Those who have sat shiva know that the weeks after shiva can be much harder than the shiva itself. No longer are there people coming to visit, at…
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Sukkah 41: An Expensive Lulav
It was not long ago that it was hard to find a minyan of people with a lulav and etrog in shul. Following on the heels of the High Holidays, Sukkot…
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Sukkah 41: My Own Lulav
One of the unique laws of the arba minim, the four species, is that one can only fulfil the Biblical mitzvah with a set that one personally owns (…
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Sukkah 28: Nice Guys Finish First
Rabbi Yochanan ben HaChoranit must have been a great Sage. I imagine that many reading this devar Torah have never heard of him and there is in fact…
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Sukkah 28: A "Weak" Student
To state that Rav Yochanan ben Zakai is one of the most important leaders in all of Jewish history is nothing short of an understatement. Without his…
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Sukkah 26: Snack Time
One of the requirements of a sukkah is that it be a dirat arai, a temporary dwelling. A permanent structure would be a bayit, a home, rather than a…
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Sukkah 20: A Great Servant
Psychologists have long known that two people can—and often do—see the exact same thing, and yet offer very different accounts of what they have…
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Sukkah 2: Looking Skyward
“A sukkah that is taller than 20 amot, cubits (approximately 30 feet), is invalid; and Rabbi Yehuda validates it” (Sukkah 2a). This rather technical…
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Some Concluding Thoughts on Masechet Sukkah
As we have studied Masechet Sukkah together, we have stressed two themes: that of simcha, joy; and that of the unity of the Jewish people. Of course…
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Sukkah 52: The Greatest Joy
“Whoever did not see the celebration of the drawing of the water (simchat beit hashoeva) has never witnessed joy in their life” (Sukkah…
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Sukkah 48: Pass the Water
In a recent post, we discussed the opposition to the mitzvah of placing the arava on the altar. An even greater dispute arose vis a vis the mitzva of…
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Sukkah 46: A Daily Dose of Blessings
“Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: lulav, seven; and sukkah, one” (Sukkah 45b). So begins a discussion as to how often we are to…
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Sukkah 45: Seeing Double
The arava, the willow branch, has a dual function on Sukkot. It is the last of four species that make up the mitzvah of “lulav”. Without…
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Sukkah 43: My Lulav Is Better Than Yours
Despite the explicit command to take the lulav on the first day of Sukkot--and to blow the shofar on the first of…
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Sukkah 38: Shake the Lulav
"A child who knows how to shake [the lulav] is obligated to take the lulav" (Sukkah 42a). As we noted in our first "daily daf" on…
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Sukkah 36: Lulav in the Sukkah
We tend to view the mitzvoth of sitting in the sukkah and the arba minim (henceforth referred to as the "lulav") as distinct…
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Sukkah 35: Long Live the Etrog
The Rambam in his introduction to the Mishna divides the Oral Law into various categories. He begins with what he terms peirushim hamekubalim…
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Sukkah 34: Don't Cut Yourself
"And you shall take for yourself on the first day pri etz hadar, a beautiful fruit tree, kapot temarim, branches of date palms, …