Sukkah 019

נושא: Sukkah

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

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If someone makes his sukkah between trees, and the trees are its panels, it is valid. Those engaged on a mitzvah mission are excused [the mitzvah of] sukkah. Invalids and those nursing them are excused [the mitzvah of] sukkah. We may eat and drink occasionally outside the sukkah.

1:
Our mishnah consists of four clauses. The first clause is a kind of continuation of the previous mishnah; the other three clauses are concerned with an itemization of people who are excused, for one reason or another, the religious duty of sukkah.

2:
In mishnah 3 we learned about someone who, for any reason, has to erect his sukkah up a tree. The matter dealt with in the first clause of our mishnah is different. Unlike David (in the explanations of mishnah 3) Saul is going to erect his sukkah on the ground. He sets up four posts upon which he will put supports for the sekhakh, but he does not have enough material for the panels. He decides to use the trunk of two trees as one of the panels of his sukkah. He can do this by placing his sukkah adjacent to the trees. In his commentary on our present mishnah Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro explains how this must be done:

The trees must be thick and strong, not swaying hither and thither in an ordinary breeze. Furthermore, one must fill in [the spaces] between the trunks with straw or stubble so that they will not move with the wind. This is because any panel that cannot stand in an ordinary breeze is not a panel.

See Sukkah 005.

3:
The second clause of our mishnah is concerned with people who are engaged in performing a mitzvah other than sukkah. In this context the term 'mitzvah' refers to any of the 248 positive commandments of the Torah (and their explanation and amplification by the sages). The sages coined a general rule:

Someone who is engaged with a mitzvah is excused [any other] mitzvah.

If it is not possible to carry out both commandments simultaneously then as long as I am fulfilling one commandment I am excused the other. The sages seem to have given the term 'mitzvah' a very wide application. In his commentary on our present mishnah Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro gives examples:

Not only is one excused at the exact moment when one is fulfilling [another] mitzvah but even when one is not actively fulfilling it. For example, someone who is journeying to visit his rabbi or [someone who is journeying] to ransom captives: he is excused [the mitzvah of sukkah] even while halting on his way.

4:
The third clause of our mishnah is concerned with those who are not in good health. Not only are they excused the mitzvah of sukkah if they cannot easily perform it but even those nursing them or tending to their needs are also excused. The Torah [Leviticus 23:42] says

You shall reside in huts [sukkot].

The sages emphasized the word 'reside'. We are required to treat the sukkah as our place of residence throughout the seven days of Sukkot. It follows that if there is a reason because of which one might be expected to leave one's house because of it one is also permitted to leave one's sukkah. Rabbi Ovadya explains:

Invalids and those nursing them are excused — even someone mildly ill. Thus it is permitted to ignore the positive command of the Torah [to reside in a sukkah] if one is ailing, if one is suffering from a nasty smell [in the vicinity], or because of bugs or fleas. Similarly, those on a journey, those guarding vegetable plots and orchards: the sages excused them from sukkah. The reason is because it is written "you shall reside": whenever there is something because of which one would leave one's house he may also leave his sukkah.

However, Rabbi Ovadya also adds a note of caution:

But if someone deliberately erects his sukkah in a place where it will make him suffer while eating or sleeping — such as a place where he is in danger of bandits while sleeping but not while eating — he will not fulfill his duty in that sukkah even while eating because it is not fit for all of his activities — eating, drinking and sleeping. We require 'residence' and this is not 'residing'.

5:
We all have a place of permanent residence, our home. But that does not stop us eating a snack or having a drink outside our homes. Similarly, we can eat a snack or drink a soft drink away from our sukkah. There is no need to go to extraordinary lengths when away from one's sukkah.

The next shiur in this series will be, God willing, on 21st July.

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