Siman - Succah Daf 37
- Machlokes whether s’chach must be made from the dalet minim
On the bottom of Daf 36b a Baraisa was brought that stated: בסכת תשבו" – סוכה של כל דבר דברי רבי מאיר" – Rebbe Meir says the passuk, In succos you should dwell, refers to a succah whose s’chach is made of anything. Rebbe Yehudah saysאין סוכה נוהגת אלא בארבעה מינים שבלולב - The mitzvah of succah pertains only with a succah whose s’chach is made of one of the dalet minim, based on a kal v’chomer. If even the mitzvah of lulav, which does not apply by night as it does by day, applies only with the dalet minim, then concerning a succah, which applies by night as it does by day, all the more so it should be fulfilled with s’chach that is made of one of the dalet minim. They said to Rebbe Yehudah, כל דין שאתה דן תחילתו להחמיר וסופו להקל אינו דין – Any kal v’chomer that you advance with the intent to more machmir but whose end results in a kula is not an admissible kal v’chomer. For according to you, if one cannot find s’chach from the dalet minim he will not be able to fulfill the mitzvah, and the passuk states, בסכת תשבו שבעת ימים – סוכה של כל דבר – In succos you shall dwell for seven days, which implies a succah made from anything. In addition, it says in Ezra that the Jewish people were told to make succos with branches of olive leaves, pine needles in addition to the dalet minim. The Gemara answers that Rebbe Yehudah holds the other species were only for the דפנות, the walls.
- Smelling the hadas and esrog
The Gemara cites a number of Rabah’s rulings. הדס של מצוה אסור להריח בו אתרוג של מצוה מותר להריח בו – Concerning the hadas that is designated for the mitzvah, it is forbidden to smell it on Succos, but concerning the esrog designated for the mitzvah, one is permitted to smell it on Succos. What is the reason? With respect to hadas, which normally stands to be used for smelling, when one sets it aside for the mitzvah, he sets it aside from the use of smelling. Rashi explains that the prohibition is derived through the analogy to the succah, דחל שם שמים על עצי סוכה, the wood is consecrated for the mitzvah and may not be used for other purposes. But with respect to the esrog, which normally stands to be used for eating, כי אקצייה מאכילה אקצייה – when one set it aside for the mitzvah, he set it aside from the use of eating, but did not set it aside from the use of smelling.
- The meaning of the נענעוים
The next Mishnah discusses when the נענעוים, the waving of the lulav is done. The Gemara explains the symbolism of waving in various directions for the שתי הלחם ושני כבשי עצרת, which Rava says applies to lulav as well. Rebbe Yochanan said, מוליך ומביא למי שהארבע רוחות שלו – One extends them outward and then brings them inward for the sake of the One Whom the four directions of the world are His, מעלה ומוריד למי שהשמים והארץ שלו – one raises them up and lowers them down for the sake of the One Whom the heavens and the earth are His. In Eretz Yisroel they taught, מוליך ומביא כדי לעצור רוחות רעות – One extends them outwards and brings then inwards in order to ward off harmful winds, מעלה ומוריד כדי לעצור טללים רעים – one raises them up and lowers them down to ward off damaging dews. On the top of Daf 38a, Rebbe Yose bar Avin, and some say, Rebbe Yose bar Zevila, said, this tells us שירי מצוה מעכבין את הפורענות – that even the residual part of the mitzvah can prevent punishment, for the waving is a שירי מצוה and yet it wards off harmful winds and dews. When doing the נענעוים, Rav Acha bar Yaakov used to say, דין גירא בעיניה דסטנא – “This is an arrow in the eye of the Satan,” but the Gemara says this is not a proper practice משום דאתי לאיגרוייה ביה – because Satan may come to provoke him to sin.
