Sukkah 47a (מז.) — the Talmud in English

When they disagree

Rav and Shmuel—

with regard to reciting the blessing

over it, the sukkah.

According to the one who says “

the seventh day is for the sukkah,”

we also recite the blessing

over dwelling in the sukkah, as though it were the seventh day.

But

according to the one who says “

the eighth day is for this and for that,”

we do not recite the blessing

over dwelling in the sukkah;

we do not recite the blessing.

And it is “the eighth day for the sukkah,” in that one does not recite a blessing over it, and the eighth day for the blessing, as in the prayer, the kiddush, and Birkat HaMazon, one mentions the eighth day, Shemini Atzeret.

Rav Yosef said: Take Rabbi Yohanan’s ruling in your hand,

meaning, conduct yourself in accordance with his statement.

Since

Rav Huna bar Bizna and all the leading scholars of the generation happened to be in a sukkah on the eighth day, which was doubtfully the seventh day—

they were sitting

in the sukkah, but

they did not recite the blessing

over it.

They did not recite the blessing.

And we challenged this:

Perhaps they held in accordance with the one who says “

once one has recited the blessing on the first Festival day, he no longer recites it,”

and therefore they did not recite a blessing over it, and not because this was the eighth day. Consequently, no proof can be brought from them for our case, in which we recite the blessing each time, that one does not recite a blessing over the sukkah on the eighth day.

And we answer:

It was transmitted by tradition;

Rav Yosef knew by received tradition

that they had come

from the pasture,

they had just arrived,

and had not yet fulfilled the mitzva of sukkah. If it had been a day on which one was obligated to recite a blessing over the sukkah, they would have recited it, even if they held that one recites a blessing over the sukkah only once.

There are those who say: With regard to reciting the blessing—

everyone agrees that we do not recite it.

They disagree—

with regard to sitting

in the sukkah.

According to the one who says “

seven days are for the sukkah”—

we sit

in the sukkah on that day.

But according to the one who says that the eighth day is for this and for that—

we do not even sit in it.

Rav Yosef said: Take Rabbi Yohanan’s ruling in your hand,

that one may not sit in the sukkah at all on that day, and do not conduct yourself in accordance with Rav, who requires one to sit in the sukkah.

Since

the master of this teaching,

the one who stated in Rav’s name that one must sit in the sukkah,

who is he?

He is

Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Shilat!

And

I know that he himself,

on the eighth day, which was doubtfully the seventh day—

outside

the sukkah

he sat!

For although he was the one who stated Rav’s ruling, in practice he did not conduct himself in accordance with the halakha that he had stated in Rav’s name.

And the Gemara’s conclusion is:

And the halakha is—

on the eighth day, which is doubtfully the seventh day,

we sit

in the sukkah, but

we do not recite the blessing.

Rabbi Yohanan said: One recites Sheheheyanu

the blessing of Sheheheyanu

on the eighth day of the Festival, but one does not recite Sheheheyanu on the seventh day of Pesaḥ.

And Rabbi Levi bar Hama said, and some say Rabbi Hama bar Hanina: You can know

that one should recite Sheheheyanu on the eighth day,

for it differs

the eighth day

in three respects

from the Festival of Sukkot:

the sukkah, the lulav, and the water libation,

which are not observed on that day.

And

also

according to Rabbi Yehuda, who says that with one log

of water

the libation was performed all eight

days, including Shemini Atzeret, nevertheless one must recite Sheheheyanu, because

indeed

still

the eighth day differs

from the Festival of Sukkot

in two respects,

the lulav and the sukkah, which are not observed on that day.

And we inquire about this:

If so,

if the distinction in the laws of the day necessitates reciting Sheheheyanu, on the day of

the seventh day of Pesaḥ as well

one should recite Sheheheyanu, since

indeed it differs

in the mitzva of

eating matza.

As the master said: On the first night

of Pesaḥ

it is obligatory

to eat matza,

from that point onward—

optional.

And the Gemara rejects this challenge in several ways:

a.

Can this really be compared?

What is the comparison?!

After all,

there,

on the seventh day of Pesaḥ, only

from the night

of the first day is it

different,

but

from the day

onward, even from the first day, it

is not different,

for even on the first day of Pesaḥ there is no obligation to eat matza, but only on the first night!

Whereas

here,

on Shemini Atzeret,

it differs even during the day.

b.

Ravina said: This

Shemini Atzeret

differs from

the final day of Sukkot

preceding it,

and therefore one recites Sheheheyanu over it.

And

if

this

were the seventh day of Pesaḥ,

it would differ from

the first night of Pesaḥ

preceding it by two intervening days,

and such a remote distinction does not render the seventh day of Pesaḥ a festival in its own right, warranting the recitation of Sheheheyanu over it.

c.

Rav Pappa said:

The distinction between Shemini Atzeret and the Festival of Sukkot has a proof from the Torah, and therefore one recites Sheheheyanu. For

here,

on the eighth day,

one bull is written,

only one, whereas

there,

during the days of the Festival of Sukkot,

bulls are written,

many on each day.

d.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said

that another proof should be brought from the verse:

Here,

on Shemini Atzeret,

it is written

at the beginning of the passage concerning its offerings, “

On the day

the eighth.” But

there,

with regard to the offerings of the Festival of Sukkot,

it is written

on each of the days

and on the day, with the conjunction “and,” teaching that only the seven days of the Festival of Sukkot constitute one festival, whereas the eighth day is a separate festival.

e.

Rav Ashi said: Here,

on the eighth day,

it is written

in connection with its offerings [Numbers 29], “According to their number,

according to the statute.”

This indicates that it has its own statute [law].

But

there,

on the seventh day of the Festival of Sukkot,

it is written “According to their number,

according to their statutes.”

This indicates that there is one statute for all seven days of the Festival.

And this is not the same as the “statute” of the eighth day.

The Gemara examines Rabbi Yohanan’s statement that one should recite Sheheheyanu on the eighth day:

Can it support him

from the words of Rabbi Yehuda in a beraita?

As it was taught: The number of

bulls, rams, and sheep

specified in the Torah for the offerings of the Festival of Sukkot must be exactly as prescribed for each and every day of the Festival.

And if the full number of offerings is not available, but only part of it, one may not offer any of that type of offering for which some are missing, since they

prevent one another.

And Rabbi Yehuda says:

Only the rams and the sheep, whose number is fixed from day to day, prevent one another, because the Torah was particular about their fixed number each day.

But the

bulls—

do not prevent one another, for their number continually decreases

from day to day, indicating that the Torah was not particular about their number. Therefore, even if some of the bulls prescribed for that day are missing, one may offer a smaller number of bulls, thereby fulfilling the obligation with regard to at least those bulls.

They said to him

the Sages to Rabbi Yehuda:

But surely all of them,

the rams and the sheep as well,

continually decrease,

for

on the eighth day

only one ram is offered and not two rams, and seven sheep rather than fourteen!

He said to them

Rabbi Yehuda:

The eighth day—

it is a festival in its own right.

One cannot infer from the change in its offerings that the Torah was not particular about the number of offerings during the Festival of Sukkot.

Just as the seven days of the Festival require an offering

for themselves,

and

likewise a special

song

that the Levites would recite, for themselves,

and

likewise a

blessing [

as will be explained below], for itself,

and

likewise the mitzva of

remaining overnight

in Jerusalem after bringing the offering, for themselves;

so too, the eighth day requires an offering

specifically for itself,

and a song, and a blessing, and remaining overnight

specifically for itself.