Sukkah

— I will answer! For them also it does not override [the Sabbath]. Does not then a contradiction arise between those two Mishnahs, since one teaches ‘all the people BROUGHT THEIR LULABS TO THE TEMPLE MOUNT’,1 and the other Mishnah teaches [that they brought them] to the Synagogue,2 and we answered,3 did we not, that the one referred to Temple times and the other to the time after the destruction of the Temple? — No; both refer to Temple times,4 but there is nevertheless no contradiction since the one refers to the Sanctuary and the other 5 to the Provinces.6 Abaye said to Rabbah,7 Why in the case of the lulab do we perform the ceremony for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary, whereas in the case of the willow-branch we do not perform the ceremony for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary?8 — He answered him, Since one fulfils the obligation [of taking the willow-branch] with the willow-branch on the lulab. But the former asked, does not one do it9 on account of the lulab?10 And if you will answer that one first raises it once11 and then raises it again,12 is it not a daily occurrence that we do not so act? — R. Zebid answered in the name of Raba, In the case of the lulab which is a Pentateuchal precept we perform the ceremony for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary; in the case of the willow-branch which is only a Rabbinical precept, we do not perform the ceremony for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary. According to whom [is this statement]13 made? If you will say, According to Abba Saul,14 did he not say: It is written, willows of the brook,15 implying16 two, one referring to the [willow-branch in the] lulab and the other to [the willow-branch for use in] the Sanctuary?17 If you will say, It is according to the Rabbis, did they not have it as an accepted tradition, since R. Assi citing R. Johanan who had it from R. Nehunya of the Plain of Beth Hawartan,18 stated, The laws of the ten plants, the willow-branch and water libation were given to Moses upon Mount Sinai?19 Rather, said R. Zebid, in the name of Raba, In the case of the rite of the lulab, which has a Pentateuchal origin20 for its performance in the Provinces, we perform it for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary; in the case of the rite of the willow-branch, which has no Pentateuchal origin for its performance in the Provinces, we do not perform it for seven days in commemoration of the Sanctuary. Resh Lakish ruled, Priests suffering from a physical blemish21 were permitted22 to enter between the Ulam23 and the altar in order to fulfil the precept of the willow-branch.24 Said R. Johanan to him, Who said so? — ‘Who said so?’ Did he not himself say so,25 since R. Assi citing R. Johanan who had it from R. Nehunya of the Plain of Beth Hawartan stated, The laws of the ten plants, the willow-branch and water libation were given to Moses upon Mount Sinai?26 — He rather meant this: Who said that [the precept27 is fulfilled] by taking,28 perhaps it is fulfilled by fixing,29 who said that it may be done by priests with a blemish, perhaps it [may be done] only by unblemished priests? It was stated, R. Johanan and R. Joshua b. Levi differ. One holds that the rite of the willow-branch is an institution of the prophets,30 the other holds that the willow-branch is a usage of the prophets.31 It can be concluded that it was R. Johanan who said, ‘It is an institution of the prophets’, since R. Abbahu stated in the name of R. Johanan, ‘The rite of the willow-branch is an institution of the prophets’. This is conclusive. Said R. Zera to R. Abbahu, Did then R. Johanan say so?32 Did not R. Johanan in fact state in the name of R. Nehunya of the Plain of Beth Hawartan that ‘the law of the ten plants, the willow-branch and the water libation were given to Moses on Mount Sinai’? — [The other] was appalled for a while,33 and then he answered, They were forgotten34 and the prophets35 reinstituted them. But could R. Johanan say so?36 Did not R. Johanan in fact state, ‘What I said was yours was in fact theirs’?37 — Rather38 [answer thus]: This is no difficulty, the Sabbath is forbidden within as well as without Palestine. commandment. enter the Sanctuary (cf. Kelim I). Ulam and the altar. in the hands of the Babylonians (Rashi). How then could it be said that he held that the Torah was forgotten during the Babylonian exile? [R. Han. (v. Tosaf.) renders thus: ‘One of yours (sc. a Babylonian scholar) said that it (the rite of taking the willow-branch) is theirs’, i.e., of Rabbinic origin]. statements of R. Johanan].