Friday, September 22, 2006

Daf Yomi - Sukkah 20 - Food Under a Bed

The Mishna rules that if one sleeps underneath a bed, he will not fulfill his obligation of sukkah. Rashi states that the primary things one does in a sukkah is eat, drink and sleep. Sheorim Mitzuyanim B'halacha points out that it is obvious to him as to why the Mishna didn't state eating under a sukkah because it is forbidden to eat under a bed as is learned in Gemora Pesachim 112a 'food or drink which is under a bed will have an evil spirit hovering over it'.

The Toras Chaim writes that it is well known that sleep is 1/60th of death because the soul of a person leaves him at night and that is the reason there is an obligation to wash one's hands in the morning to remove the tumah which was on him during the night. It is for this reason that one shouldn't leave food under a bed because when the person is sleeping on the bed, it constitutes a 'hel hames', as if the food is situated in the same room with a corpse. It is evident from here that the concern is food under a bed only at night and only when the person is sleeping there.

The Poskim do permit the food expo-facto.

2 comments:

Avromi said...

I noticed in Otzer Hayedios from my good friend Reb Gershon Eisenberger that he cites a Mahari Algazi in regards to bringing food into a bathroom that ruach roah does not rest on food and there is only a concern of miyus. He quotes others that disagree. Doesn't the gemora Pesachim explicitly say that ruach roah is shoreh on ochlin?

Avromi said...

Looking at that Tosfos, it seems to me he is saying that we don't have the ruach roah anymore, but not that there are two different kinds.