כיצד נקיים את שבע מצוות חג הסוכות בהר הבית | הרב אליהו ובר

In the Mishnah, Tractate Sukkah, chapter four, the chapter begins: Lulav and Aravah, six and seven. Hallel and Simcha, eight; Sukkah and the water libation, seven; and the flute, five and six. So the Mishnah lists seven commandments of the festival of Sukkot, and it divides these seven commandments into what is practiced all days and what is sometimes not practiced all days. So, the first pair is Lulav and Aravah. Lulav. A commandment in the provinces for one day, and by Rabbinic decree after the destruction, it is practiced in the provinces for all seven. And Aravah. The first pair, I said, is Lulav and Aravah. The commandment of Aravah is a commandment that is practiced solely in the Temple. After that, the second pair: Hallel and Simcha, eight. Hallel also is practiced in every place. Every place must recite it for these eight days, and Simcha. This refers to the peace-offering of joy (Shalmei Simcha), a sacrifice that must be brought; it does not refer only to the sacrifice itself, as that is not practiced for eight days, since on Shabbat one cannot offer the peace-offering of joy, but rather it refers to the eating of the peace-offering, the commandment of which is for eight days. The Gemara indeed asks, in a case like this year, where the first day of Sukkot falls on Shabbat, what is done regarding the peace-offering of joy on such a Shabbat ? There is an opinion that in such a case, one should sacrifice it on Friday so that there is meat from the peace-offering on Shabbat, which lasts for two days and one night, and there is an opinion that one must slaughter it specifically during the time of joy, and in such a year one cannot fulfill it with peace-offerings, so one fulfills it by eating aged meat, drinking wine, fatty meat, aged wine; that is a second form. So that is Hallel and Simcha, eight; Hallel in every place and Simcha is in the Temple . Third pair: Sukkah and the water libation; the Sukkah commandment is in every place, and the water libation is a commandment in the Temple. After that is the flute, five and six, which is the flute; Shabbat does not push it aside, neither does Shabbat nor the holiday. Thus we have the commandment of the flute for five days when the holiday is in the middle of the week, and six days in a year like this one, as the joy of the flute are the commandments of the holiday. And all the people of Israel prepare for the commandments we mentioned; the first commandment in each pair, everyone prepares for the Lulav commandment, everyone prepares for the...The Sukkah and the Hallel commandment. Everyone prepares for these three commandments. What remains for us out of all these seven commandments. In memory of the seventh commandment, the flute, they hold sessions of the joy of the House of Water-Drawing, as a memory that it existed. We must know that later, Sukkot includes all these commandments. One must also prepare for the second part, which is the Aravah, the water libation, and the Simcha. So, let us look briefly at the commandments of the holiday. The first commandment, the Lulav commandment: the Lulav in the Temple, its commandment is seven days, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. And when it falls on Shabbat, when Shabbat is in the middle of the holiday, then we do not take the Lulav in the Temple from the middle of the holiday. But when the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, then we do take the Lulav in the Temple for all seven. And thus, at least there is one case where the verse is fulfilled: and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. If even when the first day falls on Shabbat we did not take it, there would never be a possibility to fulfill the commandment: and you shall rejoice before the Lord seven days. But when the first day falls on Shabbat, we do fulfill it, and thus it is possible to fulfill it. And one must examine, the Gemara says why we do not take the Lulav in the provinces on...On a regular Shabbat of... On the Shabbat of Chol HaMoed, the Gemara says: There is the decree of Rava. Rava said—no, Rava decreed. Rava explained, it is called the decree of Rava because he is the one who said it. He said it five times regarding five commandments, out of concern that one might carry them four cubits in a public domain. He says this regarding the Lulav, the Shofar, the Megillah, the Red Heifer, and immersing utensils on Shabbat. Rava said it five times, he stated it, therefore this decree is named after him; he earned having it named after him. He says there is a decree that one might carry in the public domain, but when the first day of the holiday falls on Shabbat, since it is a Torah obligation in the provinces, they did not decree. Why, indeed, if it is a Torah obligation in the provinces, did they not decree; why during the middle days do they decree? When he says a Torah obligation in the provinces, they did not decree—there is a Mishnah in Tractate Sukkah: Rabbi Yose says that the first day of Sukkot that happens to be on Shabbat, if one forgot and carried the Lulav into the public domain—he is exempt. Meaning, even on Shabbat, the first day of Sukkot, when it is forbidden to carry the Lulav into the public domain and whoever carries it intentionally is liable for Karet, liable for stoning, there is no permission to carry it. Nevertheless, someone who carried it by mistake, it is not okay, but. He does not need to bring a sin offering. This aligns with the opinion of Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabbi Yehoshua holds that one who erred in a matter of a commandment and performed a commandment, is exempt. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees with Rabbi Yehoshua. He holds that one who erred in a matter of a commandment and performed a commandment. He is liable. But Rabbi Eliezer, the Gemara says in Tractate Shabbat that Rabbi Eliezer says the Lulav and all its preparations override Shabbat. And therefore, according to Rabbi Eliezer, whoever carries the Lulav into the public domain on Shabbat for the sake of the commandment will also be exempt. So it turns out that on the first day of the holiday that falls on Shabbat, throughout the entire Land of Israel, if someone mistakenly took the Lulav and ran with it to the Temple, ran with it wherever necessary, then he does not need to, he will not be liable. I don't understand, is this talking about someone who The Gemara says that even with a Lulav, the Gemara says also with a Lulav. And on the other hand, on the Shabbat of Chol HaMoed. If a Jew wants to come to the Temple and he comes with the Lulav from the neighborhoods of Jerusalem, from neighborhoods outside, then when he carries the Lulav there, he will be liable because he is not yet performing any commandment. So therefore there is reason to decree on Sabbaths that are in the middle of the holiday, but on the first day of the holiday he will carry the Lulav. It is not okay, it is forbidden, but they did not decree against it. And this is also the explanation why in the Diaspora, because they were not expert in the calendar, they did not take the Lulav on the first day of Sukkot that fell on Shabbat because. Because what would happen, think? Think that one took it; the first day of Sukkot arrived, he took the Lulav, and in the end it turned out the holiday fell on Sunday, so in effect he erred in a matter of a commandment and did not perform a commandment, so he will be liable. Therefore, where they are not aware of the sanctification of the month, the lulav is not taken on a holiday that falls on Shabbat. The same applies to the shofar. It is the same explanation for the shofar; when the Temple or Jerusalem—where they were aware of the sanctification of the month, as the court would determine the month there —was active, then wherever they knew it was Rosh Hashanah, one could blow the shofar, because it was definitely Rosh Hashanah. What happens if someone accidentally carries the shofar? Correct, it is forbidden to carry, but one who does carry it will be exempt. But in places where they were not aware of the sanctification, and on Rosh Hashanah this refers to all places except Jerusalem, there was no way to notify about the sanctification of the month from a distance greater than the Shabbat boundary. Therefore, in all those places, they do not blow. Where do they blow? In Jerusalem, they blow in any city that can see, is near, hears, and is able to come. So, meaning it is located within the distance of the boundary. So, at that moment, when they hear that it is Rosh Hashanah and the month has been sanctified, they will blow the shofar and will not transgress any prohibition. I did not say they would not transgress any prohibition. They would not be liable for a sin offering. And when the Temple was standing, Rabbi Yochanan would say: in the house in Yavne where they sanctify the month, one can blow the shofar on Shabbat. And he enacted that, didn't he? There is a dispute in the Mishnah: whether he enacted it only for the Great Court where they determine the month, or for all the courts in the mountains in the region that all know the month has been determined. But in ordinary places, they certainly do not blow on Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat. In time, a calendar was established, and the Sages set the order of the calendar. When was that exactly established? It can be estimated to be around the middle of the Gemara period, near the sealing of the Talmud. At some stage, a calendar was fixed. The Gemara discusses this; it is found in the Jerusalem Talmud in Tractate Eruvin and in the Babylonian Talmud in Tractate Beitzah. It discusses what happens after the calendar was fixed. After the calendar was fixed, is there still a need to observe a second day of the holiday abroad? The Gemara says that one must observe a second day of the holiday abroad because there is a constant fear of error. Consequently, they are required to observe a second day of the holiday abroad. And on Rosh Hashanah, for any place far from the court by more than a full day, one must also observe two days of Rosh Hashanah for the same reason of "the custom of your ancestors," due to the fear of error. So it remains that when we observe two days of Rosh Hashanah and abroad they observe two days for every holiday; some people think it's fun to be abroad , so they observe two for every holiday , but it is actually worthless. Any holiday where one turns one day into two is worthless. In any case, so they observe it; so consequently, on Shabbat , one does not take the lulav in abroad , and on Rosh Hashanah, they do not blow the shofar (nowhere do they blow the shofar on a Rosh Hashanah that falls on Shabbat). The Gemara in Tractate Sukkah asks: if so, why, what happens in the Land of Israel? Seemingly, in