Sukkah 48a (מח.) — the Talmud in English

It was taught in accordance with Rav Nahman’s opinion: The eighth

is a festival in its own right, with regard to pazr kashav,

as the Gemara spells out the initial letters:

A lottery in its own right,

as a lottery was held among all the priestly watches to determine which watch would merit offering the bull of the additional offering. During the days of Sukkot, however, no lottery was held; rather, all the watches served according to the fixed order of the watches, since there were enough offerings for all the watches to serve during Sukkot.

A time in its own right,

as one recites Shehecheyanu over it, just as one recites it over every festival.

A festival in its own right,

as one does not sit in a sukkah on it.

An offering in its own right,

as it does not follow the number of the bulls of the festival offerings, which decrease progressively from thirteen bulls on the first day to seven bulls on the seventh day. According to that sequence, six bulls should have been brought on the eighth day, yet only one bull is brought on it.

A song in its own right,

as the Levites recite on it a song unrelated to Sukkot.

A blessing in its own right,

as one mentions the Eighth Day of Assembly in the prayer. In addition, the king is blessed on it with a special blessing.

Mishna:

Hallel and rejoicing

with peace offerings of rejoicing, which we learned in the previous Mishna are observed for

eight

days—

how so?

This teaches that a person is obligated to recite the complete Hallel

and to rejoice

with rejoicing

through peace offerings of rejoicing,

and to honor the last Festival day of the festival—

like all the other days of the festival.

Gemara:

And we raise the following discussion concerning the obligation to rejoice on the eighth day:

From where are these matters derived

that there is also a mitzva of rejoicing on the Eighth Day of Assembly, just as during Sukkot itself?

As the Sages taught:

Once the verse states [Deuteronomy 16], concerning Sukkot, “And you shall rejoice in your festival,” why does the verse repeat and state: “

And you shall be only joyful”?

To include the nights of the last Festival day [the Eighth Day of Assembly] for rejoicing. The verse teaches that a person should slaughter peace offerings on the seventh day of Sukkot, so that he can rejoice by eating them on the night of the last Festival day [as it is impossible to slaughter at night]. Thus, the verse included rejoicing on the night of the last Festival day together with the seven days of the festival of Sukkot, even though the night of the eighth day is not included among the seven days.

(Shemini Atzeret) in the obligation of rejoicing. The verse teaches that a person should slaughter a peace offering on the seventh day of Sukkot, so that he can rejoice by eating it on the night of the last festival day, since an offering cannot be slaughtered at night. Thus, the verse included rejoicing on the night of the last festival day together with the seven days of the festival of Sukkot, even though the night of the eighth day is not included among those seven days.

And from here it may be derived by a kal va-chomer with regard to the eighth day, for the night is subordinate to the day: If the night was included for rejoicing, all the more so the eighth day itself.

Or perhaps

the extra wording of the verse

serves only

to include

the first Festival day

for rejoicing, so that there would be an obligation to slaughter a peace offering on the eve of the Festival in order to eat its meat joyfully at night.

And the extra wording of the verse comes to teach us that there is an obligation to rejoice by eating peace offerings slaughtered on the eve of the Festival, for if not for this extra wording, it could have been said that the mitzva of rejoicing on the festivals applies only when peace offerings are slaughtered at the time of rejoicing.

When it states “And you shall be

only

only

joyful”—

the verse divided

the obligation of rejoicing by means of the word “only,” whose meaning is limitation and division, and excluded the night of the Festival from the obligation to eat the meat of peace offerings for rejoicing. Therefore, there is no need to slaughter peace offerings on the eve of the Festival in order to eat them for rejoicing on the Festival.

And what did you see that led you to include

from the extra wording of the verse

the nights of the last Festival day

for rejoicing with the meat of peace offerings,

and to exclude

by means of the limitation in the verse

the nights of the first Festival day

from this rejoicing, rather than the reverse?!

I include the nights of the last Festival day—

because

there is rejoicing before it.

And I exclude the nights of the first Festival day, since there is no rejoicing before it.

Mishna:

The mitzva of dwelling in a

sukkah,

which we learned above lasts for

seven

days—

how so?

When one has finished eating

his meal on the seventh day,

he may not untie

the bundles that hold up

his sukkah.

That is, he may not dismantle it, since he is still obligated to sleep or study in it; and if he wishes to eat another meal, he is obligated to sit in it.

However, he removes

the

utensils

and the fine furnishings and the other items he used throughout the festival, beginning

from

the time of

the afternoon offering and onward, out of respect for the last Festival day of the festival,

thereby showing that he is preparing for the meal of the last Festival day in the house.

Gemara:

And we raise a question: If

he has no utensils to remove,

what

should he do? How should he act so that he may be permitted to continue eating in the sukkah on the eighth day? For if he does not make some indication that he is no longer continuing to fulfill the mitzva of sukkah on the eighth day, he violates the prohibition of “You shall not add” by continuing to eat and sleep in the sukkah on the eighth day.

And we wonder: How is it possible that

he has no utensils

at all?

Rather, if he used

the sukkah during the days of Sukkot,

what did he use?

And we answer:

Rather,

this is what we were asking: If

he has no other place

to which he can

remove his utensils

and eat there, but must continue eating in the sukkah—

what

should he do so that he does not violate the prohibition of “You shall not add”?

Rav Hiyya bar Ashi said: He makes an opening in it

by creating an empty space in the roofing of the sukkah that is

four

handbreadths wide, thereby invalidating the sukkah.

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said:

There is no need to invalidate it; it is sufficient that he

light a lamp in it.

Since one does not light a lamp in a small sukkah, when he lights a lamp in it, this is an indication that he is no longer fulfilling the mitzva of sukkah in it.

And they do not disagree: This

applies to us,

the residents of Babylonia, who must sit in it on the following day: He should not make an opening in it; rather, he should only light a lamp in it.

And this

applies to them,

the residents of the Land of Israel, who will not sit in it any longer: They should make an opening in it.

And we refute this:

This works well with regard to a small sukkah,

in which one does not light a lamp, so lighting the lamp is an indication that one will no longer use it for the mitzva.

With regard to a large sukkah,

in which one does light a lamp,

what is there to say?

What should one do outside the Land of Israel, where he must eat in it on the eighth day?

And we answer:

He brings into it

by carrying in

food vessels

—bowls used for eating, after they have been used, which are repulsive vessels and may not be brought into the sukkah during the festival of Sukkot.

And this is similar to what

Rava said

[above, 29a]:

Food vessels,

the eating utensils that become repulsive after one has eaten from them, must be

outside the sukkah,

as they must be removed from the sukkah after the meal.

But

drinking vessels,

drinking utensils that are not repulsive, may remain after one has drunk from them

in the sukkah,

in the sukkah.

Mishna:

a.

The pouring of the water—

how

was it performed?

A golden flask

that

held three

log

of water

was filled from

the spring

of Shiloah.

When

the bearers of the flask and its water

reached

the Water Gate

in the Temple courtyard, they

sounded a tekia, a terua, and a tekia,

out of joy, in fulfillment of the verse: “And you shall draw water with joy.”

The priest

who poured the water

ascended by the ramp

located on the southern side of the Temple courtyard, to the roof of the altar,

and turned

there at the top toward the west,

to his left,

until he reached the first corner he encountered, which was the southwestern corner, beside which was the place designated for pouring the water and the wine.

b.

There were two silver bowls there,

fixed at the southwestern corner, into which the water and the wine were poured.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

They were bowls

of plaster, but their surfaces were blackened because of the wine.

They resembled the color of silver, which tends more toward black than plaster, which tends more toward white.