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Succah 45a

סוכה מ״ה ע״א

Sukkah 45a

Learn Succah 45a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The ערבה ceremony around the מזבח: the משנה, the place מוצא, the willows standing on the יסוד, and the פסוק 'אסרו חג בעבותים'

Overview

This amud opens by finishing the previous discussion. The גמרא rejects the reading that the לולבים were put 'on the roof', and corrects it to 'on the bench' (איצטבא). רב יהודה adds that the הר הבית had a double colonnade, so there was room for everyone's לולב. A new משנה then describes the ערבה ceremony in the מקדש. Willows from מוצא were stood around the מזבח, the שופר was blown, and the people circled the מזבח once each day and seven times on the seventh day, saying הושיעה נא. The משנה also explains how the ceremony worked on שבת, gives רבי יוחנן בן ברוקה's view about beating palm branches, and says that children then ate their אתרוגים. The גמרא explains that מוצא was a קלניא exempt from the king's tax. From the willows' height of 11 אמות, מרימר proves that they stood on the יסוד of the מזבח. רבי אבהו gives the פסוק 'אסרו חג בעבותים', and quotes רבי אלעזר that taking a bound לולב and a thick-leaved הדס is like building a מזבח and bringing a קרבן. The פסוק for that teaching continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְכִי לְיַיבְּשָׁן הוּא צָרִיךְ?

And does he need to dry them out?

אֶלָּא אֵימָא:

Rather, say:

עַל גַּב הָאִיצְטְבָא.

On top of the bench.

אָמַר רַחֲבָא אָמַר (רַב) יְהוּדָה:

Rachava said in the name of (Rav) Yehuda:

The steps (18)

  1. ChallengeWhy would anyone want to dry out the לולבים?
  2. ResolutionCorrect the text: on the bench
  3. StatementThe Temple Mount had a double colonnade
  4. Statementמשנה: gathering willows from מוצא and standing them by the מזבח
  5. StatementShofar blasts, daily circling, and the prayer said
  6. StatementSeven circlings on the seventh day and the farewell words
  7. StatementThe ערבה ceremony on שבת
  8. Statementרבי יוחנן בן ברוקה: beating palm branches
  9. StatementChildren take apart their לולבים and eat their אתרוגים
  10. StatementA ברייתא: מוצא was a military colony
  11. QuestionWhy does our משנה call it מוצא?
  12. ResponseBecause it was released from the king's tax
  13. StatementThe willows were 11 cubits tall and leaned over the altar
  14. Statementמרימר infers that the willows stood on the יסוד of the מזבח
  15. ProofThe altar's measurements show the ground would not work
  16. ConclusionConclusion: the willows stood on the base
  17. StatementThe verse behind the willows around the altar
  18. StatementTaking a proper lulav and myrtle is like bringing an offering