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Summary

There is a principle of teishvu k’ein taduru (11.1) — a sukkah should be regarded as one’s home. In all cases where one would not seek a home to lodge in, he is absolved of his obligation to dwell in the sukkah.

Mishna: People who are on a mitzvah errand* [shluchei mitzvah], are absolved of the sukkah obligation. [Rashi and Tosfos give an example that they’re travelling to learn Torah. People who are learning already are surely obligated to go sit in the sukkah. They must stop for kiddush levanah, they must stop for every minhag! The purpose of learning is to bring us to do mitzvos, so if they won’t stop for mitzvos they’re not really learners. But one who travels to learn is not learning but doing a mitzvah and is thus absolved from other mitzvos during that time.]

Sick people and those who are tending to them, are absolved of the sukkah obligation.

Eating and drinking casually is permitted outside of the sukkah.

Gemara:

Question: What is the source for these exemptions?

Response: Beraisa: “The possuk states ‘[Recite the Shema] when you’re at home’ — this excludes one who is on a mitzvah errand ‘And when you’re travelling on the road’ — this excludes a chosson** (because he has ‘anxiety about a mitzvah’ which is also a mitzvah).

This is the source for the rule that ‘One who marries a virgin is exempt from Shema, but one who marries a widow must recite the Shema’ (breaking through the hymen is not a simple matter and causes anxiety to the chosson, but with a widow there’s no anxiety).”

Question: How does this verse exclude one who is on a mitzvah errand [perhaps it excludes anyone who is not comfortably at home]?

Rav Huna: It states “on the road”, travelling on the road is not a mitzvah, so it includes anything that is not a mitzvah.

Challenge: Perhaps the possuk is referring to one who is travelling for a mitzvah, so we see that he does have to recite the Shema?

Resolution: It states: “When you’re at home and when you’re travelling”, it could have said “when one is at home or when one travels” the usage of ‘you’ implies that it is for your personal needs but for a mitzvah, one is exempt.

Challenge: Why is one required to recite Shema when marrying a widow, isn’t that also a mitzvah?

Resolution: One who is marrying a virgin; his mind is occupied with it, not one who marries a widow.

Challenge: Anyone whose mind is occupied is exempt? What about one whose ship sunk at sea? He is surely not absolved as we see from the statement of

Rabbi Abba bar Zavda quoting Rav: A mourner is not absolved of any mitzvos with the exception of Tefillin (for the first day) which are called “glory”*.

Resolution: The chosson is occupied with a mitzvah but the merchant who lost his ship is not. (Although a mourner also has a mitzvah to mourn, Rashi explains that he doesn’t have a mitzvah to get anxious and lose his presence of mind).

Click here to listen to the shiur with Tosfos https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PFwu8Vtbl78da7W18Piq2PlVQLp84dFg/view?usp=sharing

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* Rashi: If they’re travelling to learn Torah, to visit their rebbe for Yom Tov (even the travel is a mitzvah) or to redeem captives, so even when they’re not actually travelling, they’re exempt from sukkah. Tosfos: We can prove this from the gemara “one who travels for a mitzvah is absolved from sukkah by day and by night”. This obviously refers to someone who only travels by day. Anyone who is on the road travelling, even if not for a mitzvah, is absolved from sukkah because of teishvu k’ein taduru. So there is no need to teach that one who travels for a mitzvah is absolved unless it means that he is absolved at night because of his daytime travels.

But this is very difficult, since they can accomplish both mitzvos, why should they be absolved of one?! Would we say that anyone wearing tzitzis is now absolved of all other mitzvos? Tosfos also raises another difficulty from masichta Nedarim where we see that one is not absolved from the mitzvah of tzedakah while a lost article is in his house.

Tosfos thus concludes that one who is involved in a mitzvah is only absolved of sukkah if sleeping in a sukkah would keep him from accomplishing the mitzvah.

* *Rashi: Although he is also doing a mitzvah, it doesn’t seem like he’s doing anything or going anywhere, it is merely a preoccupation in his mind.

* Tosfos: There is a possuk that teaches the exemption of an avel from tefillin and we would learn all mitzvos from tefillin. That’s why the gemara explains the reason for the exemption is because of a svara. This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate