Sukkah 29 - August 5, 27 Av

Pictures

Today's shiur is dedicated by Natalie Taylor for the refuah shleima of two women whom I love very much: Bracha bat Rachel and Devora Shulamit bat Yocheved Chana. May both these amazing women have successful operations this week and an easy recovery.

What items should/should not be brought into the Sukkah? If it starts to rain, at what point can you leave and at what point do you need to come back to the Sukkah once the rain stops? If it rains on Sukkot, it is seen as a bad sign. The gemara explains the parable mentioned in the mishna. The gemara mentioned other natural phenomena that are seen as a bad sign from God, such as, solar and lunar eclipse. Several sources are brought which suggest the meaning behind those events. A stolen lulav or a dry one is disqualified. Also, one from an Ashera tree and a city whose inhabitants all worships idols (ir hanidachat) are disqualified. What are other potential issues regarding a lulav? The gemara assumes that the mishna is referring to all the days of the holiday. If a stolen sukkah is disqualified because the lulav has to be your own, that would only be relevant for the first day! Rabbi Yochanan explains that it is disqualified as one cannot fulfill a mitzva through means of a transgression.