(By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com) It is a question every wife asks her husband.  “Can I give a piece of cake to little Yankel in the house?  It is not raining.”  The answer, in the long form, appears below. The pasuk (Vayikra 23:42) states, “You shall dwell in booths seven days; all the citizens of Israel shall dwell in booths.” The Sifra, the oldest commentary on the book of Vayikra, comments on the word “all.” “All – comes to include the children,” states the Sifra. THE CONTRADICTION The Gemara in Sukkah (28b), however, points to a contradiction from the Mishnah on the previous page. Our Mishnah states that children are actually exempt from sukkah! How, then, do we understand the derashah found in the Sifra which includes them? THE ANSWER The Gemara provides a resolution: The Mishnah discusses very young children that have not reached the age of instruction. The Sifra is referring to older children. The obligation, however, is still rabbinic in origin. Why then did the Torah use the word “all?” It is a Biblical device known as an asmachta, where at times the Torah will hint to a future rabbinic enactment. AGE OF INSTRUCTION So now we have some children who are obligated and some who are not. What are the parameters of “the age of instruction?” The Gemara offers two different guidelines. Rabbi Yannai defines it as whether the child is toilet trained: when he uses the facilities, does he still need his mother? Reish Lakish says that the parameters depend upon when he wakes up at night, does he still call out for his mother? These are the parameters for when a child is exempt or obligated. DO THEY ARGUE? The question arises as to whether Rabbi Yannai and Reish Lakish are arguing. Rashi (Eiruvin 82b) seems to understand that they are in agreement. The Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos (SMaG), however, seems to understand that these two views are different. it seems that Rashi holds that when the child is toilet-trained, he doesn’t yell out for his mother in the middle of the night. The SMaG disagrees and holds that one is later than the other. (A quick poll of some Five Towns mothers indicates that they hold like Rashi.) SO WHAT IS THE AGE? So what is the age? The Shulchan Aruch rules that it is five or six years of age. However, the Gemara later points out another contradiction about the exact age. Is it four or five, or is it six? The Gemara resolves this contradiction by differentiating between when the father is in town and when he is out of town. Most Acharonim understand this to mean that it depends on how sharp the child is. IS IT FOR EATING AND SLEEPING? Does this mean for both eating and sleeping? The answer seems to be that it is for both. GUEST VERSUS CHILD Which now brings us to an interesting issue, a discussion of which is found in a sefer entitled HaKatan VeHilchosav (cited in BaSukkos Teishvu, p. 161). What happens in the following situation: You have room for only two beds in your sukkah–one bed for you, and one bed for your 12-year-old son. And now, a guest arrives from Israel and stays with you. Do you let your son […]

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