Eruvin 26a

עירובין כ״ו ע״א

Learn Eruvin 26a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The garden-reeds story and its challenges to רבא, the size limit of a garden (בית כור vs. forty סאה), ישעיהו at חזקיה's door, and the house of a neighbor who forgot the עירוב.

Overview

This amud opens in the middle of a story. Based on רבא's ruling that a pavilion made a whole garden count as enclosed for living, the reeds around the garden were removed, and רבא's students gathered them up. The next day the students challenged רבא three times: from a ברייתא about a town walled before it was settled, from רב אסי's rule about privacy screens, and from רב הונא's rule about a מחיצה made for convenience. The ריש גלותא ended the story with a פסוק: they were wise to ruin but not to fix. The גמרא then returns to the משנה, where רבי אלעאי allows carrying even in a בית כור. רבי יוחנן shows that רבי אלעאי and חנניה both learn from one פסוק about a king's courtyard, and they differ only on how big a medium-sized town is. A side story explains that ישעיהו set up a ישיבה at the sick חזקיה's door, though the גמרא warns against copying this. Finally, רבי אלעאי's second tradition about a neighbor who forgot the עירוב is challenged by a משנה, and רב ששת's answer begins here and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. StatementThe reeds are removed and then collected
2. Challengeרבינא brings a ברייתא about measuring from a town
3. StatementThe ברייתא defines new and old towns
4. ChallengeThe garden is like a town walled before it was settled
5. Challengeרב פפא: a fence made for privacy is not a real partition
6. ChallengeA third challenge: a wall made for convenience is not a wall
7. Proofרב הונא's rule in practice: the cattle troughs of מחוזא
8. ConclusionThe ריש גלותא's verdict: wise to ruin, not to fix
9. StatementBack to the משנה: רבי אלעאי allows even a בית כור
10. StatementThe משנה does not follow חנניה
11. StatementBoth opinions come from one verse about a royal courtyard
12. QuestionWhat exactly do they disagree about?
13. ResponseThey disagree about the size of a medium town
14. QuestionWhy was ישעיהו in the middle courtyard?
15. Responseישעיהו set up a ישיבה at the sick king's door
16. StatementLearning a practice for a sick Torah scholar
17. RejectionThe practice is rejected because it may stir up the שטן
18. StatementSecond tradition: the house of the one who forgot the עירוב is forbidden
19. ChallengeA משנה says the house is forbidden to everyone
20. Resolutionרב ששת begins the answer: there is no contradiction