Gemara Clarity

Eruvin 59a

עירובין נ״ט ע״א

Learn Eruvin 59a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Eruvin 59a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Trusting surveyors of the תחום שבת, and making an ערוב for a city that changed between private and public

Overview

The גמרא first finishes the משנה about measuring the תחום שבת. It explains that a surveyor is trusted even when he extends the limit, and that when two surveyors disagree, we follow the one who extended. אביי limits this: the extra amount may not exceed the difference made by measuring along the diagonal. רבינא resolves a contradiction about whether חכמים were lenient or strict here. The system of תחומין was made as a stringency, but because it is only דרבנן, its measuring details may be lenient. A new משנה then turns to עירובי חצירות. A private city that became public may have one ערוב for all of it, but a public city that became private must leave a section outside the ערוב, and רבי יהודה and רבי שמעון argue about that section's size. The גמרא asks for an example of a private city that became public. רב יהודה names the ריש גלותא's village, while רב נחמן challenges that example and names the village of נתזואי instead. A ברייתא explains how to include a real רשות הרבים in such a city and forbids an ערוב for half the city. It then begins the case of a city that was always public, whose ruling comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

גְּמָ׳

GEMARA:

לִמְקוֹם שֶׁרִיבָּה אִין,

To a place where he extended — yes (we listen),

לִמְקוֹם שֶׁמִּיעֵט לָא?

but to a place where he reduced — no?

אֵימָא:

Say (read it as):

The steps (16)

  1. ChallengeWhy only where he extended?
  2. ResolutionRead it as 'even where he extended'
  3. ChallengeIsn't the next clause a repeat?
  4. ResolutionIt means two different surveyors
  5. Statementאביי limits how much extra we accept
  6. ChallengeLenient or strict? A ברייתא contradicts the משנה
  7. Resolutionרבינא explains how חכמים can be both strict and lenient
  8. StatementA private city that became public may have one ערוב
  9. StatementA public city that became private needs an area left out
  10. QuestionWhat is an example of a private city that became public?
  11. ResponseThe ריש גלותא's village as the example
  12. Challengeרב נחמן questions the example of the ריש גלותא's village
  13. Responseרב נחמן's own example: the village of נתזואי
  14. StatementHow to make an ערוב when a public road runs through the city
  15. StatementNo ערוב for half the city
  16. StatementNext case begins: a city that was public and stays public