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Beitzah 30

30b

QUESTION: The Gemara quotes a Beraisa which discusses certain laws of Muktzah. The Beraisa says, concerning the wood of a Sukah, that if one makes a Tenai expressing his intent to use the wood of the Sukah on Yom Tov, then the Tenai works to permit him to use the wood. However, the Tenai works only for the wood of a Sukah on a Yom Tov *other than* Sukos. On Sukos, though, a Tenai will not work to permit using the wood of a Sukah Shel Mitzvah, because the Torah gives Kedushah to such a Sukah at the moment that the Yom Tov enters. Therefore, as soon as Bein ha'Shemashos comes, since the Sukah was designated for use as a Sukah, its wood cannot be used for any other purpose.

A Tenai works for a [weakly standing -- "Re'u'ah"] Sukah during the rest of the year, and one may make a Tenai and say, "I intend to use the wood of the Sukah during Yom Tov, even though the wood is part of the Sukah and it cannot be dismantled on Yom Tov, I intend to use it in the event that the Sukah collapses (and thus using it does not involve Setiras Ohel) on Yom Tov" (RASHI, DH Seifa and DH Abaye). The RAMBAN (Milchamos) takes this further and says that a person may make a Tenai to use the wood of a Sukah Shel Mitzvah on Sukos, in the event that the Sukah collapses.

The Gemara's allowance to make a Tenai is problematic. We find (in a Beraisa in Shabbos 44a, quoted by our Gemara here) that the oil of an oil-lamp is Muktzah according to Rebbi Yehudah even though the person waits ("Yoshev u'Metzapeh") for the candle to go out so that he can use the oil. "Yoshev u'Metzapeh" seems similar to making a Tenai, and thus the Mishnah implies that such a Tenai does not work. Why, then, in the case of the wood of a Sukah, may one make a Tenai to permit the wood in the event that the Sukah collapses? Since the wood was Asur during Bein ha'Shemashos, it should be Muktzah Machmas Isur, just like the candle, and a Tenai should not work! (TOSFOS, Shabbos 44a, DH sh'ba'Ner)

ANSWERS:

(a) TOSFOS suggests that a Tenai does not work for the oil of an oil-lamp, because when one lit the lamp, he actively and purposefully removed it from use on Shabbos or Yom Tov ("Docheh b'Yadayim"). By lighting it, he showed that he wanted it to be in a state of Isur (giving off the light of a flame) on Shabbos. In contrast, one has no need for a Sukah to be standing on Yom Tov (that is, on any Yom Tov other than Sukos), and therefore it is not considered to be actively and purposefully removed from use, and thus a Tenai will work.

(b) The TOSFOS YESHANIM in Shabbos answers that a lamp is Asur because it falls into *two* categories of Muktzah: it is Muktzah Machmas Isur, and it is Muktzah because it is a Basis l'Davar ha'Asur, and it is supporting the flame which is a Davar Asur (Shabbos 47b). The wood of a Sukah, though, is Asur only because it is Muktzah Machmas Isur, and therefore a Tenai works.

(c) The RAMBAN in Shabbos (45a) and the RASHBA, RE'AH, and RAN here quote the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 3:7) that implies that a Tenai will work even in the case of an oil-lamp. When the Gemara says that the oil of a lamp is Asur to use on Shabbos even after the flame has gone out, it is referring to when one was only "Yoshev u'Metzapeh," anticipating that the flame go out, but one did *not* explicitly state a Tenai. If one does explicitly state such a Tenai, then it will work.

(d) The BA'AL HA'ME'OR explains that when the Gemara permits using wood from a Sukah when one made a Tenai, it is not talking about a case of wood which, at the onset of Yom Tov, is Asur to use because of Setirah mid'Oraisa. Rather, the wood for which a Tenai works is wood that, when removed, does not cause the Sukah to be dismantled. Even though the wood is Batel to the Sukah, nevertheless when one takes the wood, the Sukah remains standing, and thus it is not an act of demolishing (Setirah), but it merely *looks* like Setirah and is Asur mid'Rabanan. The Tenai works because the wood is Muktzah only because it *looks* like it is Setirah when one removes it on Yom Tov.

In contrast, in the case of an oil-lamp, it is an Isur of Mechabeh which prohibits the candle from being extinguished during Bein ha'Shemashos, and therefore a Tenai will not work to remove its status of Muktzah.

(e) The RA'AVAD quotes the Yerushalmi that gives a different explanation for the Beraisa cited by our Gemara. When the Beraisa says that a Tenai works, it is not referring to the wood that was used to build a Sukah. Rather, it is referring to using the wood that was tied up in a bundle and placed on top of the Sukah. The Yerushalmi says that to remove such wood is Asur because of Setirah, unless one made a Tenai (our Gemara, in contrast, permits removing such bundles even without a Tenai, because it is not Setirah). The Tenai says that the person does not want the bundle of wood to become Batel to the Sukah. Without a Tenai, the wood becomes Batel to the Sukah and is therefore Asur to use because of Setirah.

What about our Gemara, though, which explains that the Beraisa refers to a normal Sukah when it says that a Tenai works? According to the Ra'avad's explanation, it does not matter what type of Sukah it is!

The Ra'avad answers either that the Gemara did not have that Girsa, or even if it did have that Girsa, the Gemara was arguing with the Yerushalmi only in the Havah Amina. Once the Gemara mentions the decorations of a Sukah and says that the allowance of making a Tenai works for the decorations of a Sukah Shel Mitzvah (preventing them from getting the Kedushah of the Sukah), it is no longer stating that a Tenai works to permit something which is Muktzah because of the Isur of Setirah, in agreement with the Yerushalmi.

The Ra'avad says that this is the opinion of the RIF. This is also implied by TOSFOS (DH Amar Rav Menasheh), as the VILNA GAON in his marginal gloss points out, and the RAMBAM (Hilchos Sukah 6:15), as the BEIS YOSEF point out (OC 518).

HALACHAH: The SHULCHAN ARUCH (OC 379:4) rules that a Tenai works even to permit using the oil of a candle, like the Ramban and other Rishonim ((c) above) rule. The BI'UR HALACHAH (OC 518, DH Notlin) writes that even according to the Shulchan Aruch's ruling, a Tenai only helps when the item is expected to become Mutar later ("Yoshev u'Metzapeh"); a Tenai will not work to permit using the wood of a Sukah which is strong and is not expected to collapse. The REMA (OC 379:4) is stringent and writes that one should not rely on the Ramban to permit Muktzah Machmas Isur with a Tenai, unless there is another leniency to combine with the Tanei to permit it (such as making a Tenai to permit a Nochri to handle the item).