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Eruvin 45a

עירובין מ״ה ע״א

Learn Eruvin 45a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

הבלעת תחומין, rescuers returning home, fighting on שבת, and a traveler's שבת base without intention

Overview

The amud opens with אביי challenging רבה from רבי אליעזר, who lets a person back into his תחום after 2 אמות but not 3. This suggests that overlapping boundaries (הבלעת תחומין) matter, and אביי adds that for a דבר מצוה even the רבנן agree. Next the גמרא asks how far people who go out to save lives may return. רב יהודה says the משנה means they may come home carrying their weapons, and a ברייתא tells of a deadly incident that led to this rule. רב נחמן בר יצחק answers differently: it depends on whether the Jews won or lost the battle. The גמרא then teaches when we may fight besieging gentiles on שבת: not over money alone, yes over lives, and in a border town such as נהרדעא even over hay and straw. The story of דוד and קעילה is brought, and the גמרא explains that דוד asked ה׳ only whether he would win. A new משנה follows: רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה argue whether a traveler who unknowingly rested near a town may enter it, and the proof from רבי טרפון is pushed aside. A last משנה discusses a person who slept as שבת began, giving several views on his walking space and starting the case of two people whose areas overlap, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְהָתְנַן רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר:

But didn't we learn: Rabbi Eliezer says:

שְׁתַּיִם — יִכָּנֵס,

If he went two cubits out, he may come back in,

שְׁלֹשָׁה — לֹא יִכָּנֵס.

If he went three, he may not come back in.

מַאי לָאו, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר לְטַעְמֵיהּ

Is it not that Rabbi Eliezer follows his own reasoning,

The steps (36)

  1. ChallengeQuoting רבי אליעזר on walking two or three cubits out
  2. Challengeרבי אליעזר's rule depends on overlapping boundaries
  3. QuestionWhy challenge רבה from רבי אליעזר?
  4. ResponseThe Rabbis agree with רבי אליעזר for a מצוה
  5. StatementMishna: those who go out to save lives return home
  6. ChallengeEven from very far? The first clause said only 2000 cubits
  7. Resolutionרב explains the real point: they return with their weapons
  8. RejectionWhy was that even a question? Saving lives may be different
  9. ChallengeThe real difficulty begins: the witnesses in Jerusalem
  10. Statementרבן גמליאל's enactment: 2000 אמות for witnesses, midwives, and rescuers
  11. ChallengeOnly 2000 אמות? But our משנה lets rescuers return home
  12. ResolutionOur משנה is about returning with weapons, not about unlimited distance
  13. ProofThe story behind allowing rescuers to carry weapons home
  14. ResolutionA second answer: it depends on who won the battle
  15. StatementGentiles besieging Jewish towns: no going out to fight on שבת
  16. ProofA ברייתא supports רב יהודה's ruling
  17. StatementThe rule applies only when they come for money
  18. StatementA border town fights back even over hay and straw
  19. Statementבבל, specifically נהרדעא, counts as a border town
  20. Questionרבי דוסתאי asks about the פסוק of דוד and קעילה
  21. Responseקעילה was a border town attacked only for hay and straw
  22. Proofה׳ tells דוד to go fight and save קעילה
  23. QuestionWhat was דוד asking about?
  24. Responseדוד asked whether he would succeed
  25. ProofThe wording of ה׳'s answer confirms it
  26. StatementA traveler who rested near a town without intending to may not enter
  27. Statementרבי יהודה says he may enter the town
  28. Proofרבי יהודה cites רבי טרפון's story
  29. ProofThe full story of רבי טרפון from a ברייתא
  30. RejectionThe חכמים reject the proof from רבי טרפון
  31. StatementNew משנה: a person who slept on the road when שבת began
  32. StatementThe חכמים limit the sleeper to four cubits
  33. Statementרבי אליעזר places the person in the middle
  34. Statementרבי יהודה lets him choose a direction
  35. StatementOnce he chooses, he cannot switch
  36. StatementTwo people whose areas overlap