Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Sleeping Under the Bed; Ohel Not Made by Man
הישן תחת המטה
Sukkah 20b · lines 10–16 · Wednesday, October 22, 2025
The sugya
The shiur finished the Mishnah of one who sleeps under a bed in the sukkah. It covered Rebbi Shimon's maaseh with Tevi, the eved of Rabban Gamliel, and the three-way machlokes: Tanna Kamma not yotzei, Rebbi Yehuda yotzei, Rebbi Shimon not yotzei. The Gemara asks that a bed is not ten tefachim, and Shmuel answers that it was a bed of ten. The shiur then opened a new sugya from the Mishnah in Ohalos about accidental ohalim: the Tanna Kamma holds they are maahil al hatumah, and Rebbi Yehuda holds any ohel not made by human hands is not an ohel.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- MishnahRebbi Shimon brings a maaseh about Tevi, the eved of Rabban Gamliel, who slept under the bed. His proof comes from how Rabban Gamliel spoke to the Zekeinim.
- MishnahRabban Gamliel said: see Tevi my eved, who is a talmid chacham and knows the din of avadim regarding sukkah, so he sleeps under the bed, because it does not count.
- The RebbiAnother explanation: Tevi wanted to be in the sukkah to hear what the Chachamim were discussing. When they ran out of room, he slipped under the bed.
- MishnahFrom Rabban Gamliel's words we learn that one who sleeps under a bed is not yotzei, just like the Tanna Kamma.
- MachlokesSummary of the Mishnah: Tanna Kamma, not yotzei. Rebbi Yehuda, yotzei. Rebbi Shimon, with his maaseh, not yotzei.
- KashaThe Gemara asks: but there are not ten tefachim. An ohel needs ten tefachim to be its own entity separating you from the schach, and an average bed is not that high.
- KashaThe question is on the Tanna Kamma and on the story of Tevi: why is he not yotzei if he is not really under any ohel?
- TeirutzShmuel explains: the bed was ten tefachim. It was a very high bed, so lying under it means you are really not under the sukkah.
- The RebbiIt seems everyone agrees that ten tefachim was not the point of the machlokes. We still have to see what they are arguing about.
- Why the Gemara asks something it could simply have stated: the Gemara is in question-and-answer form because it was a discussion among the Amoraim, who had to work out the meaning of the very terse Mishnayos.
- Start of a new sugya: what is an ohel for tumah. A person under the same structure as a meis becomes tamei, as with a hospital or a tree near a cemetery. An ohel need not be building-sized; maybe even a tefach of space, such as a keli in the same small space as a kezayis of meis or a sheretz.
- 'Tenan' (two nuns) introduces a Mishnah; 'tanya' (one nun) introduces a Braisa. Mishnayos are more cryptic, Braisos more elaborate. 'Tenan hasam' means a Mishnah over there, in Ohalos.
- MishnahHere 'echad' means 'whether'. The cases are: a hole dug by water; a hole dug by sheratzim (rodents); a hole eaten by meleches (salt or minerals); a pile of stones with gaps; a pile of beams or logs.
- The RebbiIn the stone and beam cases a person put the materials there, but he did not intend to make an ohel. The gaps just formed.
- ShitahTanna Kamma: all these are maahil al hatumah, even though no one made the ohel and it formed by accident.
- ShitahRebbi Yehuda: any ohel not made intentionally by human hands is not an ohel. He is less strict about ohalim, which fits his shita in our Mishnah.
- The RebbiThe listed cases are only examples. Any ohel that just happens, rather than being made, is not an ohel according to Rebbi Yehuda.
- Discussion: Rebbi Yehuda agrees that something like a canopy of ten tefachim, designed as an ohel, would be a tent. The case of a towel thrown over a bed, not intended as a roof, was raised and left open.
- ChazarahReview of the Gemara: the kasha and Shmuel's teirutz, then the Mishnah in Ohalos, with the Tanna Kamma's maahil al hatumah and Rebbi Yehuda's rule (line 15).
Kashas
- V'ha leika asarah: a bed is not ten tefachim, so it should not be an ohel interrupting the schach. Why do the Tanna Kamma and Rebbi Shimon say he is not yotzei?
Teirutzim
- Targema Shmuel: b'mitah asarah. The bed was ten tefachim high.
Mareh mekomos
- The first perek discusses sleeping in a bed with a canopy; mentioned as background on ohel in sukkah.
- Mishnah in Ohalos (tenan hasam) about holes and piles that form an ohel for tumah; brought for Rebbi Yehuda's shita.
- The story of Rebbi Akiva, about water eventually drilling a hole; illustrates a hole dug by water.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- Tevi wanted to stay in the sukkah to hear the Chachamim. When there was no room, he went under the bed.
- These beds were very high, like using bed risers to store things underneath.
- Everyone agrees the bed was ten tefachim; that was not the subject of the machlokes.
- The piles of stones or beams were placed by a person without intent to make an ohel, so they count as not made by human hands for Rebbi Yehuda.
- Rebbi Yehuda is consistently less strict about what counts as an ohel, both in Ohalos and in our Mishnah.
- A canopy designed as an ohel would be an ohel even for Rebbi Yehuda; the bed was not intended as one.
Unclear in recording
- The exact translation of Tevi knowing the din of avadim and sukkah.
- The calculation of tefachim and amos for ten tefachim (roughly two to three feet).
- Remark that the Gemara needs a checkmate to prove something wrong.
- The kasha 'v'ha leika asarah' was located as line 11 at one point and line 10 at another.
- Whether a towel thrown over a bed counts as an ohel for Rebbi Yehuda; left open.
Drafted from the recording of the shiur, for chazarah. Torah terms follow the Rebbi’s own words; anything that could not be made out is marked “unclear in recording”. Tap a time to hear that point. Corrections welcome.