Succah 38a

סוכה ל״ח ע״א

Sukkah 38a

Learn Succah 38a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Waving the לולב, interrupting a meal to take the לולב, and being led in הלל by others

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a teaching about תנופה (waving). Even a non-essential part of a מצוה holds back harm, and רבא says the same is true of waving the לולב. רב אחא בר יעקב used to call his waving 'an arrow in the eye of the שטן', but the גמרא says boasting like this only provokes the שטן. Next, a משנה teaches that a traveler without a לולב takes it at his table when he gets home, and someone who missed the morning may take it in the afternoon, since the whole day is valid. The גמרא asks whether this means one must stop a meal for the לולב, which seems to clash with the rule that one does not stop a meal for תפילה. רב ספרא answers that one interrupts only when no time is left in the day. רבא and רבי זירא then debate which contradiction is the real one. רבי זירא concludes that the משנה is about the later days of סוכות, when the לולב is only rabbinic, and he proves this from the fact that the משנה describes a traveler. A new משנה then discusses being led in הלל by an עבד, an אשה, or a קטן, and says that the form of הלל follows local custom. A ברייתא adds that a man who relies on his wife and children to say a ברכה for him deserves a curse, and a statement of רבא begins that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (16)

1. StatementExtra parts of a מצוה hold back disaster
2. Statementרבא applies this to the לולב
3. Statementרב אחא בר יעקב calls his waving an arrow at the שטן
4. RejectionSuch a declaration is unwise
5. Statementמשנה: taking the לולב at home or later in the day
6. ChallengeMust he interrupt his meal? A contradiction from the prayer rule
7. Resolutionרב ספרא: it depends on whether time remains
8. Rejectionרבא: there was never a real contradiction
9. Challengeרבא's real question: the משנה contradicts itself
10. Resolutionרב ספרא: It Depends on Whether Time Is Left in the Day
11. Rejectionרבי זירא: The Two Clauses Never Clashed
12. Resolutionרבי זירא Restores the Original Question: The Later Days Are Only Rabbinic
13. ProofProof from the Wording: A Traveler Cannot Be on the First Day
14. StatementNew משנה: When Someone Else Leads You in Hallel
15. StatementHallel Follows Local Custom
16. StatementA son, slave, or wife may bless on a man's behalf, but he is cursed for needing it