Eruvin 11b

עירובין י״א ע״ב

Learn Eruvin 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Partitions and the form of a doorway (צורת הפתח) for כלאים and שבת, and the opening of the משנה on how to make a מבוי fit for carrying.

Overview

The amud opens with a dispute about whether a braid of vines (פֵּיאָה) between poles counts as a partition for כלאים and for שבת. The גמרא reconciles רבי יוחנן's two statements by the distance between the poles: a braid attached from the side works for כלאים at ten אמות but not at more than ten. It proves this distinction from a story about רבי יוחנן בן נורי. Next it turns to רב חסדא's rules for a צורת הפתח: it is worthless if made from the side, and it must be strong enough to hold even a straw door. ריש לקיש adds that it needs a hinge marker, while רב אשי apparently required nothing extra. רב נחמן and רב ששת argue over whether the side reeds must touch the top reed. Each acts on his view in the house of the ריש גלותא, and an arch ברייתא about מזוזה, explained by אביי, ends up working against רב ששת. Then a new משנה brings the dispute between בית שמאי, בית הלל and רבי אליעזר over what makes a מבוי fit for carrying. The גמרא limits the משנה to a closed alley and shows that the views of בית שמאי and בית הלל do not prove the Torah minimum of walls. It then asks whether רבי אליעזר's two side posts also require a קורה, a question whose answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (39)

1. StatementThe dispute about a braid of vines as a partition
2. Resolutionריש לקיש's two statements do not contradict
3. Challengeרבי יוחנן's two statements do contradict
4. ChallengeThe problem is sharpened: what if both cases are from the side?
5. ResolutionThe answer: ten אמות versus more than ten
6. QuestionWhere do we see the line between ten and more than ten?
7. ProofThe story of רבי יהושע and רבי יוחנן בן נורי
8. ChallengeThe story can't be about vines placed on top
9. ConclusionSo the story is about the side, and the distinction is proven
10. Statementרב חסדא: a צורת הפתח made from the side is worthless
11. StatementA doorway form must be strong enough to hold a door
12. StatementA doorway form needs a marker for hinges
13. QuestionWhat is a hinge marker?
14. Responseרב אויא explains: loops
15. Questionרב אחא asks what רב אשי taught
16. Responseרב אשי said nothing about it
17. StatementA ברייתא describes the basic doorway shape
18. QuestionMust the side reeds touch the top reed?
19. Responseרב נחמן and רב ששת disagree
20. Statementרב נחמן builds a doorway-frame his own way
21. Statementרב ששת has the reeds torn down
22. Statementרב גדא is jailed and then walks free
23. Questionרב ששת asks רבה בר שמואל for a teaching on doorway-frames
24. ResponseA teaching about an arched gateway and mezuzah
25. Statementאביי: the cases everyone agrees need no mezuzah
26. Statementאביי: the exact case where they argue
27. StatementThe root of the arch argument: may we imagine carving to complete
28. Conclusionרב ששת asks that the arch ברייתא not be shared
29. StatementNew משנה: what makes a מבוי fit for carrying
30. StatementA student limits the argument to wider alleys
31. Rejectionרבי עקיבא: they argue about both widths
32. ChallengeThe משנה seems to match neither opinion
33. ResolutionThe משנה is only about a closed alley
34. QuestionDo בית שמאי hold that four walls are Torah law?
35. RejectionThree walls create liability, but carrying needs four
36. QuestionDo בית הלל hold that three walls are a Torah requirement?
37. RejectionThrowing needs fewer walls than carrying
38. QuestionDoes רבי אליעזר require a crossbeam along with his two side posts?
39. ProofA story about רבי אליעזר visiting his student