Sukkah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 8. This mishnah returns to the opening mishnah of the chapter, which listed the various practices of Sukkos and the number of days each one applies. It stated there: "HaHallel v'hasimchah shemonah" - the recitation of Hallel, and simchah, which means eating the meat of the offerings, apply for all eight days.
"HaHallel v'hasimchah shemonah" - keitzad? - Hallel and simchah for eight days - how so?
Our mishnah repeats that phrase and asks: how was this carried out? And it answers: "melamed shechayav adam b'Hallel u'v'simchah u'v'chvod Yom Tov ha'acharon shel Chag k'shar kol yemos heChag" - this teaches that a person is obligated in Hallel, in simchah, and in honoring the last Yom Tov of the festival just as on all the other days of the festival. That is, on the final Yom Tov of the festival, which is Shemini Atzeres, a person is obligated:
B'Hallel - to recite Hallel.
U'v'simchah - to eat the meat of the offerings, as explained.
U'v'chvod Yom Tov - to honor the last Yom Tov of the festival in the general sense, exactly as on the other days of Sukkos when these mitzvos apply.
"Sukkah shivah" - keitzad? - Sukkah for seven days - how so?
The mishnah now turns to another detail from the opening mishnah of the chapter: "Sukkah shivah" - the mitzvah of sukkah applies for seven days only. How so? "Gamar mile'echol - lo yatir sukaso, aval morid es hakeilim min haminchah u'lemalah, mipnei kevod Yom Tov ha'acharon shel Chag" - once he has finished eating he may not dismantle his sukkah, but he may bring down the utensils from the time of minchah and onward, on account of the honor of the last Yom Tov of the festival.
The explanation: once a person has finished the daytime meal on Hoshana Rabbah, the last day of Sukkos, he may not take his sukkah apart and begin dismantling it. The utensils, however - the fine Yom Tov utensils - he does bring down from the sukkah "from the time of minchah and onward," meaning after minchah ketanah, nine and a half hours into the day. And the reason is: on account of the honor of the last Yom Tov of the festival. (The common practice was that sukkos were built on the roofs, which were flat, and hence the expression "brings down.")
In other words: the fine utensils that were kept in the sukkah throughout the festival are moved into the house, where the person will be eating on Shemini Atzeres. This refers to Shemini Atzeres in Eretz Yisrael, when one does not eat in the sukkah. Therefore, toward the end of Hoshana Rabbah a person begins to move out of the sukkah in which he has been living and to move into his house in honor of Shemini Atzeres.
In summary: this mishnah explains two details from the opening mishnah of the chapter: "HaHallel v'hasimchah shemonah" - that even on the final Yom Tov, Shemini Atzeres, a person is obligated in Hallel, in simchah, and in the honor of Yom Tov just as on all the days of the festival; and "Sukkah shivah" - that after the Hoshana Rabbah meal one does not dismantle the sukkah, but one does bring down its utensils from the time of minchah and onward, in preparation for moving into the house, on account of the honor of the last Yom Tov of the festival.