- אם אי אפשר לשנות מותר – המביא כדי יין ממקום למקום
The opening Mishnah of the fourth perek states: המביא כדי יין ממקום למקום לא יביאם בסל ובקופה אבל מביא הוא על כתפו או לפניו – One who brings pitchers of wine from place to place may not bring them in a basket or box, but he may bring them on his shoulder or in his hand in front of himself. Rashi explains that he may not place three of four pitchers in a box and carry them, because it appears like the weekday activity of carrying burdens. A Tanna taught: אם אי אפשר לשנות מותר - If it is not possible to deviate from the normal manner of transporting, it is permitted to carry pitchers in a normal way. Rav Chanin bar Rava asked Rav Ashi, that the Rabbis said כמה דאפשר לשנויי משנינן ביומא טבא – to whatever degree people can deviate from the normal manner of carrying, they should deviate on Yom Tov, yet there are women who fill their buckets of water from the river on Yom Tov in the normal manner and we do not protest? Rav Ashi said that they do so because it is not possible for them to deviate. If they draw with a large bucket and you suggest they use a small one, this will increase their walking. If they use a small bucket and you suggest using a large bucket, this will increase their load. He continued, explaining how alternative manners of carrying were not possible in this instance.
- מוטב שיהיו שוגגין ואל יהיו מזידין
Rava bar Rav Chanin asked Abaye: We learned in a Mishnah אין מטפחין ואין מספקין ואין מרקדין – We may not clap hands, nor slap thighs, nor dance on Shabbos and Yom Tov, but nowadays we see that people do ולא אמרינן להו ולא מידי – and we tell them no words of rebuke!? After Abaye brings another case to demonstrate that a lack of protest against a common practice is not always a reflection that the practice is permitted, he explains אלא הנח להם לישראל – Rather, let the Jews continue in their common practice, since they will not change their ways even if rebuked, and מוטב שיהיו שוגגין ואל יהיו מזידין – it is preferable that they should be unintentional violators, and not be deliberate violators. The Gemara concludes that this rule applies whether the case is a d’Rabbanon or a d’Oraysa. This can be proven from תוספת יום הכפורים – the extension of the Yom Kippur fast, which is a d’Oraysa. ואכלי ושתו עד שחשכה – Yet people eat and drink until dark without starting their fast early, and we do not rebuke them.
- Why a תנאי works for succah decorations but not for the wood of the succah
After the Gemara clarifies that a succah may not be used for anything but the mitzvah during the entire chag, and that a stipulation to retain rights to use its wood for another purpose, will not work, the Gemara brings a Baraisa that states that one is prohibited from using succah decorations עד מוצאי יום טוב האחרון של חג – until the night following the last day of the chag, ואם התנה עליהם הכל לפי תנאו – and if one made a stipulation about them, everything follows the תנאי. If a תנאי can remove the sanctification of the decorations, why can it not do the same for the wood of the succah? Abaye and Rava both explained that the Baraisa refers to one who said: איני בודל מהם כל בין השמשות – “I do not separate myself from the decorations for the entire bein hashemashos” דלא חלא קדושה עלייהו – so that the kedushah never took effect upon them. But the wood of the succah itself, דחלה קדושה עלייהו אתקצאי לשבעה – upon which kedushah does take effect upon them, remains prohibited for all seven days. Rashi explains that the decorations never received kedushah since the owner stipulated that he did not want it to take effect, whereas the wood of the succah does become sanctified, since the owner is forced to refrain from using it because of the melachah of sosair, (demolishing).