דף 48

is a Festival in and of itself with regard to the matter of: Peh, zayin, reish; kuf, shin, beit. This is an acronym for: A lottery [payis] in and of itself, i.e., a new lottery is performed on that day to determine which priests will sacrifice the offerings that day, and the order established on Sukkot does not continue; the blessing of time [zeman], i.e., Who has given us life, sustained us, and brought us to this time, in and of itself, as it is recited just as it is recited at the start of each Festival; a Festival [regel ] in and of itself, and there is no mitzva to sit in the sukka (see Tosafot); an offering [korban] in and of itself, as the number of offerings sacrificed on the Eighth Day is not a continuation of the number sacrificed on Sukkot but is part of a new calculation; a song [shira] in and of itself, since the psalms recited by the Levites as the offerings are sacrificed on the Eighth Day are not a continuation of those recited on Sukkot; a blessing [berakha] in and of itself, as the addition to the third blessing of Grace after Meals and to the Amida prayer (see Tosafot) is phrased in a manner different from that of the addition recited on Sukkot.

MISHNA: This mishna elaborates upon the first mishna in this chapter. The obligation to recite hallel and the mitzva of rejoicing on the Festival by sacrificing and eating the meat of peace-offerings are always for eight days. The mishna explains: How so? This teaches that a person is obligated in hallel, and in the mitzva of rejoicing, and in reverence for the last day of the Festival like he is for all the other days of the Festival.

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: From where are these matters, that on the eighth day of the Festival one is obligated to rejoice, derived? It is as the Sages taught that the verse states with regard to Sukkot: “And you shall be altogether joyful” (Deuteronomy 16:15). The verse comes to include the evenings of the last day of the Festival, i.e., then too, one is obligated to rejoice by partaking of the meat of the peace-offerings sacrificed the previous day. The Gemara asks: Does the verse come to include the evening of the eighth day? Or perhaps it comes to include only the evening of the first day of the Festival. The Gemara answers: When the verse says: Altogether, it is exclusionary, and it has distinguished this night from the other nights of the Festival.

The Gemara asks: What did you see that led you to include the evenings of the last day of the Festival in the mitzva of rejoicing and to exclude the evenings of the first day of the Festival? Why not require one to sacrifice peace-offerings on the afternoon preceding the Festival to be eaten on the first night? The Gemara answers: I include the evenings of the last day of the Festival, before which there is a day of rejoicing, as it is reasonable that the rejoicing should continue, and I exclude the evenings of the first day of the Festival, before which there is not a day of rejoicing, as there is no obligation to sacrifice offerings on the afternoon preceding the Festival.

MISHNA: The mitzva of sukka is seven days. How does one fulfill this obligation for seven full days? When one finished eating on the seventh day, he should not dismantle his sukka immediately, because the obligation continues until the end of the day. However, he takes the vessels down from the sukka into the house from minḥa time and onward in deference to the last day of the Festival, when he will require the vessels in the house.

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: If one does not have vessels to take down from the sukka, what should he do? The Gemara asks: One does not have vessels? But when he utilized his sukka during the Festival, with what vessels did he eat when he utilized the sukka? Rather, this is the question: If he has no place into which he can take down his vessels and he must continue eating in the sukka, what is the halakha? What can he do to underscore the fact that he is eating there not to fulfill a mitzva, thereby violating the prohibition against adding to the mitzvot of the Torah, but only due to the lack of an alternative? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Rav said: He reduces the roofing of the sukka by four handbreadths, thereby rendering the sukka unfit. And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He lights a lamp inside the sukka, which is prohibited during the festival of Sukkot.

The Gemara notes: And they do not disagree with regard to the halakha. Instead, they are providing different solutions for different locations. This is for us, who live outside Eretz Yisrael, and this is for them, who live in Eretz Yisrael. Those who live in Eretz Yisrael reduce the roofing, since the obligation to sit in the sukka no longer applies. However, those who live outside of Eretz Yisrael, who are obligated to sit in the sukka on the eighth day with regard to which there is uncertainty that it might be the seventh day, must find another way to distinguish the eighth day from the days of the Festival of Sukkot.

The Gemara asks: This works out well with regard to a small sukka, since it is prohibited to light a lamp due to the danger of a conflagration, and lighting a lamp will underscore the distinction. However, with regard to a large sukka, in which there is no prohibition and therefore no distinction, what can be said? The Gemara answers: One underscores the distinction in that he brings eating vessels, e.g., pots in which food was cooked, into the sukka, as Rava said: Eating vessels are taken out of the sukka; drinking vessels remain in the sukka. By leaving the pots and pans in the sukka, he indicates that the sukka is no longer involved in fulfillment of the mitzva.

MISHNA: With regard to the rite of water libation performed in the Temple during the Festival, how was it performed? One would fill a golden jug with a capacity of three log with water from the Siloam pool. When those who went to bring the water reached the Gate of the Water, so called because the water for the libation was brought through this gate leading to the Temple courtyard, they sounded a tekia, sounded a terua, and sounded another tekia as an expression of joy. The priest ascended the ramp of the altar and turned to his left. There were two silver basins there into which he poured the water. Rabbi Yehuda said: They were limestone basins, but they would blacken due to the wine and therefore looked like silver. The two basins were perforated at the bottom