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Eruvin 49b

עירובין מ״ט ע״ב

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Topic

How עירוב חצרות works (קנייה vs. דירה), then setting one's שבת base (שביתה) from a distance and עירוב with the feet

Overview

This amud begins in the middle of a discussion about how an עירוב חצרות works. שמואל says it works through קנייה, and רבה says it works through דירה. The גמרא adds a קטן as another practical difference between them. אביי then challenges both views with a ברייתא in which one person carries the עירוב for five people. רבה answers that the carrier acts as a שליח for all of them. רב then rules that in the earlier three-courtyards case, the הלכה follows רבי שמעון. A new משנה follows: a traveler caught by nightfall may set his שבת base at a tree's trunk, but not vaguely 'beneath' it. The משנה also discusses whether the 2000 אמה are measured as a circle or a square, and who may make an עירוב 'with his feet' (רבי מאיר vs. רבי יהודה). The גמרא then asks what 'he has not said anything' means. רב says he loses everything. שמואל says he may reach the tree but must be measured strictly from its far side, like a חמר גמל, so he cannot reach his home.

Opening lines

וְקָטָן.

And a minor.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי לְרַבָּה:

Abaye said to Rabba:

לְדִידָךְ קַשְׁיָא וְלִשְׁמוּאֵל קַשְׁיָא.

It is difficult for you, and it is difficult for Shmuel.

הָא תַּנְיָא: חֲמִשָּׁה שֶׁגָּבוּ אֶת עֵירוּבָן,

For it was taught: five people who collected their eiruv,

The steps (16)

  1. ResponseA minor is another practical difference between the two views
  2. Challengeאביי challenges both views from the case of five people
  3. Resolutionרבה answers that the carrier acts as everyone's agent
  4. ConclusionThe halacha follows רבי שמעון in the three courtyards case
  5. StatementSaying 'my residence is beneath the tree' accomplishes nothing
  6. StatementSaying 'at its trunk' works and allows walking 4000 cubits
  7. StatementWithout a known landmark, his residence is where he stands
  8. StatementDispute: are the 2000 cubits measured as a circle or a square
  9. StatementThis is what is meant by 'the poor man makes an עירוב with his feet'
  10. Statementרבי מאיר: only a poor person may use the feet method
  11. Statementרבי יהודה: rich and poor alike may use the feet method
  12. QuestionWhat does 'he has not said anything' mean?
  13. Responseרב: the statement fails completely, so he cannot even reach the tree
  14. Responseשמואל: he cannot reach his home, but he may go to the tree
  15. ResponseThe area under the tree becomes a 'donkey driver and camel driver' case
  16. StatementMeasuring strictly from the opposite side of the tree