Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Limiting the Machlokes: Kemaan Azla
כמאן אזלא
Sukkah 2a · Tuesday, March 24, 2026
The sugya
After the three Amoraim who gave reasons why a sukkah may not be above 20 amos, the Gemara brings three Amoraim who limit where the machlokes in the Mishnah applies. Each limitation shows whose reasoning that Amora follows. The Rebbi taught the first limitation: the machlokes is only when the walls do not reach the schach. He showed it goes like Rabbah. The rest of the shiur, which began the next limitation, is mostly unclear in recording.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- Framing: the Amoraim now come to limit the machlokes in the Mishnah about a sukkah above 20 amos.
- ChazarahThe three Amoraim so far gave the reason why a sukkah may not be more than 20 amos. The three Amoraim today and tomorrow tell us when the machlokes applies. Each limitation shows whose reasoning that Amora follows.
- GemaraKemaan azla: which of the three reasons does each limitation go like? The Rebbi starts with the first statement.
- ShitahThe first Amora qualifies the Mishnah: the machlokes is when the walls do not reach the schach, meaning very short walls with the schach very high up, like a water tank.
- ShitahIf the actual walls reach the schach, then even above 20 amos it is kosher. You could have a huge sukkah like a stadium, as long as the schach sits right on top of the walls.
- The RebbiAmoraim like to limit a machlokes in the Mishnah, because an open-ended machlokes makes things very complicated.
- KashaWho does this limitation go like?
- TeirutzIt goes like Rabbah. Rabbah said a sukkah may not be above 20 amos because the eye does not take notice of the schach (lo shalta bah eina). His reasoning about walls that reach the schach is mostly unclear in recording.
- The RebbiSo according to this limitation, a sukkah can be 100 amos high, even as tall as the Empire State Building, if the walls reach the schach.
- The Rebbi moves on to the next Amora's limitation. That section is unclear in recording.
Kashas
- Kemaan azla: which of the three reasons for the 20-amah limit does the limitation 'the machlokes is only when the walls do not reach the schach' follow?
Teirutzim
- It follows Rabbah, whose reason is that the eye does not take notice of schach above 20 amos.
Mareh mekomos
- The Mishnah: a sukkah above 20 amos is pasul, and R' Yehudah is machshir. This is the machlokes the Amoraim are limiting.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- Each Amora's limitation of the machlokes reveals which of the three reasons for the 20-amah limit he holds.
- Amoraim like to limit a machlokes in a Mishnah, because an unlimited machlokes makes things complicated.
- Illustrations: a stadium-sized sukkah, or one as tall as the Empire State Building, is kosher according to this limitation if the walls go all the way up to the schach.
Unclear in recording
- The opening reference to the Amora and 'in the name of' is garbled.
- A practical example about what people often build (something about straps covering on the bottom) is unclear.
- The Rebbi's explanation of why walls reaching the schach help according to Rabbah is mostly unclear in recording.
- The section on the next Amora's limitation is almost entirely unclear in recording.
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.