Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 7, scan section 35

thereby ; even when he renounces their use for any other pur- poses, because we ignore his resolve, as people in general do not do it. But if one puts there straw, and renounces it, it is con- sidered as made lower ; and so much the more, loose earth. But if one puts there straw which he does not renounce, although he does not purpose to remove it, and also sand, which he does not renounce — in that case Jose and the sages differ (Tract Ahaloth, Chap. XV. 6). If the booth was higher than twenty ells, and from the roofing hung down small twigs, then if they are so numerous that there is more shadow than sunshine, they are con- sidered to make it lower ; but if less than that, they do not make it lower. If it was high only ten spans, and small twigs hung down from the roof, Abayi thought that if there was more sun than shadow between the twigs, it was valid. Said Rabha to him : It is an unendurable dwelling, and nobody would live in it. (Therefore it is not valid.) If it was higher than twenty ells, and one constructed in it a bench along the whole middle wall, if the bench is as large as the legal size of a booth (seven spans and a trifle), then the booth is valid (the whole booth because of a crooked wall) ; but if he con- structed a bench along a side-wall, if from the edge of the bench to the opposite wall it is four ells, it is not valid ; but if less than this, it is valid (because the bench legalizes two walls, the third being without the legal limit). If he constructed a bench in the midst of the booth, if from the edge of the bench to each of the walls it is four ells, it is not valid ; but if less, it is valid, because of a crooked wall on all sides. If, however, he put the bench on TRACT SUCCAH. 5 one side, then if it is less than four ells of the wall, it is valid (because of a crooked wall on one side) ; but if it is four ells, it is not. If the booth was less than ten spans in height, and he dug in it a pit to make it ten spans high, if from the edge of this pit to the wall is three spans, it is invalid ; but less than that, it is valid. Why, then, in the case when it is twenty ells high, are less than four ells needed to make it valid, while here, when it is ten spans high, less than three spans are needed ? Because there a wall is in existence, and to make it invalid one must have four ells ; but in the case of ten spans, the wall is not considered a wall at all, and to make it a wall less than three spans are wanted (because then it is Lavud, i.e., considered as attached to the ground of the pit when it would be ten spans high). (See Sabbath, p. 12, note §.) The rabbis taught : If one has placed four poles and roofed them, according to R. Jacob, it is valid in cases when the poles admit of partition, as will be explained further, for a booth, but according to the sages it is invalid. Said R. Huna: They differ only about the edge of the roof. R. Jacob holds the theory of Gud Assik (see Erubin, note, p. 6) applies here, and the sages hold that it does not. But about the middle of the roof they all agree it is invalid. R. Na'hman, however, said : They differ even about the middle of the roof. The schoolmen propounded a question : Does R. Na'hman mean to say they differ about the middle, but about the sides all agree that it is valid ? Or does he mean to say, they differ even about the middle? This ques- tion is not decided. The rabbis taught : If one drove into the ground four poles and roofed them, R. Jacob said, it should be seen whether each of the poles is so thick that if it would be divided it would reach a span on each side (see illustration of enclosures, Erubin, p. 18), then they must be considered as enclosures and the booth is valid ; but if they have not such a thickness, it is not valid. And this is according to his theory elsewhere, that the enclosures of a booth must be not less than a span at each side. But the sages said, the booth is not valid unless there are two walls as usually ; and the third wall is sufficient, even if it is one span. ^' If less than ten spans'' Whence is this deduced? It was taught : Rabh and Mar Hanina, R. Johanan and R, Habiba, taught [in the whole section of Moed, whenever these names are men- tioned, they put R. Jonathan in the place of R. Johanan], the ark was nine spans, and the cover to it one span, together it is 6 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. ten. As it is written [Ex. xxv. 22] : " And I will meet with thee there, and I will speak with thee from above the cover." And we have learned in another Boraitha : R. Jose said that the Shekhina never descended, and Moses and Elijah never ascended the heaven. As it is written [Psalms, cxv. 16] : " The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth hath he given to the children of man " ; but is it not written [Ex. xix. 20] : '^ And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai " ? And the answer is, that He did not come down lower than ten spans ^ from the ground. (Now, when He says, '' I will speak to thee from above the cover," that means ten spans higher. From this we see that ten spans are counted as separate premises ; hence ten spans is the minimum height of a dwelling.) It is true, the ark is nine spans, because it is written [Ex. xxv. 10] : '^ And they shall make an ark of shittim wood : two ells and a half shall be its length, and one ell and a half its breadth, and an ell and a half its height " (and as an ell is six spans, the height of one and a half is nine spans). But where do we find that the cover is one span ? From the teaching of R. Hanina as follows : Of all the utensils that Moses made, the Law had prescribed before the length, the breadth, and the height. In case of the cover, however, the length and the breadth are written, but not the height ; and we must go and draw this lesson from the meanest of the utensils, as it is written [ibid., ibid. 25] : " And thou shalt make unto it a rim of a hand's breadth round about." As the height of the rim is a span, we infer that the height of the cover is also a span. But why from the meanest of the utensils — why not from the utensils themselves ? Because there is a rule, when much is grasped at, nothing is grasped ; but when little is grasped, it is retained. R. Huna said : We infer it from this passage [Lev. xvi. 14] : " On the face of the cover, eastward " ; if less than a span, it would not be called face. But where do we find that the distance between the roof and ground should be ten spans? Per- haps the roof itself should be included ? Therefore we say this theory they draw from the Temple ; as it is written [in I Kings, vi. 2] : " And the house which King Solomon built unto the Lord