Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Travelers, Shluchei Mitzvah and Guards: Patur from Sukkah
הולכי דרכים
Sukkah 25b · Thursday, January 1, 2026
The sugya
The shiur finishes the beraisos on osek b'mitzvah patur min hamitzvah: the chasan and his wedding party, and R' Chanina ben Akavya's list of scribes, their merchants and all who deal in meleches shamayim. It then moves to a new topic, the patur of travelers and guards, which the Rebbi explains as based on teshvu k'ein taduru rather than osek b'mitzvah. It ends with the kasha 'let them make a sukkah there', the answers of Abaye (teshvu k'ein taduru) and Rava (pirtzah koreh laganav), and the nafka mina between them.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- ChazarahContinuing osek b'mitzvah patur min hamitzvah. The Rebbi plans to sort out, by the end of the sugya, whether each patur is because of tirdah, kavanah and so on, and to make a chart of the rules.
- GemaraBeraisa: the chasan, the shushvinin and all bnei hachupah are patur from tefillah and tefillin. What was said about krias shema is unclear in recording.
- ShitahIn the name of R' Shila: the chasan is patur, but the shushvinin and the rest of the wedding party are chayav.
- The RebbiThis is not the first-night patur of koneis es habesulah. Here the patur comes from being part of the wedding party, the mitzvah of being mesameach chasan v'kallah.
- GemaraR' Chanina ben Akavya: kosvei sefarim (not just a Sefer Torah, even Nach), tefillin and mezuzos, they, their merchants, their merchants' merchants, and all who deal in meleches shamayim, even sellers of tzitzis, are patur from krias shema, tefillah, tefillin and all mitzvos. This is to uphold R' Yosi HaGlili's rule osek b'mitzvah patur min hamitzvah.
- KashaThe Rebbi asks why R' Yosi HaGlili is quoted here at all, since the rule is already known.
- TeirutzSuggested answer (the Rebbi said 'that's what I was thinking, I don't know'): the beraisa stretches R' Yosi HaGlili to merchants, almost like opening a Judaica store. R' Yosi HaGlili's own case was korban Pesach, so the quote shows that even this counts and one may be very liberal with anyone dealing with meleches shamayim. The discussion is partly unclear in recording.
- GemaraBeraisa (line 9): travelers by day are patur by day and chayav at night. Travelers at night are patur at night and chayav by day, since by day they are stationary. Those who travel day and night are patur both day and night.
- The RebbiThis has nothing to do with osek b'mitzvah. It comes from the drasha teshvu k'ein taduru: you sit in the sukkah the way you live in your house, and during the year people do go on trips.
- RashiRashi (middle of the page, across from line 2) adds one word, 'l'schorah': the patur applies only to one traveling for business. Just as people do not hold back from leaving on business all year, so too on the chag. The chag does not require one to stay rooted in his house.
- Story: the Rebbi once asked his rebbi about traveling on Chol HaMoed between Toronto and Lakewood to visit parents or in-laws. He was told there is also a cheshbon of kibbud av involved.
- Example: on a non-stop drive to Miami, with one spouse driving by day and the other at night, both are patur day and night.
- GemaraLine 14: those going for a mitzvah are patur both by day and by night.
- KashaA participant asked: a business traveler is chayav at night because he is already settled, so why is one going for a mitzvah patur at night?
- TeirutzEach shita gives its own reason: either he is busy thinking about the mitzvah, or he needs proper rest because he is going for a mitzvah. So the rules are more liberal, a blanket patur day and night. Examples: greeting one's Rebbe, pidyon shvuyim, going to hear a shiur.
- Ra'ayahStory: R' Chisda and Rabbah bar Rav Huna, going up on Shabbasa d'Rigla to the house of the Reish Galusa, slept on the riverbanks of Sura and said 'we are shluchei mitzvah and we are patur'.
