surround the altar at the time of the

festival

of Sukkot,

with branches

of trees, and let those branches reach

the horns of the altar,”

which are higher than the top of the altar.

Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Elazar said: Anyone who takes a lulav in its binding and a myrtle in its cluster—

the verse ascribes it to him as though he built an altar and offered a sacrifice upon it.

As it is stated: