Talking Talmud

What does it mean to make your sukkah your established residence, and make your regularly established home into a temporary residence? Also, under what conditions would the rain drive one inside out of the sukkah? Plus, that rain in its capacity of Hashem rejecting our sukkot... Along with other natural events that are taken as omens (in the way that rain on Sukkot is a bad omen). What do we do wi...

A focus on the scholarly approaches and personalities of R. Eliezer and R. Yochanan ben Zakkai (Who's Whos from the Gemara itself). Also, the case of one whose body is in the sukkah and whose table is in the house (a sukkah that is just off the house). Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai dispute whether such eating counts for the mitzvah of sukkah. Plus, women, slaves, and minors are not obligated in the...

How many meals must be eaten in the sukkah? The mishnah says: 14, day and night, each day. But that's disputed - between a meal a day and no set amount.... Which leads to a deeper dive into R. Eliezer's approach. Including not moving from one sukkah to another. What if you missed a meal? Can you make it up on Shemini Atzeret? Plus, a story about King Agrippas's steward, and how he only eats one me...

Additional conflicts that exempt a person from at least some mitzvot - on this case, the same people who are involved in the writing or selling of Torah scrolls, tefilin, mezuzot, and techelet are exempt from Shema, Amidah, tefillin, and so on. Also, travelers are exempt from sukkah. As are guardsmen. Plus, the idea that the temporary sukkah is akin to dwelling in your temporary house. Plus: Abaye...

Who needs to sit in the sukkah? Or who is exempt from sitting in one? One who is buys with another mitzvah is (often) exempt. Similarly, one whose eating is casual - for example, snacks. Specific cases of mitzvot exempt the doer from sukkah. Beginning with Kriat Shema. Plus a mourner burying his dead. Or the wedding party on the day of the wedding. Also, there's no rejoicing in a place with no mea...

Remember "bereira"? It's here again. This time, in the context of a sukkah that relies on an animal being part of the sukkah. And wine that is in its wineskins, where terumot and maaserot have not yet been taken. Also, a shift to a discussion about gittin - Jewish divorce, and specifically the writing of the bill of divorcement. And the parameters of the writing of that divorce, as per the interpr...

A general principle on when one can enter a sukkah (with an unusual base) on yom tov - it needs to be able to stand on its own, regardless of the tree that it is in, etc. Plus, this mishnah is attributed to R. Akiva, in contrast to the opinion of Rabban Gamliel. Both of which depend on how much wind a sukkah is expected to withstand. Also, building a sukkah with an animal, both on an animal and us...

A new mishnah! A sukkah that is "meduvlelet" and with more shade than sun, is kosher. That is, a sukkah with sparse schach. Alternatively, a disordered sukkah. The dispute here is between Rav and Shmuel, and the question is how many factors are contributing to this sukkah. Also, when can layers of schach combine to be one roof, and when would they be considered one on top of another? Also, the Gem...

Sleeping under a bed - is doing so an obstruction to fulfilling one's obligation of sleeping in a sukkah? Does it get in the way of the schach above? Part of this halakhic discussion includes the story of Tavi, the servant of Rabban Gamliel, who was not Jewish. His sleeping under the bed is used to "prove" that the bed is an impediment. Also, leaning the sukkah on a bed - does it need to stand on...

In the ongoing discussion of the mats and their acceptability as schach, we find some rabbinic interlude, which brings us to: Who's Who: Rabbi Hiya. Plus, more on the mats themselves. The question of whether they are acceptable continues to revolve around the potential they have to be rendered impure - regardless of the variety of materials that can be used to make a mat. Also, a trans-Babylonia/I...

When something comes off a sukkah, it's treated like a sukkah - whatever does that mean? The Gemara offers 4 possibilities, including a discussion of shade vs. sunlight. Also, 2 mishnayot - the first of which is undermined by a contradictory beraita and R. Yosi's practice. The second mishnah allows for sukkah mats for schach, as long as they've been designated for schach use.

Lavud... What if you have a gap of less than 3 tefachim in the middle of the schach? Specifically, if your sukkah is larger than the minimum. Which leads to a discussion of the purity issues of a sukkah in this way, and the absolute heritage of how impurity works in this kind of case. Note the methodology here, in terms of seeking halakhic parallels (or not, as this case may be). Also, a couple of...

