## Sukkah Daf 21a

###### Sukkah 21a:1
[Sukkah 21a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:1)

יָלֵיף ״אֹהֶל״ ״אֹהֶל״ מִמִּשְׁכָּן. כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אָדָם כִּי יָמוּת בְּאֹהֶל״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״וַיִּפְרֹשׂ אֶת הָאֹהֶל עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן״, מָה לְהַלָּן בִּידֵי אָדָם, אַף כָּאן בִּידֵי אָדָם. וְרַבָּנַן: ״אֹהֶל״ ״אֹהֶל״ רִיבָּה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**He derives** by means of a verbal analogy that only a man-made tent transmits impurity, deriving the **tent** written with regard to impurity imparted by a corpse **from** the **tent** written with regard to the **Tabernacle. It is written here** with regard to impurity imparted by a corpse: **“This is the teaching when a man dies in a tent”** (Numbers 19:14). **And it is written there** with regard to the Tabernacle: **“And he spread the tent over the Tabernacle”** (Exodus 40:19). **Just as there,** with regard to the Tabernacle, the tent was established **by a person, so too here,** with regard to impurity of a corpse, it is a tent established **by a person. And** according to **the Rabbis,** because the passage dealing with impurity imparted by a corpse, i.e., **tent tent, is** repeated several times, this **amplifies** and includes any structure that provides shelter, even if it is not a standard tent.


###### Sukkah 21a:2
[Sukkah 21a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:2)

וְסָבַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה כׇּל אֹהֶל שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָשׂוּי בִּידֵי אָדָם אֵינוֹ אֹהֶל? וּרְמִינְהוּ: חֲצֵירוֹת הָיוּ בְּנוּיוֹת בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם עַל גַּבֵּי הַסֶּלַע, וְתַחְתֵּיהֶם חָלָל, מִפְּנֵי קֶבֶר הַתְּהוֹם. וּמְבִיאִין נָשִׁים עוּבָּרוֹת וְיוֹלְדוֹת שָׁם וּמְגַדְּלוֹת בְּנֵיהֶם שָׁם לַפָּרָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara asks: **And does Rabbi Yehuda hold** that the legal status of **any tent that is not established by a person is not** that of **a tent?** The Gemara **raises a contradiction** from a mishna (*Para* 3:2): **Courtyards were built in Jerusalem atop the rock, and beneath** these courtyards there was a **space** of at least a handbreadth **due to** the concern lest there is **a grave** in **the depths.** In that case, the space served as a barrier preventing the impurity from reaching the courtyards above. **And they** would **bring pregnant women, and they would give birth there** in those courtyards. **And they** would **raise their children there** and would not leave there with the children until they grew. All this was done so that the children would be untainted by any impurity and would be able to assist in the ritual of **the** red **heifer,** whose ashes are used to purify those impure with impurity imparted by a corpse.


###### Sukkah 21a:3
[Sukkah 21a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:3)

וּמְבִיאִין שְׁוָורִים וְעַל גַּבֵּיהֶן דְּלָתוֹת, וְתִינוֹקוֹת יוֹשְׁבִין עַל גַּבֵּיהֶן וְכוֹסוֹת שֶׁל אֶבֶן בִּידֵיהֶם. הִגִּיעוּ לַשִּׁילוֹחַ, יָרְדוּ לְתוֹךְ הַמַּיִם וּמִילְּאוּם, וְעָלוּ וְיָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר: מִמְּקוֹמוֹ הָיָה מְשַׁלְשֵׁל וּמְמַלֵּא, מִפְּנֵי קֶבֶר הַתְּהוֹם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And** once they reached age seven or eight and were capable of assisting in the performance of this ritual, the priests **would bring oxen** there. **And** they would place **doors on the backs** of these oxen, **and the children** would **sit upon** the doors **and** they would hold **cups of stone,** which are not susceptible to ritual impurity, **in their hands.** When **they reached the Siloam** pool, **they descended into the water and filled** the cups with water, **and ascended and sat themselves** on the doors. The water in the cups was mixed with the ashes of the heifer and used for sprinkling on the impure person or vessels. **Rabbi Yosei says:** The children did not descend from their oxen; rather, each child **from his place** on the door **would lower** the cup with a rope **and fill** it with water **due to** the concern lest there is **a grave** in **the depths** beneath the path leading from the oxen to the pool.


