Sukkah 44 - August 20, 12 Elul

This week of learning is sponsored by Medinah Korn in memory of her dear mother, Rosalie Katchen, Shoshana Raizl bat Avraham Yehoshua ve-Baila Toiba, z"l, on her 21st yahrzeit. "Her kindness and grace, zest for life, delight in Torah study, and love for family and friends continue to inspire us every day. Yehi zichrah baruch."

As the gemara concluded, after the destruction of the Temple, the mitzva of lulav does not override Shabbat. If so, how can one explain the two mishnayot that seemed to contradict each other - one said they brought lulavim to the Temple Mount and the other to the synagogue. Why is the lulav taken all week to remember what was done in the Temple but the arava is not? The gemara brings up several possibilities but rejects some of them. Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan disagree about priests with blemishes - whether they are allowed to enter the temple between the Ulam and the altar in order to perform the mitzva of arava by encircling the altar. There is controversy as to whether arava is an ordinance of the prophets or a custom of the prophets. This is difficult as we have learned that it is a mitzva from the Torah or at least a halachah for Moses from Sinai - so how can one say that it is an ordinance or custom from the prophets? What is the requisite amount needed for arava? There is controversy as to whether or not it is possible to fulfill the mitzva of arava but taking the lulav twice since the lulav includes arava branches. The gemara tells several stories about Aivu and Rabbi Elazar Bar Tzadok - one regarding the chavata of the arava (Rabbi Elazar struck the arava twice and did not make a blessing - proof that this is the custom of the prophets) and one regarding the payment to workers in the shemita year from shemita produce. Aivu said a halakha in the name of Rabbi Elazar that one should not go more than three parasangs on Friday so that he would not surprise the people of his house and they would have no food for him on Shabbat. Is it a problem only at home or even if one is going to a hotel?