Welcome to the Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Lewis Warshauer looks at Masechet Sukkah Daf 5.

Based on the teaching that the ten handbreadth minimum height of a sukkah derives from the Torah’s stated measurements of the ark of the covenant, the Gemara discusses the idea of the ark’s cover as the meeting point between heaven and earth, and then considers the possibility that the thickness of the cover might be derived from applications of the word panim, face. This leads to a discussion of the faces of the cherubim, the sculpted figures on the ark cover. The suggestion is then made that the minimum height of a sukkah derives not from the ark, but from the dimensions of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. The page ends with the further suggestion that perhaps the minimum height of a sukkah is not derived from the Bible at all but rather from an oral teaching transmitted by God to Moses at Sinai.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.