- The RebbiThey traveled only by day, yet they were patur at night too. This shows that a shliach mitzvah is patur even when he is not traveling, while an ordinary traveler is patur only while traveling.
- GemaraShomrei ha'ir: day guards are patur by day and chayav at night; night guards the reverse; 24-hour guards are patur both day and night.
- The RebbiThis is a mirror of holchei derachim. Whether or not guarding is a mitzvah, it is their job or duty, and Yom Tov does not require a person to do something he would not normally do.
- GemaraLine 23: shomrei ginos u'pardesim are patur both day and night. A participant noted that this guarding was a 24-hour job.
- KashaLine 24: let them make a sukkah there and sit in it. How far can we stretch teshvu k'ein taduru?
- TeirutzAbaye: teshvu k'ein taduru. Rashi: normally one brings beds, blankets and nice keilim into the sukkah. A guard cannot bring them into the field because it is too much tircha. No one moves into his guard booth.
- TeirutzRava: pirtzah koreh laganav. A thief who sees the guard sitting in a hut will pounce and get around him.
- GemaraMai beinaihu? The case of one guarding a kri (bushel or pile) of harvested fruit.
- MaskanaThe fruit is right in front of him, so he can sit in a three-walled sukkah and watch. According to Rava no thief will come, so he is chayav in sukkah. According to the tircha reason (Abaye; the Rebbi said 'Rava' here) he is still patur, since he still cannot bring all his things.
Kashas
- Why does the beraisa need to cite R' Yosi HaGlili's osek b'mitzvah rule?
- (Participant) If a business traveler is chayav at night because he is settled, why is one going for a mitzvah patur at night?
- Guards of gardens and orchards: let them make a sukkah there and sit in it.
- Mai beinaihu between Abaye and Rava?
Teirutzim
- (Tentative) The beraisa stretches R' Yosi HaGlili's rule even to merchants of sefarim, tefillin and mezuzos, showing one may be liberal with anyone dealing in meleches shamayim.
- For a mitzvah the rules are more liberal: either he is preoccupied with the mitzvah or he needs proper rest. So it is a blanket patur.
- Abaye: teshvu k'ein taduru. He cannot bring his beds and keilim into the field.
- Rava: pirtzah koreh laganav. A guard in a hut invites the thief.
- The nafka mina is one guarding a pile of harvested fruit: chayav according to Rava, patur according to the tircha reason.
Rashi & Tosafos
- Rashi: Holchei derachim b'yom: 'l'schorah'. The patur is for business travel; just as people travel for business all year, the chag does not require staying rooted at home.
- Rashi: On Abaye: in a sukkah one brings in beds, blankets and fine keilim. A guard cannot do so in the field; it is too much tircha, so it is not k'ein taduru.
Mareh mekomos
- Drasha teshvu k'ein taduru, as the basis for the patur of travelers.
- A Gemara in Bava Kamma on paying an injured person, where the lowest level of payment is that of a watcher. Cited to show that guarding was a low-level job.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- The wedding party's patur is not like the first-night tirdah of koneis besulah. It stems from the mitzvah of being mesameach chasan v'kallah.
- The travelers' patur is not osek b'mitzvah but teshvu k'ein taduru.
- From the story of R' Chisda and Rabbah bar Rav Huna: an ordinary traveler is patur only while traveling, but a shliach mitzvah is patur even when not traveling.
- Guards are like travelers: it is their job, and Yom Tov does not require doing what one would not normally do.
- (Participant) The modern travel sukkah does not really fit the theme of teshvu k'ein taduru.
Unclear in recording
- What the chasan beraisa says about krias shema.
- Discussion contrasting R' Yosi HaGlili's korban Pesach case with merchants, and the example of Shema.
- Someone argues on Rashi's 'l'schorah'; the name is not clear.
- The meaning of 'Shabbasa d'Rigla'. The Rebbi thought it means one of the Yom Tov days but said he was unsure.
- Side discussion about huts and walls.
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.