Eruvin 19b

עירובין י״ט ע״ב

Learn Eruvin 19b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

פסי ביראות: the allowed gaps between the posts, and אביי's questions to רבה about widening דיומדין, mounds, and reed barriers

Overview

This amud continues the laws of פסי ביראות, the boards placed around a well so people may draw water on שבת. It first finishes a ברייתא: for רבי מאיר the gap between the corner posts may be 10 אמות, and for רבי יהודה it may be 13⅓ אמות. The גמרא explains the ברייתא's wording 'like ten,' 'like thirteen,' and 'like fourteen.' רב פפא then shows which well sizes need extra single boards (פשוטין) according to each view. Next, after a סימן (memory aid), אביי asks רבה a series of questions. The first asks whether widening the corner posts (דיומדין) can replace adding single boards, and the wording 'ובלבד שירבה בפסין' shows that it can. The second asks how רבי יהודה closes a gap larger than 13⅓ אמות. The third asks whether a mound can serve as a דיומד, which leads to a dispute over whether we 'picture' (רואין) an object changed once or twice. The last asks whether a barrier of reeds can count as a דיומד. That discussion is given in two versions and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (43)

1. StatementEnd of the ברייתא: Ten Cubits or Thirteen to Fourteen Cubits
2. ChallengeWhy Say 'Like Ten' If It Is Exactly Ten?
3. Resolution'Like Ten' Matches the Later Wording
4. ChallengeWhy Say 'Like Thirteen' If It Is More?
5. Resolution'Like Thirteen' Matches 'Like Fourteen'
6. ChallengeBut It Does Not Reach Fourteen
7. Resolutionרב פפא: More Than Thirteen, Less Than Fourteen
8. Statementרב פפא: An Eight-Cubit Well Needs No Extra Boards
9. StatementA twelve-אמה well: everyone requires single boards
10. StatementThe disagreement applies only to wells between eight and twelve אמות
11. ChallengeWhat did רב פפא add? We already learned this
12. Resolutionרב פפא had not heard the ברייתא
13. StatementA memory aid for the coming questions
14. QuestionCan widening the corner posts replace adding single boards?
15. Proofרבה brings the משנה's words as proof
16. Rejectionאביי: it may mean adding more boards
17. ChallengeThe wording doesn't fit 'more boards'
18. ResolutionRead the words as 'more boards'
19. ProofSecond version: רבה reads the משנה as 'more boards'
20. Rejectionאביי: it may mean widening the posts
21. ConclusionThe wording of the משנה supports the widening reading
22. Questionאביי's question: single boards or wider corner posts for big gaps
23. Responseרבה quotes a ברייתא on how close and how far the posts may be
24. Statementרבי יהודה limits the enclosure to בית סאתים
25. ChallengeThe חכמים challenge רבי יהודה from pens and courtyards
26. ResolutionA wall is different from posts
27. ChallengeThe wording seems to go against רבה
28. ResolutionTwo different rules for gaps
29. QuestionCan a mound count as a corner post?
30. Responseרבה quotes a ברייתא: a square stone can count as a corner post
31. ProofA round stone also counts if it is pictured as trimmed and then divided
32. QuestionWhat exactly do the two תנאים disagree about?
33. ResponseThey disagree whether we may picture changes once or twice
34. QuestionCan a fence of reeds placed close together count as a corner post?
35. Responseרבה answers from a ברייתא about a barrier of reeds
36. RejectionMaybe the ברייתא means a dense thicket of reeds
37. ChallengeA thicket of reeds would be the same as a tree
38. ResolutionEither reading leaves a doubled case, so the ברייתא proves nothing
39. QuestionSecond version: the question was about a thicket of reeds
40. Responseרבה proves from the ברייתא that a thicket of reeds counts
41. RejectionMaybe the barrier is spaced reeds, not a thicket
42. ChallengeThen it is just a fence
43. ResolutionA thicket would just be a tree, so repetition is unavoidable