Shiur summary (draft from the recording)
Shiurin and chatzitzin: d'oraisa or halacha l'Moshe miSinai
Sukkah 5b · Thursday, May 28, 2026
The sugya
The shiur finishes the seven minim of the pasuk 'eretz chitah u'se'orah' as remazim for shiurin. The Gemara first concludes that shiurin are d'oraisa, then rejects this: shiurin are halacha l'Moshe miSinai and the pasuk is only an asmachta. It then asks whether chatzitzin are d'oraisa from 'v'rachatz es besaro bamayim'. The answer is that the halacha is needed for hair, as in Rabbah bar bar Chana's din of knotted hairs. The Gemara then asks that hair is also d'oraisa, learned from the word 'es', and the shiur stops there.
Step by step (shakla v’tarya)
- ChazarahReview of chitin: the shiur is pas chitin, achilas pras, eaten while leaning (meisev) and dipping.
- GemaraSe'orah: the Mishnah of etzem k'se'orah. A barley-sized piece of human bone is metamei b'maga and b'masa, but not b'ohel.
- GemaraGefen: k'dei revi'is yayin l'nazir. The Rebbi explains it as the volume a grape product displaces when put into a glass of wine, not drinking a revi'is.
- GemaraTe'einah: k'grogeres, the shiur of carrying on Shabbos (hotza'ah).
- GemaraRimon: the Mishnah of kol kelei baalei batim, shiuran k'rimonim. A ba'al habayis's keili only stops being a keili once the damage reaches that size.
- The RebbiAn umman's keili is different. It loses its status as a keili with any damage, because it is made to be sold for a specific use, e.g. a fine sieve for barley.
- GemaraEretz zeis shemen: a land whose shiurim are all k'zeisim.
- Kasha(Line 10) Can it mean all its shiurim? There are the exceptions we just listed.
- TeirutzRather, say most of its shiurim are k'zeisim.
- GemaraDevash: k'koseves hagasah on Yom Kippur, a large date with its pit. That is the shiur achilah for which one is chayav.
- MaskanaSo we see shiurin are d'oraisa. This continues the earlier kasha that shiurin are d'oraisa.
- DechiyahUt'savra: are shiurin written in the pasuk? The pasuk only lists fruits.
- Teirutz(Line 14) Rather, they are halacha l'Moshe miSinai, and the pasuk is merely an asmachta.
- The RebbiAn asmachta is more than a hint: the shiurin can lean on the words of the pasuk and fit it nicely.
- Discussion: k'beitzah and the drinking shiur of Yom Kippur are missing. Perhaps those are really d'oraisa, so check the sugya in Yoma. The Yom Kippur eating shiur is less than a k'beitzah, since it is what takes one out of inui.
- ChazarahBackground: R' Yehuda learns ten tefachim from halacha l'Moshe miSinai (shiurin, chatzitzin, mechitzin). The Gemara now examines the other items.
- Kasha(Line 15) Are chatzitzin d'oraisa? Chatzitzah means an interposition.
- Ra'ayahIt is written 'v'rachatz es besaro bamayim': nothing may separate between his body and the water.
- TeirutzThe halacha comes for his hair. Without it we would think only the body, not the hair, must be free of a chatzitzah.
- The RebbiThe point is not that hair is a chatzitzah on the body. The hair itself must be reached by the water.
- Ra'ayahLike Rabbah bar bar Chana (line 19): one knotted hair is a chatzitzah, three are not, and for two he says 'I do not know'.
- The RebbiThe Rebbi calls this hair physics. A single knotted hair pulls tight and water cannot enter; three hairs cannot be knotted that tight. Compare a thread to a rope.
- KashaIs hair also d'oraisa? 'V'rachatz es besaro': the 'es' includes what is tafel (secondary/ancillary) to his body, and that is his hair.
- The shiur stops here. Tomorrow: where the halacha l'Moshe miSinai for hair applies regarding mikvah.
Kashas
- 'All its shiurim are k'zeisim'? There are the exceptions just listed.
- Are shiurin written in the pasuk at all? It lists only fruits.
- Chatzitzin are d'oraisa, from 'v'rachatz es besaro bamayim'.
- Hair is also d'oraisa, from the 'es' of 'es besaro', which includes what is tafel to the body.
Teirutzim
- Most of its shiurim are k'zeisim.
- Shiurin are halacha l'Moshe miSinai; the pasuk is only an asmachta.
- The halacha l'Moshe miSinai of chatzitzin comes for hair, per Rabbah bar bar Chana.
Mareh mekomos
- Mishnah: etzem k'se'orah is metamei b'maga u'v'masa but not b'ohel. This is the shiur learned from se'orah.
- Mishnah: kol kelei baalei batim shiuran k'rimonim. This is the shiur learned from rimon.
- The Rebbi says to check the sugya in Yoma for the source of the Yom Kippur shiurim not listed here.
- Bentching d'oraisa applies only when eating a k'beitzah ('I believe'). Used to discuss which shiurin may be d'oraisa.
- Pasuk 'v'rachatz es besaro bamayim': the source that nothing may separate between the body and the water.
- Rabbah bar bar Chana: one knotted hair is a chatzitzah, three are not, two is a doubt.
- ArtScroll translates chatzitzah as 'interposition'.
The Rebbi’s chiddushim
- The gefen shiur of revi'is yayin for a nazir is really a measure of volume displaced, not of drinking wine.
- A ba'al habayis's keili needs damage the size of a rimon; an umman's keili is lost with any damage, since it is made for a specific use.
- An asmachta is more than a mere hint: the halacha can lean on the words of the pasuk.
- The word se'or has now appeared three times with different meanings: barley, and now hair.
- Hair is not a chatzitzah on the body; rather, the hair itself must be fully reached by the water. That is why mikvah attendants check that the hair is brushed out.
- One knotted hair pulls tight and blocks water; three hairs cannot form so tight a knot, like a rope compared to a thread.
Unclear in recording
- The details of the displacement explanation of the gefen shiur are partly garbled.
- The end of the umman's keili explanation (the word 'tar') is unclear in recording.
- Something is said about skipping a line around 03:34, unclear in recording.
- The line reference ('line 42') for the earlier kasha is unclear in recording.
- The exact drinking shiur mentioned for Yom Kippur is unclear in recording.
- A comment about a large chup of hair and a related problem is unclear in recording.
- An aside about a derashah from 'es' is 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.