###### Sukkah 21a:4
[Sukkah 21a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:4)

וְתַנְיָא, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: לֹא הָיוּ מְבִיאִין דְּלָתוֹת, אֶלָּא שְׁוָורִים. וְהָא שְׁוָורִים, דְּאֹהֶל שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָשׂוּי בִּידֵי אָדָם הוּא, וְקָתָנֵי, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: לֹא הָיוּ מְבִיאִין דְּלָתוֹת אֶלָּא שְׁוָורִים!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And it is taught** in a *baraita* that **Rabbi Yehuda says: They would not bring doors; rather** they would bring only **oxen.** The size of the spinal column and the body of the animal was sufficient to constitute a tent and therefore served as a barrier before the impurity imparted by a grave in the depths. And this is difficult, as **aren’t oxen a tent that is not established by a person; and it is taught** that **Rabbi Yehuda says: They did not bring doors; rather** they brought only **oxen.** Apparently, the legal status of a tent that is not man-made is that of a tent.


###### Sukkah 21a:5
[Sukkah 21a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:5)

כִּי אֲתָא רַב דִּימִי, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: מוֹדֶה רַבִּי יְהוּדָה כִּמְלֹא אֶגְרוֹף. תַּנְיָא נָמֵי הָכִי: וּמוֹדֶה רַבִּי יְהוּדָה בִּשְׁקִיפִין וּבִנְקִיקֵי הַסְּלָעִים.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**When Rav Dimi came** from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said that **Rabbi Elazar said: Rabbi Yehuda concedes** that the legal status of a tent that is not man-made is that of a tent when the tent is **a fistbreadth,** which is more than a handbreadth in terms of length, width, and height. It is only when the tent is less than the size of a fist that Rabbi Yehuda holds that it is not a tent. **That** opinion **is also taught** in a *baraita*: **And Rabbi Yehuda concedes in the** case of **caves and deep cavities in the rocks** that their status is that of a tent even though they are not man-made.


###### Sukkah 21a:6
[Sukkah 21a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:6)

וַהֲרֵי דֶּלֶת, דְּיֵשׁ בָּהּ כַּמָּה אֶגְרוֹפִין, וְקָתָנֵי, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: לֹא הָיוּ מְבִיאִין דְּלָתוֹת אֶלָּא שְׁוָורִים! אָמַר אַבָּיֵי, לָא הוּצְרְכוּ לְהָבִיא דְּלָתוֹת.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara asks: **But a door** on the back of an ox is an object **that** measures **several fistbreadths, and it is taught** that **Rabbi Yehuda says: They did not bring doors but** only **oxen.** Apparently, a door does not constitute a tent, since that is not the manner in which a tent is typically established. **Abaye said** in response that Rabbi Yehuda did not say that the legal status of the door is not that of a tent; rather, he said: **They did not need to bring doors** because the oxen themselves were sufficiently broad.


###### Sukkah 21a:7
[Sukkah 21a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/21a:7)

רָבָא אָמַר: לֹא הָיוּ מְבִיאִין דְּלָתוֹת כׇּל עִיקָּר, שֶׁמִּפְּנֵי שֶׁדַּעְתּוֹ שֶׁל תִּינוֹק גַּסָּה עָלָיו, שֶׁמָּא יוֹצִיא רֹאשׁוֹ אוֹ אֶחָד מֵאֵבָרָיו, וְיִטָּמֵא

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava said** Rabbi Yehuda’s statement should be explained differently. **They would not bring doors at all. Because a child has an** exaggerated **sense of self-confidence** due to the width of the door, he might allow himself to move from side to side **and** as a result, **perhaps he will extend his head or one of his limbs** beyond the edge of the door **and will become impure**