## Sukkah Daf 37a

###### Sukkah 37a:1
[Sukkah 37a:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:1)

לֹא מָצָא אַרְבַּעַת מִינִין יְהֵא יוֹשֵׁב וּבָטֵל, וְהַתּוֹרָה אָמְרָה: ״בַּסּוּכּוֹת תֵּשְׁבוּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים״ — סוּכָּה שֶׁל כׇּל דָּבָר. וְכֵן בְּעֶזְרָא אוֹמֵר: ״צְאוּ הָהָר וְהָבִיאוּ עֲלֵי זַיִת וַעֲלֵי עֵץ שֶׁמֶן וַעֲלֵי הֲדַס וַעֲלֵי תְמָרִים וַעֲלֵי עֵץ עָבוֹת (וַעֲשׂוּ) סוּכּוֹת כַּכָּתוּב״!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
According to your reasoning, if **one did not find** any of the **four species** to roof his *sukka*, **he will sit idly** and fail to fulfill the mitzva of *sukka*; **and the Torah states: “You shall reside in *sukkot*** for seven days” (Leviticus 23:42), meaning **a *sukka* of any material. Likewise, in** the book of **Ezra,** which can refer also to the book of Nehemiah, **it says: “Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of a dense-leaved tree, to make *sukkot*, as it is written”** (Nehemiah 8:15). Apparently, a *sukka* may be constructed even with materials other than the four species.


###### Sukkah 37a:2
[Sukkah 37a:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:2)

וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה סָבַר: הָנֵי — לִדְפָנוֹת, עֲלֵי הֲדַס וַעֲלֵי תְמָרִים וַעֲלֵי עֵץ עָבוֹת — לִסְכָךְ. וּתְנַן: מְסַכְּכִין בִּנְסָרִין, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה. אַלְמָא סִיב וְעִיקָּרָא דְּדִיקְלָא מִינָא דְלוּלַבָּא הוּא, שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And Rabbi Yehuda holds: These** olive branches and pine branches mentioned in the verse were **for the walls** of the *sukka*, which need not be built from the four species. **Myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of a dense-leaved tree,** i.e., again myrtle, all of which are among the four species, were **for the roofing.** Rabbi Yehuda holds that one may roof the *sukka* only with the four species. **And we learned** in a mishna: **One** may **roof** the *sukka* **with boards;** this is **the statement of Rabbi Yehuda.** As boards can be produced from one of the four species only if the trunk of the date palm is considered a *lulav*, **apparently, fibers and the trunk of the date palm are the species of the *lulav*.** The Gemara determines: Indeed, **conclude from it** that this is so.


###### Sukkah 37a:3
[Sukkah 37a:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:3)

וּמִי אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אַרְבַּעַת מִינִין — אִין, מִידֵּי אַחֲרִינָא — לָא? וְהָתַנְיָא: סִיכְּכָהּ בִּנְסָרִים שֶׁל אֶרֶז שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶן אַרְבָּעָה טְפָחִים — דִּבְרֵי הַכֹּל פְּסוּלָה. אֵין בָּהֶן אַרְבָּעָה טְפָחִים — רַבִּי מֵאִיר פּוֹסֵל, וְרַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר. וּמוֹדֶה רַבִּי מֵאִיר שֶׁאִם יֵשׁ בֵּין נֶסֶר לְנֶסֶר כִּמְלֹא נֶסֶר — שֶׁמַּנִּיחַ פְּסָל בֵּינֵיהֶן, וּכְשֵׁירָה!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara wonders: **And did Rabbi Yehuda say** with regard to the materials fit for roofing a *sukka* that **the four species, yes,** they are fit, but **other materials, no,** they are not fit? **But isn’t it taught** in a *baraita*: If **one roofed** the *sukka* **with cedar [*erez*] boards that have four** handbreadths **in their** width, **everyone agrees** that it is **unfit.** If **they do not have four** handbreadths **in their** width, **Rabbi Meir deems it unfit and Rabbi Yehuda deems it fit. And Rabbi Meir concedes that if there is between** one **board** and another **board** a gap the **complete** width **of a board,** then **one places** fit roofing from the **waste** of the threshing floor and the winepress **between** the boards **and** the *sukka* **is fit.** Apparently, Rabbi Yehuda permits one to roof the *sukka* with cedar wood, which is not one of the four species.


###### Sukkah 37a:4
[Sukkah 37a:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:4)

מַאי ״אֶרֶז״ — הֲדַס, כִּדְרַבָּה בַּר רַב הוּנָא. דְּאָמַר רַבָּה בַּר רַב הוּנָא, אָמְרִי בֵּי רַב: עֲשָׂרָה מִינֵי אֲרָזִים הֵן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״אֶתֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר אֶרֶז שִׁיטָּה וַהֲדַס וְגוֹ׳״.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara responds: **What is** the ***erez*** to which the mishna refers? It is in fact a **myrtle** tree, **in accordance with** that **which Rabba bar Rav Huna** said, **as Rabba bar Rav Huna said** that **they say in the school of Rav: There are ten types of *erez*, as it is stated: “I will place in the wilderness the cedar [*erez*], the acacia-tree, the myrtle,** and pine tree; I will set in the plain the juniper, the box-tree, and the cypress all together” (Isaiah 41:19). All the trees listed in this verse are types of cedar, and the myrtle is one of them.


