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Eruvin 41b

עירובין מ״א ע״ב

Learn Eruvin 41b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Ending the fasting discussion and opening פרק מי שהוציאוהו: a person or produce that leaves the תחום against its will

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion about fasting on ערב שבת. The גמרא resolves a contradiction with 'before he heard / after he heard' and rules that one fasts and completes the fast. Then the chapter בכל מערבין ends, and the new chapter מי שהוציאוהו begins. Its משנה teaches that a person carried out of his תחום by נכרים or a רוח רעה has only four אמות, but if he is brought back it is as if he never left. The משנה also records a dispute, illustrated by a story of the sages on a ship, about a person placed in a walled city or an animal pen. The גמרא adds several ברייתות of 'three things', each with its practical lesson. It then works through רב נחמן's ruling about leaving or returning on purpose, and through רבה's leniency based on כבוד הבריות. The amud ends with רב פפא's rule that produce returned to the תחום keeps its place, a challenge from תנאים, and the start of a ברייתא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּאִי סָלְקָא דַעְתָּךְ אַכּוּלְּהוּ —

For if it should enter your mind that he meant all of them,

הָא בָּעֵי מִינֵּיהּ רַבָּה מֵרַב יְהוּדָה

didn't רבה ask this of רב יהודה,

וְלָא פְּשַׁט לֵיהּ!

and he did not answer him!

וּלְטַעְמָיךְ, הָא דְּדָרֵשׁ מָר זוּטְרָא

And according to your reasoning, what about what Mar Zutra taught

The steps (37)

  1. ProofProof that רב יהודה's ruling did not cover every case
  2. ChallengeCounter-challenge: the same thing happened with רב הונא
  3. ResolutionBefore he heard the ruling and after he heard it
  4. ConclusionThe final ruling: one fasts and completes the fast
  5. Conclusionהדרן — Closing the chapter בכל מערבין
  6. StatementA person taken out of his שבת limit by force has only four אמות
  7. StatementIf he is brought back, it is as if he never left
  8. StatementA dispute about a person placed inside a walled city or an animal pen
  9. StatementThe ship story: who walked the whole ship and who stayed in four אמות
  10. QuestionArriving at port after dark: may we get off?
  11. Responseרבן גמליאל: we were inside the limit before dark
  12. StatementThree things that push a person against his will
  13. QuestionWhy does this list matter?
  14. ResponseSo that we pray for mercy about them
  15. StatementThree people who never see גיהנם
  16. QuestionWhy does the first opinion leave out a bad wife?
  17. ResponseHe can divorce her
  18. QuestionWhy does the second opinion include a bad wife?
  19. ResponseSometimes he cannot divorce her
  20. QuestionWhat practical difference does the list of sufferers make?
  21. ResponseTo accept suffering with love
  22. StatementThree illnesses that can kill suddenly while talking
  23. QuestionWhat practical difference does this list make?
  24. ResponsePrepare burial shrouds in advance
  25. StatementOne who knowingly left the תחום has only four אמות
  26. ChallengeIsn't this obvious?
  27. ResolutionRewording: he meant someone who came back on purpose
  28. ChallengeObjection: the משנה already implies this
  29. ResolutionSecond rewording: left on purpose, brought back by force
  30. ChallengeObjection: this too is implied by the משנה
  31. Resolutionרב נחמן's rule blocks a split reading of the משנה
  32. QuestionWhat if a person limited to four cubits must relieve himself?
  33. ResponseHuman dignity overrides the restriction
  34. StatementA clever person walks back into his original limit
  35. StatementProduce taken out and brought back keeps its place
  36. ChallengeA challenge to רב פפא from רבי נחמיה and רבי אליעזר בן יעקב
  37. ResolutionThis is a dispute among the תנאים