A mishnah with 3 cases of non-kosher sukkahs. And then the Gemara needs to figure out why all 3 cases are necessary. Also, some narrative about the sages having their discussions on the halakhot of sukkah, and the talk that happens around learning. Plus, What's What (Where's Where?) on the yeshivot of Sura, Nehardea, and more.

Looking for the stages that clarify the previous mishnah. A bed can, of course, be rendered impure and then be purified. Even if the bed is dismantled... Whereas, mats woven from various reeds and grasses - which are apparently too small. And lastly of those cases - digging into a grain pile to make a sukkah, depending on the measure of the hole you dig. Also, a new mishnah: wherein one lowers the...

A daf with 2 mishnayot. The first has 3 different disputes in the span of the one mishnah, which focuses on wooden boards that can be used for schach, depending on the finished product. How wide can the board be? What if you remove a board? And most importantly, perhaps, how do we apply other basic sukkah concepts to this new scenario of sukkah. Also, the second mishnah - metal skewers or bed rods...

A follow-up to the hyssop/"eizov" discussion. Also, continuing the case of one who harvested grain and then decided not to eat it, but to use it for schach. Where both action and intent can be relevant, and action demonstrates intent. Plus, turning straw over with a pitchfork. Which leads into a comparison between the prayers of tzadikim and a pitchfork. Also, a new mishnah, and the question of wo...

Binding things together entails more than one thing! Also, the hyssop (or "eizov"), and its uses in the process of purification. Also, materials that might usually be used for food (and therefore be able to be rendered impure) and use them for roofing, there are ways to use them in ways that won't be rendered impure. For example, grapes are obviously food, but the branches that they're on are neve...

Schach - what can be used for it: the specific examples of the leavings from the threshing floor and the winepress, as delineated and derived from the biblical verses. But not the grain or the grapes themselves, as food can be rendered impure. The Gemara also discusses whether wine can be used for schach, and, interestingly, the fact that it is liquid is not a concern. Plus, another sukkah connect...

Climbing plants on a sukkah - ivy? Grapes? Etc. When they are attached to the ground, they can't really be part of the schach, unless they were overwhelmed in quantity by schach that was not attached to the ground. Also, tzitzit! In parallel to sukkah. In this case, can a string that is tied to two corners be acceptable for tzitzit? Plus, the 4 species make an appearance here. Do they need to be b...

[Some wonky audio from the app. Not throughout. With our apologies nonetheless.] What can't go over the schach: for example, additional shading, such as a tarp or a canopy. Any such thing that can be rendered impure cannot be kosher for schach. But if you are intentionally beautifying the sukkah with decorations, that should be fine. The discussion of roofing that can be rendered impure does get s...

Does the age of the materials being used to build a sukkah matter? How long on advance of Sukkot can one build a sukkah? What about intent? How do we define an "old sukkah"? The dispute is between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Just as a korban that is dedicated to be a festival-sacrifice, so to the building materials are consecrated when they are dedicated to be part of a sukkah. That plan to use...

Serious math on the daf, geometry in particular. Squaring a round sukkah. Which gets into the math of circumferences... Which needs π (3.14....). Also, who can make a sukkah and be sure it will be kosher? Together with an a week to the question whether a sukkah has to be built for the express purpose of building a sukkah. Via mnemonic acronyms.

Defining sukkot - if you put schach on top of an alleyway, you can ha e a kosher sukkah - reviewing many cases, in ways that are reminiscent of Eruvin. Also, the need for more shade than sunlight for the sukkah to be kosher. And that shade needs to be coming from the roof (the schach), and not via cracks or gaps in the walls. Plus what is essential to a sukkah? There are ways that a sukkah is simi...

Measurements! Barley. The vine. Fig. Pomegranate. Date. Olive. Also, a sukkah must have 3 walls - though that third wall can be as small as a tefach. This detail is subject to dispute, however. How is it derived? The spelling of "sukkot" is different and each spelling implies a new detail about the sukkot. Plus, the interwoven discussion on "halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai." Note the multiple entry poi...

The minimum measurements of the sukkah coming off the aron brings us to a discussion of God's arrival to meet with man - but always 10 tefachim above the ground. And even Moshe and Eliyahu didn't make it higher than those 10 tefachim, either. All of which suggests that our time in the sukkah is, or can be, should be, an encounter with the Divine. Also, on the kaporet - back to measurements. With a...