Tuesday, August 3, 2021

An understanding God TB Sukkah 26

Sukkot is the third and last of the three pilgrimage holidays. The first is Passover and the second is Shavuot. Sukkot celebrates the fall harvest, the largest and the most important. Consequently, it was the happiest holday. The rabbis just called it "the holiday-החג" in the Talmud. If one could not enjoy being in the sukkah, he was exempt. We shall learn that this applies not only to those who are dangerously ill, but also those who are just suffering a headache.The rabbis extend this exemption to those who are suffering (מִצְטַעַר) from some oiher external source.

§ It is stated in the mishna: The ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzva of sukka. The Sages taught in a baraita: The ill person that they said is exempt from sukka is not only an ill person whose condition is critical, but even an ill person whose condition is not critical, and even one who feels pain in his eyes, and even one who feels pain in his head. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: One time I felt pain in my eyes in Caesarea, and the esteemed Rabbi Yosei ben Ḥalafta permitted me and my attendant to sleep outside the sukka

"The Gemara relates a similar tale: Rav permitted Rav Aḥa Bardela to sleep beneath a canopy in the sukka due to the biting flies [baki]. He permitted this although the canopy was more than ten handbreadths high and in sleeping beneath it he did not fulfill his obligation. Rava permitted Rabbi Aḥa bar Adda to sleep outside the sukka due to the foul odor of the earth [gargishta] floor of the sukka.

The Gemara comments: Rava conforms to his line of reasoning, as Rava said: One who suffers in the sukka is exempt from the mitzva of sukka. The Gemara asks: But didn’t we learn in the mishna that the ill and their caretakers are exempt from the mitzva of sukka? By inference, with regard to an ill person, yes, he is exempt; with regard to one who suffers, no, he is not exempt. The Sages say: With regard to an ill person, he and his caretakers are exempt; however, with regard to one who merely suffers in the sukka, he is exempt but his caretakers are not.(Sefaria.org translation)

Our God is not cruel and insensitive God who wants to torture His people with unreasonable demands. I can testify that eating and entertaining in the sukkah is great fun as God has intended. However, if we can't enjoy the sukkah because we are suffering God understands and gives us an exemption



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