Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Rabbi Eliezer's 14 Seudos and Tashlumin
ארבע עשרה סעודות
Sukkah 26b · Thursday, January 15, 2026
The sugya
The Mishnah brings a machlokes. Rabbi Eliezer requires 14 seudos in the sukkah, one by day and one by night. The Chachamim hold there is no set amount except the first night, and they say a missed first night cannot be made up, while Rabbi Eliezer says it can be made up on the last night. The Gemara shows both sides learn from 'teshvu k'ein taduru', and it learns the chiyuv of the first night from a gezeirah shavah of 'chamisha asar' to Pesach, where 'ba'erev tochlu matzos' makes eating chovah. The shiur ended on the kasha of how Rabbi Eliezer can have tashlumin if he requires 14 seudos, and the teirutz that he retracted (chazar bo).
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- MishnahRabbi Eliezer: a person must eat 14 seudos in the sukkah, one in the day and one at night.
- MishnahChachamim: there is no set amount to this, except the first night.
- MishnahRabbi Eliezer also says there is an emphasis on the first night. If one did not eat in the sukkah the first night, he completes it on the last night, which is really Shemini Atzeres.
- MishnahChachamim: it cannot be made up. Once you miss it, you miss it.
- Aside: this Mishnah is one of the places cited in the discussion of making up a missed tefillah. Details are unclear in the recording.
- GemaraWhat is Rabbi Eliezer's reason? Teshvu k'ein taduru. Just as in a dirah one eats once by day and once by night, so too in the sukkah.
- GemaraRabbanan: like a dirah. If he wants he eats, and if he wants he does not eat. So too with the sukkah.
- The RebbiBoth get their shitta from teshvu k'ein taduru. Rabbi Eliezer reads it as a uniform standard, the derech ha'olam. The Rabbanan read it individually: do it the way you live.
- KashaIf so (according to the Chachamim), even the first night of Yom Tov should be optional. What is the difference between the first night and the rest?
- TeirutzR' Yochanan in the name of R' Shimon ben Yehotzadak: it says 'chamisha asar' here by Sukkos and 'chamisha asar' by Chag HaMatzos.
- Ra'ayahThe pesukim marked on the side of the Gemara: the 15th day of the seventh month (Tishrei) for Sukkos, and the 15th day of the first month (Nisan) for Pesach.
- The RebbiThere is a pivot here. The focus is no longer on the sukkah but on the eating.
- GemaraJust as by Pesach the first night is chovah and from then on reshus, so too here the first night (the 15th) is chovah and from then on reshus.
- On Pesach, eating matzah is required only the first night. After that, if you eat bread with your meal it must be matzah and cannot be chametz.
- KashaAnd there, by Pesach, how do we know? 'Chag HaMatzos' alone could mean only that if you eat, eat matzah.
- TeirutzThe pasuk says 'ba'erev tochlu matzos' (in Parashas Bo). The Torah set it as a chovah.
- ChazarahSummary: the unequivocal chiyuv to eat matzah the first night is attached through 'chamisha asar' to the first night of Sukkos.
- RashiThe drasha is one of the 13 middos, and Rashi goes into the drasha. Not developed in this shiur.
- Other practical outgrowths of this gezeirah shavah were discussed in the group (see chiddushim).
- KashaLine 27: but Rabbi Eliezer just said 14 seudos, one by day and one by night. He cannot make it up on another day of Sukkos, since each day has its own seuda. On Shemini Atzeres one may not eat in the sukkah, because of bal tosif. So where is the tashlumin?
- The RebbiHad only the first night been required, one could make it up on the other days of Yom Tov. Because every day needs its own seuda, he had to push it to Shemini Atzeres, when there is no more sukkah.
- TeirutzBira in the name of R' Ami: Rabbi Eliezer retracted (chazar bo) from 14 seudos and agreed with the Chachamim. He still holds of tashlumin.
- The RebbiThe Rebbi says it depends how you explain the question. After the retraction, the first-night chiyuv is a chiyuv of seuda rather than of sukkah, and therefore it can be made up on Shemini Atzeres. Partly unclear in recording.
Kashas
- If the source is teshvu k'ein taduru like a dirah, why is the first night chovah according to the Chachamim? It should be optional too.
- By Pesach itself, how do we know eating matzah the first night is chovah and not just 'if you eat, eat matzah'?
- Rabbi Eliezer requires 14 seudos. When can he make up the first night? Not on other days of Sukkos, which have their own seuda, and not on Shemini Atzeres, when one may not sit in the sukkah because of bal tosif.
Teirutzim
- Gezeirah shavah 'chamisha asar' from Chag HaMatzos: the first night is chovah, and from then on reshus.
- 'Ba'erev tochlu matzos': the Torah set it as a chovah.
- Bira in the name of R' Ami: Rabbi Eliezer retracted from 14 seudos.
Rashi & Tosafos
- Rashi: Rashi goes into the drasha of the gezeirah shavah. Not developed in the shiur.
Mareh mekomos
- Teshvu k'ein taduru: the source for both Rabbi Eliezer and the Rabbanan.
- The pesukim of 'chamisha asar' for the seventh month (Sukkos) and the first month (Pesach), as marked on the side of the Gemara.
- 'Ba'erev tochlu matzos' (Parashas Bo): the chiyuv of matzah the first night. The Rebbi noted the Torah also discusses Pesach in Emor and Pinchas.
- The 13 middos: the drasha is a gezeirah shavah.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- Rabbi Eliezer reads teshvu k'ein taduru as a uniform derech ha'olam. The Rabbanan read it as individual: whatever way you live in your house.
- With the gezeirah shavah to Pesach, the focus shifts from the sukkah to the eating.
- On Pesach, eating matzah is required only the first night. Afterwards it means only that bread you eat must be matzah, not chametz.
- Practical outgrowths of the comparison to matzah were mentioned in the group: eating challah made only with water and flour, more similar to matzah; and not talking from the first eating until finishing, as by matzah.
- The kasha on Rabbi Eliezer works because he requires a seuda every day. If only the first night were required, tashlumin during Yom Tov would make sense.
- After the retraction, the first-night chiyuv is a chiyuv of seuda, not of sukkah, which allows tashlumin on Shemini Atzeres.
Unclear in recording
- The aside about making up a missed tefillah and how this Mishnah is cited as a source for it.
- Who holds there is a mitzvah to eat matzah every day of Pesach, which some are machmir on.
- The group discussion on whether there is a contradiction between Rabbi Eliezer's two statements, and the order in which he said them.
- A point from a diyuk in Rashi that one could make it up any day of Sukkos, even the last day, and the discussion of a 'third seuda'.
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.