Siman- Succah Daf 38
- Interrupting one’s meal to do the mitzvah of lulav
The next Mishnah states: מי שבא בדרך ולא היה בידו לולב ליטול – If one was traveling on the road and did not have a lulav in hand to take and perform the mitzvah, when he enters his home, יטול על שלחנו – he should take the lulav at his table. If one did take the lulav in the morning, he should take it in the afternoon, שכל היום כשר ללולב – for the entire day is kosher for taking the lulav. The Gemara presents a contradiction in the Mishnah. It states that one takes the lulav at the table, למימרא דמפסיק – which is to say that he must interrupt his meal in order to fulfill the mitzvah. But it states in a Mishnah in Shabbos that if one began his meal before davening Minchah, אין מפסיקין – he is not required to interrupt his meal but can finish and daven afterwards. Rav Safra said that there is no contradiction. The Mishnah in Shabbos refers to where there is enough time in the day to finish the meal and daven, whereas our Mishnah is dealing with when there is not enough time to finish and take the lulav.
When Rava suggested that a more obvious distinction is that one must interrupt for lulav because it is a d’Oraysa, whereas davening is only a d’Rabbanon, Rebbe Zeira said the case of the lulav was on the second day of the chag. The Gemara says this is implied, since the Mishnah said, “he was traveling on the way,” which cannot be done on the first day of Yom Tov.
- Major Halachos that can be learned from the current custom of reciting Hallel
The next Mishnah discusses the mitzvah of Hallel. Rava said הלכתא גיברתא איכא למשמע ממנהגא דהלילא – Major halachos can be deduced from the current custom for the recitation of Hallel. Rashi explains that the custom in Rava’s time changed considerably from when Hallel was instituted by the Neviim. Originally, not everyone was proficient in reading, so the Neviim established the minhag for one person to recite Hallel, and the others would listen and respond Halleluyah after each phrase. By Rava’s time, most people were proficient enough to recite Hallel on their own in unison with the ba’al tefillah, except in certain places. The first halachah of six that Rava mentioned was that the ba’al tefillah would recite the first word, Halleluyah, and the people would respond Halleluyah. מכאן שמצות לענות הללויה – From here it can be inferred that it is a mitzvah to respond Halleluyah at the beginning of Hallel.
- The source for שומע כעונה
Rebbe Shimon be Pazi said the following statement in the name of Rebbe Yehoshua ben Levi who said it in the name of Bar Kappara: מנין לשומע כעונה – From where is it derived that listening is like responding and that one has fulfilled his chiyuv? For it is written: כל דברי הספר אשר קרא מלך יהודה – All the words of the scroll which the king of Yehudah read, referring to Yoshiyahu. Now was it Yoshiyahu that read the sefer? No, it was Shaphan who read them, as it is written, ויקראהו שפן לפני המלך – Shaphan then read it before the king? Rather it can be inferred from here that שומע כעונה – that listening is like responding. When the Gemara suggests that perhaps Yoshiyahu had read the sefer after Shaphan had read it, Rav Acha bar Yaakov answered that it is not so for it is written, "יען רך לבבך ותכנע מפני ה' בשמעך" – Because your heart is soft, and you humbled yourself before Hashem when you heard (the words of the scroll). The passuk says when you heard, and not: when you read.
