Daf Yomi - Sukkah 9 - Sticking out the Rain

The Gemara states that it is forbidden to derive any benefit from the s’chach and from the Sukkah walls. This ruling is derived from the verse that states the festival of Sukkos, for seven days, unto HaShem. The Oneg Yom Tov poses a query based on this ruling. The Rema rules that one who remains in a Sukkah when it is raining is referred to as a hedyot, literally, a commoner. The Oneg Yom Tov wonders why the Rema does not rule that in such a situation it is forbidden to remain in the Sukkah, as one who sits in a Sukkah while it is raining is certainly not fulfilling the mitzvah of dwelling in a Sukkah. Thus, he is unlawfully benefiting from the Sukkah, which is forbidden. (When one covers the Sukkah with a plastic to protect the Sukkah from rain and then he sits underneath the covering, he is not violating a prohibition, because the covering renders the Sukkah invalid.)Click here for further discussion The Ran rules that the prohibition to derive pleasure from a Sukkah was only said regarding the walls which are required for the Sukkah to be valid. The rest of the Sukkah, however, is deemed to be extra and one would therefore be permitted to sit in the portion of the Sukkah that is deemed to be extra. The Ran concludes, however, that if one were to build the Sukkah without interruption, one would be forbidden to derive pleasure from the entire Sukkah. The Gemara in Yoma 69 states that the Kohanim were permitted to derive benefit from their clothing in the Bais Mikdash even at a time that they were not performing the avodah of the Bais HaMikdash. The Gemara in Kiddushin states that the reason this was allowed was because the Torah was not given to the ministering angels and we cannot expect that the Kohanim will remove their clothing as soon as they completed the avodah. The Oneg Yom Tov thus concludes, based on the aforementioned Gemara in Kiddushin, that one can derive benefit from the Sukkah when it is raining, because the Torah was not given to the ministering angels. We therefore do not expect that one should exit the Sukkah the moment it begins to rain, and for this reason one can remain in the Sukkah even while it is raining.