Study Sukkah folio 25A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אלא בית סאתים!
only within an area of two beit se’a, the area necessary to grow two se’a of produce? Two beit se’a was the area of the Tabernacle courtyard; it is also the area within which the rabbis permitted one to carry on Shabbat in a case where there are partitions but the area was not originally enclosed for the purpose of residence. If one tied the foliage to prevent its swaying in the wind, he clearly established the partition for residence, and there should be no limits on the area in which he may carry.
משום דהוי דירה שתשמישיה לאויר, וכל דירה שתשמישיה לאויר אין מטלטלין בו אלא סאתים.
The Talmud answers: The reason that it is permitted to carry only if the enclosed area is less than this size is because it is a residence whose uses are for the open air beyond it, i.e., it is used by guards who are watching the fields beyond it rather than as an independent residence. And the halakha with regard to any residence whose uses are for the open air beyond it is that one may carry in it only if its area is no larger than two beit se’a.
תא שמע: שבת בתל שהוא גבוה עשרה, והוא מארבע אמות עד בית סאתים, וכן בנקע שהוא עמוק עשרה, והוא מארבע אמות עד בית סאתים, וכן קמה קצורה ושבולות מקיפות אותה — מהלך את כולה וחוצה לה אלפים אמה. אף על גב דקאזיל ואתי! התם נמי, דעביד ליה בהוצא ודפנא.
Come and hear proof from another source: With regard to one who established his Shabbat residence on a mound that is 10 handbreadths high and its area is anywhere from 4 cubits to two beit se’a; and similarly, with regard to one who established his Shabbat residence in a natural cavity of a rock that is 10 handbreadths deep and its area is anywhere from 4 cubits to two beit se’a; and similarly, with regard to one who established his Shabbat residence in a field of reaped grain, and rows of stalks 10 handbreadths high that have not been reaped surround it, serving as a partition enclosing the reaped area, he may walk in the entire enclosed area and outside it an additional 2,000 cubits. Apparently, the stalks are a fit partition although they sway back and forth in the wind. The Talmud refutes this proof: There, too, it is a fit partition due to the fact that he established the partition by tying it with hard palm leaves and laurel leaves.