###### Sukkah 37a:5
[Sukkah 37a:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:5)

רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר אֲפִילּוּ בִּמְשִׁיחָה כּוּ׳. תַּנְיָא אָמַר רַבִּי מֵאִיר: מַעֲשֶׂה בְּיַקִּירֵי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם שֶׁהָיוּ אוֹגְדִין אֶת לוּלְבֵיהֶן בְּגִימוֹנִיּוֹת שֶׁל זָהָב. אָמְרוּ לוֹ: מִשָּׁם רְאָיָה?! בְּמִינוֹ הָיוּ אוֹגְדִין אוֹתוֹ מִלְּמַטָּה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The mishna continues: **Rabbi Meir says:** One may tie the *lulav* **even with a cord. It is taught** in the *Tosefta* that **Rabbi Meir said:** There was **an incident involving the prominent** residents **of Jerusalem who would bind their *lulavim* with gold rings.** The Sages **said to him:** Is there **proof from there? They would bind it with its own species beneath** the rings, which serve a merely decorative purpose and not a halakhic one.


###### Sukkah 37a:6
[Sukkah 37a:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:6)

אֲמַר לְהוּ רַבָּה לְהָנְהוּ מְגַדְּלֵי הוֹשַׁעְנָא דְּבֵי רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא: כִּי גָּדְלִיתוּ הוֹשַׁעְנָא דְּבֵי רֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא, שַׁיִּירוּ בֵּיהּ בֵּית יָד — כִּי הֵיכִי דְּלָא תֶּיהְוֵי חֲצִיצָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rabba said to those who** would **bind the four species [*hoshana*] of the house of the Exilarch: When you bind the four species of the house of the Exilarch, leave** room for **a handgrip on it** where there is neither binding nor decoration **so that there will not be an interposition** between the *lulav* and the hand of the person taking it.


###### Sukkah 37a:7
[Sukkah 37a:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:7)

רָבָא אָמַר: כׇּל לְנָאוֹתוֹ — אֵינוֹ חוֹצֵץ. וְאָמַר רַבָּה: לָא לִינְקוֹט אִינִישׁ הוֹשַׁעְנָא בְּסוּדָרָא, דְּבָעֵינָא לְקִיחָה תַּמָּה וְלֵיכָּא. וְרָבָא אָמַר: לְקִיחָה עַל יְדֵי דָּבָר אַחֵר — שְׁמָהּ לְקִיחָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava said:** That is unnecessary, as **any** addition whose purpose is **to beautify does not interpose. And Rabba said: Let a person not take the four species with a cloth [*sudara*]** around his hand, **since I require a complete taking, and there is none** in this case due to the interposition between his hand and the *lulav*. **And Rava said:** That is not a problem, as **taking by means of another object is considered taking.**


###### Sukkah 37a:8
[Sukkah 37a:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:8)

אָמַר רָבָא: מְנָא אָמֵינָא לַהּ דִּלְקִיחָה עַל יְדֵי דָּבָר אַחֵר שְׁמָהּ לְקִיחָה, דִּתְנַן: אֵזוֹב קָצָר — מְסַפְּקוֹ בְּחוּט וּבְכוּשׁ, וְטוֹבֵל וּמַעֲלֶה וְאוֹחֵז בָּאֵזוֹב וּמַזֶּה. אַמַּאי — ״וְלָקַח״ ״וְטָבַל״ אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא! אֶלָּא לָאו, שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ: לְקִיחָה עַל יְדֵי דָּבָר אַחֵר — שְׁמָהּ לְקִיחָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rava said: From where do I say that taking by means of another object is considered taking?** It is **as we learned** in a mishna: One undergoing purification from impurity imparted by a corpse must be sprinkled with purification water with the ashes of the red heifer. If the **hyssop** used to sprinkle the water was **short** and did not reach the water in the receptacle, **one renders it sufficiently** long **by** attaching **a string or a spindle, and** then he **dips** the hyssop into the water, **removes** it, **grasps the hyssop, and sprinkles** the water on the one undergoing purification. And **why** may he do so? Doesn’t **the Merciful One say** in the Torah: **“And** a ritually pure person shall **take** hyssop, **and dip** it in the water, and sprinkle it” (Numbers 19:18), indicating that one must take the hyssop while dipping it? **Rather,** may one **not conclude from** this that **taking by means of another object is considered taking?**


###### Sukkah 37a:9
[Sukkah 37a:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sukkah/r/37a:9)

מִמַּאי? דִּלְמָא שָׁאנֵי הָתָם, כֵּיוָן דְּחַבְּרֵיהּ — כְּגוּפֵיהּ דָּמֵי. אֶלָּא מֵהָכָא: נָפַל מִשְּׁפוֹפֶרֶת לַשּׁוֹקֶת — פָּסוּל.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
This proof is rejected: **From where** can that be proven? **Perhaps it is different there; since he attached** the string to the hyssop, its legal status **is like** that of the hyssop **itself.** However, the legal status of the cloth is not like that of the *lulav*, since it is not attached to the *lulav*. **Rather,** the fact that taking by means of another object is considered taking can be learned **from here:** If the ashes of the red heifer **fell from the tube** in which they were held **into the trough** in which the spring water was located, the water is **unfit,** since taking the ashes and placing them in the water must be performed intentionally.