Eruvin 22a

עירובין כ״ב ע״א

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Topic

Aggadah on acquiring Torah and ה''s patience; the size limit of פסי ביראות and whether a public road ruins partitions

Overview

This amud opens by finishing an aggadic reading of 'שחורות כעורב' about who truly holds on to Torah. The answers are the one who learns from dawn to evening, and the one who suffers hardship for it (רבה). רבא adds the one who acts 'cruel like a raven' to his family for Torah, as רב אדא בר מתנא did. Next come derashos on how ה' repays the wicked quickly while delaying the reward of צדיקים, and why 'ארך אפים' is plural. The גמרא then returns to the משנה about the boards around a well (פסי ביראות). It asks whether רבי יהודה's limit of בית סאתים measures the well alone or the whole enclosed area. A ברייתא is brought, and the גמרא concludes that רבי יהודה and רבי שמעון בן אלעזר differ about a long, narrow shape. Then a new משנה asks whether a public road through the boards ruins them. רבי יוחנן explains the חכמים's 'strength of partitions' without agreeing to it, and the גמרא resolves an apparent self-contradiction in both רבי יהודה and the חכמים. The amud ends with רבי יוחנן's ruling that ארץ ישראל has no Torah-level רשות הרבים, and אביי asks for the reason, which comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. StatementTorah is found in one who comes early and stays late
2. Statementרבה: one who blackens his face for Torah
3. Statementרבא: one who acts cruel like a raven to his family for Torah
4. ProofThe story of רב אדא בר מתנא and the marsh reeds
5. Statementרבי יהושע בן לוי on God 'repaying to His face'
6. Statementרבי אילא: no delay for the wicked, but delay for the righteous
7. ProofToday is for doing, tomorrow is for reward
8. QuestionWhy the plural word 'אפים'?
9. ResponsePatient with the righteous and with the wicked
10. QuestionWhat does רבי יהודה's בית סאתים limit include?
11. QuestionThe reasoning behind each side of the question
12. ProofA ברייתא on how close and how far the boards may be
13. ChallengeThe חכמים challenge רבי יהודה from large pens and courtyards
14. ResolutionA real wall is different from corner boards
15. Statementרבי שמעון בן אלעזר's view on the size of the well
16. ProofInferring that רבי יהודה measures the well and the boards together
17. RejectionNo: רבי יהודה also measures the well alone
18. ChallengeThen the two views say the same thing
19. ResolutionThey differ over a long, narrow well
20. StatementA space used for living has no size limit
21. StatementA structure that serves the outside area is limited to בית סאתים
22. StatementA public road passing through the well enclosure
23. StatementThis shows how strong partitions are
24. ChallengeDoes רבי יוחנן agree? His statement about ירושלים says no
25. Resolutionרבי יוחנן was only explaining the חכמים, not agreeing
26. ChallengeAnnouncing contradictions in both רבי יהודה and the חכמים
27. Statementרבי יהודה: side posts can enclose a public road between two houses
28. StatementThe חכמים: a public road cannot be fixed this way
29. ChallengeEach side contradicts itself
30. ResolutionReal walls versus boards for רבי יהודה
31. ResolutionFour walls in name versus only two for the חכמים
32. StatementNo Torah-level public domain in ארץ ישראל
33. Questionאביי asks for the reason