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Eruvin 12a

עירובין י״ב ע״א

Learn Eruvin 12a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Eruvin 12a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How many לחיים or פסין are needed to permit carrying in a מבוי or a breached חצר, and how big they must be.

Overview

This amud deals with the markers needed to permit carrying on שבת in a מבוי (alleyway) and in a חצר (courtyard) whose wall has been broken open. It opens with a story: רבי אליעזר tells his student to add a second לחי, and the student asks, 'Do I need to close it up?' The גמרא tries to prove from this that רבי אליעזר also requires a קורה, but rejects the proof. רב אשי explains רבן שמעון בן גמליאל's statement: a narrow alley needs only a לחי or a קורה. Then רב אחלי (some say רב יחיאל) says that an alley up to four טפחים wide needs nothing at all. The גמרא then discusses פסי חצר, the strips of wall left beside a breach: רבי requires two, while the רבנן allow one. Contradictions in the statements of רבי יוחנן and of שמואל are resolved the same way: a פס on one side must be four טפחים, but פסין on both sides can each be any size. Along the way we learn that the חכמים were lenient with partitions over water. The amud ends with a ברייתא about a sea inlet entering a courtyard and a question about how carrying inside that courtyard can be permitted. The answer to that question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְאוֹבָלִין וּמְצָאוֹ

to Ovelin, and he found him

שֶׁיּוֹשֵׁב בְּמָבוֹי

living in an alleyway

שֶׁאֵין לוֹ אֶלָּא לֶחִי אֶחָד.

that had only one side post.

אָמַר לוֹ: בְּנִי,

He (Rabbi Eliezer) said to him: My son,

The steps (34)

  1. Proofרבי אליעזר tells his student to add a second side post
  2. StatementWhere בית שמאי and בית הלל actually disagree
  3. ProofThe proof from the word 'close it up'
  4. RejectionThe student may have meant closing with side posts
  5. ChallengeThe משנה says a narrow alley still needs a post or beam
  6. Resolution'Nothing' means nothing beyond one post or beam
  7. QuestionHow narrow before an alley needs nothing at all?
  8. ResponseUp to four handbreadths needs nothing
  9. StatementThe Sages agree with רבי אליעזר about courtyard posts
  10. Statementרב נחמן: the halacha follows רבי אליעזר for courtyard posts
  11. StatementThe agreeing חכמים are רבי
  12. StatementThe word הלכה implies a dispute with the רבנן
  13. ProofThe ברייתא showing the dispute between the רבנן and רבי
  14. Statementרבי יוחנן requires two פסין
  15. Challengeרבי זירא challenges with another quote of רבי יוחנן
  16. ResolutionA suggested answer: four on each side
  17. RejectionThe case of the 10-אמה and 11-אמה courtyards
  18. Resolutionרבי זירא's resolution: one side needs four, two sides need any amount
  19. ResolutionThe Ten-and-Eleven Ruling Follows רבי and רבי יוסי
  20. Statementשמואל: One Board Permits the Courtyard
  21. Challengeאביי: שמואל Told רב חנניה to Require Two Boards
  22. Proofרב יוסף Cites the Shepherds' Village Case
  23. Rejectionאביי: Water Cases Are Special Leniencies
  24. ProofProof that the Sages were lenient with water
  25. ChallengeThe contradiction in שמואל's rulings remains
  26. ResolutionOne-sided board needs four handbreadths, two-sided boards any size
  27. Challengeרב פפא's difficulty with the explanation
  28. ChallengeWhy require most of the wall when a four-handbreadth board is enough
  29. ChallengeA seven-handbreadth wall does not solve the problem either
  30. ResolutionA courtyard is different from an alleyway
  31. Resolutionרב אחלי's rule is itself a dispute among תנאים
  32. StatementA sea inlet entering a courtyard
  33. StatementThe partition is needed only for a breach wider than ten
  34. ChallengeHow can one carry in a courtyard fully open to a forbidden area?