the Land of Israel, one should also take the lulav on Shabbat even today. And then the Gemara actually discusses what is done in the Land of Israel; at first, the Gemara says that in the Land of Israel, one indeed takes the lulav on Shabbat, but later the Gemara in the Talmud says that we know regarding the willow that falls on Shabbat—the seventh day of the willow—we shake the willows, but when it falls on Shabbat, then, uh, then we do not shake them. The Gemara asks: What is done in the Land of Israel on Shabbat in general? Do we shake them or not? It says, wait, does this actually never happen? It never happens. So the question is not a question. Afterwards, the Gemara begins to discuss whether it does or does not happen. Why was I—this was only a little bit on the topic of when the calendar was set? The Gemara says it does happen, it happens, it doesn't happen. In short, the Gemara then says it does happen, and yet we do not take the willow, and consequently, we probably do not take the lulav either. The Gemara asks, if so, why in the Land of Israel, uh, uh, is it really not taken? The Gemara says to equate them; it is somewhat related to the issue of standardization, so they equated the Land of Israel to Babylon, and therefore, uh, it seems we do not take the lulav in the Land of Israel. That is how the Gemara concludes, that we probably do not take the lulav. In the Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Eruvin, it is written that they did take the lulav in the Land of Israel. And also in the time of the Geonim, we have evidence from the book of changing customs, which says that the people of the East take the lulav even on Shabbat, and there, we also have liturgical poets who lived during the Geonic period, they really did take it in the Land of Israel on Shabbat, but. In the Rambam, who writes the laws for everywhere, he writes that we do not take the lulav on Shabbat. The Rishonim did not discuss this much, because it was not a practical halacha in the Diaspora, uh. Uh, they do not take the lulav on Shabbat, that is clear, and regarding the Land of Israel, they did not talk much. But in the Tur, which did mention it, he brings that it is not taken anywhere, and the Beit Yosef writes that his intention was to emphasize that in the Land of Israel it is not. Nevertheless, in the Shulchan Aruch, he omitted the words "everywhere" for some reason, uh. One can speculate as to why . So that is the story, and we really have a complicated issue here and we need to know that we need to restore it . The Rambam says, why in the Land of Israel do we not take it? Because one must equate the Land of Israel with the Diaspora, and when there is no Temple to ascend to—then we have no way. And it seems there is a special connection of the lulav commandment to the Temple, because in the Temple they would stand the willows on the sides of the altar; so when we do not have the willows to stand on the sides of the altar, then our lulav commandment is a bit lacking, so uh. So therefore, it is likely we do not take it. One must remember an interesting point: it is written in the Mishnah that when a holiday falls on Shabbat, a woman receives from the hands of her children—she receives the four species from her children and from her husband, and returns it to the water on Shabbat. So why is it not written that one can return the lulav to the water on Shabbat? So the commentators say this is a novelty, that in principle a woman is not obligated, but she can still receive it from her husband's hand—it is still not called moving it for a purpose and placing it in water. But it is clear that even according to the explanation, based on what I explained earlier, the reason for the rabbinic prohibition— this, while in a clear Torah commandment, the rabbinic prohibition does not apply, as is evident. For example, a woman, certainly even in places where they practiced—the Ashkenazi custom mainly being that women perform all the commandments— there is such a custom that the Rishonim debated, whether with a blessing or without a blessing. So the Ashkenazi custom follows the opinion of most Rishonim that they recite a blessing over all the commandments that a woman is not obligated in; that is the Ashkenazi custom and that is what most of the Rishonim held. But in practice, the Rambam ruled against it, and the Shulchan Aruch also rules not to recite a blessing, and that is how the Sephardim practiced. In any case, however, on Shabbat, the first day of Sukkot, whether according to the Ashkenazi custom or the Sephardic custom, a woman is forbidden to take the lulav, because here there is a concern of carrying in public. So it is true that the decree does not really apply to her because she is not obligated; on the other hand, if she were to carry it, then she would certainly be liable just like anyone who carries on a day they are not obligated. And therefore, even according to the Jerusalem Talmud, a woman certainly does not belong to this commandment, not even according to the stringency of the Ashkenazim. In any case, so, so ah, that is the commandment of the lulav and willow, and the clock is already ticking, but we must remember we also need a Sukkah, and the water libation, Hallel, rejoicing, and the flute. May the Holy One, blessed be He, help us to be worthy of performing our commandments properly, and may this be His will, and let us say Amen. Amen.