Sukkah 53 - August 29, 21 Elul

Today’s daf is sponsored by Elaine Hochberg in honor of Arie Hochberg. You are a constant support in my journey of learning. Thank you for the encouragement and the joy.

What are the words of praise that would be said at the Simchat Bat Hashoeva? What would Hillel say to encourage people to keep in the way of God? Hillel, R. Yochanan, and also a story about King Solomon talk about how a person's feet lead him to the place he desires or to the place he is supposed to reach, sometimes against his will. There are stories about certain rabbis who are known to make special bows and knew how to juggle things like fire, knives, glasses full of wine, and eggs. The joy of the Simchat Bat Hashoeva lasted all night until the early morning when time the water was drawn from the Shiloach. They did not sleep all night- how was that possible? The fifteen stairs in the Temple corresponded to the fifteen chapters of Psalms that David sang in order to push back the waters of the depths that rose up to destroy the world when David dug the shitin, drainpipes. When the priests went down the stairs and blew the trumpets on the tenth step, Rabbi Yirmia asks: tenth from above or below? In the verse from Ezekiel that they would say at the ceremony, "Their backs to the temple of the Lord?" - what is the meaning of that?  How could they say, "We are to God and to God our eyes" - it sounds like they are praying to two Gods? Blasts in the temple - There were between 21 and 48 trumpet blasts in the Temple  - depending on the day. The mishna lists how many blasts were blown each day and for what purpose. On Sukkot on Friday afternoon, there would be 48. There is a dispute between Rabbi Yehuda and the sages how to count blasts - is every tekia/terua/tekia considered one or three blasts?