Sukkah 31A

Study Sukkah folio 31A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.

Text Excerpt

it is called hoshana, which is a term used to describe the 4 species. The Talmud answers: This is not a full-fledged change of name, as occasionally it also happens that they initially refer to a myrtle branch as a hoshana while it is attached to the tree.

§ A baraita states: With regard to a stolen sukka and with regard to one who roofs a sukka in the public domain, which is tantamount to robbing land from the public, R' Eliezer deems these sukkot unfit for use in fulfillment of the mitzva, and the Rabbis deem them fit.

Rav Naḥman said: This dispute is limited to a case where one assaults another and forcibly evicts him from his sukka, and takes his place in the sukka. In that case, R' Eliezer deems the sukka unfit. And R' Eliezer conforms to his own reasoning, as he said: A person does not fulfill his obligation

And the Rabbis conform to their reasoning, as they said: A person fulfills his obligation with the sukka of another. And since land cannot be stolen and the sukka is merely a borrowed sukka and not a stolen one, the robber fulfills his obligation, despite the fact that he committed a reprehensible a

However, if one stole wood and roofed a sukka with it, everyone agrees, as R' Eliezer concedes, that the original owner of the wood has rights only to the monetary value of the wood. The wood itself belongs to the robber, so it is not a stolen sukka.