- "ביום" ואפילו בשבת
The Gemara brought a Baraisa that taught ואפילו בשבת "ביום" – the words “on that day”, of the phrase “on the first day,” teach that the mitzvah of lulav is performed even on Shabbos. The Gemara asks that since the only relevant prohibition is טלטול בעלמא – the mere handling of the lulav, which is a d’Rabbanon muktzeh prohibition, why would a passuk be needed to permit it, since d’Oraysa it is permitted to handle the lulav? Rava answered that the passuk is coming to permit the performance of מכשירי לולב – the preliminaries of the mitzvah of lulav, some of which violate Shabbos mid’Oraysa, such as cutting the lulav from the tree, or binding it with the other minim. This is in accordance with Rebbe Eliezer who holds לולב וכל מכשיריו דוחין את השבת – The mitzvah of lulav and all of its preliminaries are docheh Shabbos, based on the passuk "ביום" ואפילו בשבת. The Rabbanon, who prohibit מכשירי לולב on Shabbos, learn from the passuk "ביום" that the mitzvah of lulav is only by day, and not at night.
- Why the aravah ceremony is docheh Shabbos on the seventh day of Succos
The Gemara asks why the aravah ceremony performed in the Beis Hamikdash is docheh Shabbos on the seventh day of Succos, and Rebbe Yochanan said: כדי לפרסמה שהיא מן התורה – in order to publicize the fact that it is a d’Oraysa. When the Gemara asks why there is not a gezeirah prohibiting it, lest one carry it dalet amos in a reshus harabim, like there is for the lulav, the Gemara answers, ערבה שלוחי בית דין מייתי לה – in the case of the aravah, the agents of beis din bring the branches to the Temple courtyard, which Rashi clarifies, is done erev Shabbos, and the mitzvah is then done by only the Kohanim. Whereas לולב לכל מסור – Lulav is given to everyone to do, and therefore, there is a greater likelihood that one will inadvertently transgress. When the Gemara then suggests that the aravah should be docheh Shabbos on the first day of Yom Tov, it answers לא מוכחא מילתא – that in that case, it would not be apparent that it is the aravah ceremony that is docheh Shabbos. People will say it is the mitzvah of lulav that is docheh Shabbos, and the aravah obligation is merely accompanying it.
- Machlokes regarding how the aravah ceremony is performed
The Gemara brings a machlokes regarding how the aravah ceremony is done. Rav Yosef holds that the whole ceremony is done בזקיפה, by standing the aravos up around the mizbayach. Abaye holds that the ceremony first entails נטילה, taking the aravos in hand and circling the mizbayach, which is then followed by standing the branches up around the mizbayach. After Abaye's first two attempts in challenging Rav Yosef are unsuccessful, he brings a Baraisa that relates the following incident. One time, the seventh day of the aravah ceremony fell on Shabbos and shoots were brought erev Shabbos and placed in the chatzeir. The בייתוסין, who denied תורה שבעל פה, came and hid them beneath rocks, knowing that the Rabbanon would not move rocks on Shabbos. The next day, some amei haaretz realized what had been done, and not knowing of the muktzeh prohibition, they extracted them from beneath the rocks, and the Kohanim brought them and stood them up at the sides of the mizbayach. Why did the בייתוסין behave this way? לפי שאין בייתוסין מודים שחיבוט ערבה דוחה את השבת – Because they did not admit that waving the aravah is docheh Shabbos. We see from here that the aravah obligation is performed by taking the branches in hand, and not simply standing them around the mizbayach.
