Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
R' Tzadok's Kebeitzah; Fourteen Meals in Sukkah
ארבע עשרה סעודות
Sukkah 26b · from line 30 · Wednesday, January 14, 2026
The sugya
The shiur finishes the maaseh of R' Tzadok, who ate less than a kebeitzah outside the sukkah. The Gemara's kasha from it on Rav Yosef and Abaye is answered: the kebeitzah shiur is for netilas yadayim and bracha, not for sukkah. The Rebbi then learns the Mishnah of R' Eliezer and Chachamim. They argue about whether one must eat 14 seudos in the sukkah, and whether a missed first-night seudah can be made up. The shiur begins the Gemara's reasons, both drawn from teshvu k'ein taduru.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- ChazarahEnd of the Mishnah: R' Yochanan ben Zakkai was brought food to taste, and R' Gamliel two dates and a bucket of water. They said, bring them up to the sukkah.
- ChazarahR' Tzadok was given less than a kebeitzah. He took it in a napkin, since he did not want to wash his hands, and ate it outside the sukkah.
- KashaThe Gemara infers that a kebeitzah would require a sukkah. That would be a kasha on Rav Yosef and Abaye on the previous amud, whose shiur for achilas arai is larger than a kebeitzah.
- TeirutzPerhaps the Mishnah is not focusing on sukkah at all. Less than a kebeitzah needs no netilah and no bracha, but a kebeitzah does need netilah and bracha.
- The RebbiR' Tzadok used three kulos: not eating in the sukkah, eating without washing, and not making a bracha afterward. Even with a full kebeitzah he could have eaten outside the sukkah. The other kulos required less than a kebeitzah.
- The RebbiThe maaseh still shows achilas arai outside the sukkah. However, it does not set the parameters for inside and outside the sukkah. It does set the parameters for netilah and bracha.
- MishnahNew Mishnah: the dinim of eating in the sukkah, and what the chiyuv of eating in the sukkah is.
- ShitahR' Eliezer: a person must eat 14 seudos in the sukkah over the seven days, one by day and one by night. Shemini Atzeres is in some ways a separate yom tov.
- ShitahChachamim: ein ladavar kitzvah, there is no set amount. Chutz, except, the first night of yom tov rishon of the chag alone.
- The RebbiWhenever the Gemara, or even the Chumash, says chag stam, it means Sukkos.
- ShitahLine 10. R' Eliezer: one who did not eat on the first night yashlim, completes it, on leil yom tov ha'acharon shel chag. That is Shemini Atzeres, effectively seudah 15 or 16.
- The RebbiFor R' Eliezer the first night has a special importance. The make-up must be on Shemini Atzeres, since every one of the seven days already carries its own obligation. Mashal: if I owe you $100 every day, I cannot pay day one's debt on day nine.
- ShitahChachamim: ein ladavar tashlumin, there is no make-up. On this the pasuk in Koheles is said: me'uvas lo yuchal lisskon, v'chesron lo yuchal l'himanos.
- ChazarahSummary. Machlokes 1: is there a chiyuv to eat all 14 meals in the sukkah? Machlokes 2: everyone agrees the first night is most important; if missed, can it be made up?
- The RebbiEach side has a kula and a chumra. Chachamim are lenient about the total number of seudos but strict that a missed first night is lost. R' Eliezer is strict about 14 seudos but lenient that the first night can be made up at the end.
- GemaraLine 15. Mai taama d'R' Eliezer? Teshvu k'ein taduru: just as in a dirah one eats once by day and once by night, so too in the sukkah.
- GemaraRabbanan turn the same pasuk around: k'dirah. In a dirah, if one wants he eats and if not he does not, af sukkah nami.
- The RebbiAnswering a question: the topic is the obligation of eating in the sukkah, meaning that if you eat, you must eat in the sukkah. It is like sleeping, which requires a sukkah only if one wants to sleep.
- ChazarahThe Mishnah and the Gemara's two reasons are read through again.
- Next question, for tomorrow: why the first night is an exception to the Rabbanan's reasoning.
Kashas
- לימא תיהוי תיובתיה דרב יוסף ואביי. The Mishnah implies a kebeitzah requires a sukkah, against their larger shiur for achilas arai.
- If the Rabbanan learn k'dirah, optional, why is the first night obligatory? To be discussed next shiur.
Teirutzim
- Less than a kebeitzah exempts from netilah and bracha. A kebeitzah needs netilah and bracha, but not necessarily a sukkah.
Mareh mekomos
- Koheles: me'uvas lo yuchal lisskon v'chesron lo yuchal l'himanos. Cited by Chachamim to show a missed first night cannot be made up. The Rebbi notes this pasuk is used a few times in Shas.
- Another use of the same pasuk: a case where a child is a mamzer, which can never be fixed. The Mishnah puts a missed first-night seudah in the same bucket.
- Teshvu k'ein taduru. The source of both R' Eliezer and the Rabbanan.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- R' Tzadok exercised three separate kulos. Only netilah and bracha depended on eating less than a kebeitzah.
- The maaseh gives parameters for netilah and bracha, not for sukkah.
- Really the night comes first, but overall one eats a day meal and a night meal. That is what we do today: a seudah at night and a seudah by day.
- Yashlim is better translated as to complete, from tashlumin.
- Tashlumin only makes sense on a day with no obligation of its own, hence Shemini Atzeres. Mashal of owing $100 every day.
- Lisskon is like takanah, fixing. L'himanos is from counting.
- Even nowadays there are special halachos for the first night, e.g. waiting if it is raining.
- If one misses the fourth day there is no need for tashlumin.
- Chachamim: kula on the total, chumra on the first night. R' Eliezer: chumra on 14, kula of tashlumin.
- In those days people did not graze on many small meals. They had two big meals, so a dirah means one by day and one by night.
- Both sides take the same pasuk, k'ein taduru, and twist it: what a normal household requires versus no one telling me what to do in my house.
- Af is Hebrew and nami is Aramaic, both meaning also.
- The chiyuv is: if you eat, eat in the sukkah. Compare sleeping, which requires a sukkah only if one wants to sleep.
Unclear in recording
- A remark that R' Eliezer would seemingly include Chol HaMoed, and that yom tov requires a separate chiyuv, is unclear in recording.
- An exchange about whether the make-up seudah on Shemini Atzeres is eaten in the sukkah is unclear in recording.
- A comparison to tashlumin elsewhere, apparently tefillah, e.g. a missed Shacharis, is unclear in recording.
- A question about eating on Shabbos of Sukkos was deferred. The Rebbi said we will get clarity on that later.
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.