(ז) מי שהיה ראשו ורבו בסכה, ושלחנו בתוך הבית - בית שמאי פוסלין, ובית הלל מכשירין. אמרו להן בית הלל לבית שמאי: (לא כך היה) מעשה, שהלכו זקני בית שמאי וזקני בית הלל לבקר את (רבי) יוחנן בן החורני, ומצאוהו שהיה יושב ראשו ורבו בסכה, ושלחנו בתוך הבית, (ולא אמרו לו דבר)? אמרו להן בית שמאי: משם ראיה? אף הם אמרו לו: אם כן היית נוהג, לא קימת מצות סכה מימיך.
(7) If one's head and the majority of one's body is inside the sukkah, and one's table [upon which one is eating] is in the house, Beit Shamai invalidate it, and Beit Hillel validate it. [The scholars of] Beit Hillel said to [the scholars of] Beit Shamai, "Did it not happen that the elders of Beit Shamai and the elders of Beit Hillel went to visit Rabbi Yochanan ben Hachoroni, and they found him sitting with his head and the majority of his body inside the sukkah, while his table was in the house, and they did not say a thing to [stop] him." The [scholars of] Beit Shamai responded to them, "[Can one really bring] a proof from there?! They did in fact say to him, 'If such has been your custom, you have never fulfilled the mitzvah of sukkah in all your days!'"
מי שהיה ראשו ורובו בסוכה ושלחנו כו':
והלכה כבית שמאי:
The halacha follows Beit Shammai.
רַבִּי מָנֵי פָּתַח (תהלים לה, י): כָּל עַצְמֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה יהוה מִי כָמוֹךָ, לֹא נֶאֱמַר פָּסוּק זֶה אֶלָּא בִּשְׁבִיל לוּלָב, הַשִּׁדְרָה שֶׁל לוּלָב דּוֹמָה לַשִּׁדְרָה שֶׁל אָדָם, וְהַהֲדַס דּוֹמֶה לָעַיִן, וַעֲרָבָה דּוֹמָה לַפֶּה, וְהָאֶתְרוֹג דּוֹמֶה לַלֵּב, אָמַר דָּוִד אֵין בְּכָל הָאֵיבָרִים גָּדוֹל מֵאֵלּוּ, שֶׁהֵן שְׁקוּלִין כְּנֶגֶד כָּל הַגּוּף, הֱוֵי: כָּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה.
Rabbi Mani opened, "'All of my bones shall say, "Lord, who is like you"' (Psalms 35:10). This verse was only stated for the sake of the lulav (the four species). The spine of the palm branch is similar to the spine of man. And the myrtle is similar to the eye. And the willow is similar to the mouth. And the etrog (citron), is similar to the heart. David said, 'In all of the limbs, there are no greater ones than these, as they are compared to the entire body.' This is [what is meant] by 'All of my bones shall say.'"
This is a commandment we fulfill not with a gesture or a word, but with our entire body. We sit in the sukkah with our entire body. Only our entire body is capable of knowing what it felt like to leave the burden of Egyptian oppression behind, to let go of it. Egypt in Hebrew is Mitzraim. The root of this word is tzar, a narrowness. Egypt was the narrow place. Only the entire body can know what it felt like to be pushed from a place of dire constriction and into a wilderness, a spacious, open world. Only the body can know what it felt like to be born. Only the body can know the fullness of joy, and this is a commandment that can only be fulfilled with joy. [...]
And when we speak of joy here, we are not speaking of fun. Joy is a deep release of the soul, and it includes death and pain. Joy is any feeling fully felt, any experience we give our whole being to. We are conditioned to choose pleasure and to reject pain, but the truth is, any moment of our life fully inhabited, any feeling fully felt, any immersion in the full depth of life, can be the source of deep joy.