[Avodah] Hekker for Sukkah on Shmini Azteres

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 12:39:29AM +0000, kennethgmiller at juno.com wrote:
: This statement is the source of all my problems: Why is there a Bal
: Tosif problem if there's a vadai halacha to eat in the sukkah? Why do
: I need a hekker if I *do* have kavana to be mekayem this halacha? These
: problems (bal tosif, hekker) would indeed exist if there was a genuine
: safek about the status of Shmini Atzeres, but I see no problem, because
: there is no safek.
...
: Is it possible that the word "V'hilchasa" in the above-quoted gemara
: is a recent addition?

Very likely, actually. According to those who believe the gemara's final
form was still open as late as the 9th cent CE, the gemara's "hilkhita"
is actually citations from the Halakhos Gedolos! It is true that the
Bahag matches every pesaq in the gemara prefaced "hilkhita", but that
would also be true if he held those declarations were biding statements
in an already-closed gemara.

The late-chasimah theory (which gives an amazing subtext to the story
of the four captives) is explained in the tail (last couple of paragraphs
before the footnotes) of
<http://www.daat.ac.il/DAAT/toshba/hatalmud/a15-2.htm>, the section titled
"Rabanan deSiyuma".

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The trick is learning to be passionate in one's
micha at aishdas.org        ideals, but compassionate to one's peers.
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