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Eruvin 60b

עירובין ס׳ ע״ב

Learn Eruvin 60b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

עירוב תחומין: the man and his son's directions, an עירוב just outside the city, and when a city counts as four אמות

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה about עירוב תחומין and then explains it. First, the גמרא clarifies the case of a man who sends his son to place an עירוב 'to the east' or 'to the west.' If the directions are measured from his house, the house always sits between him and the עירוב, and one of the משנה's cases becomes impossible. רבי יצחק answers that the directions are measured from the son. רבא בר רב שילא answers instead that the house may stand on a diagonal. Next, the גמרא corrects the משנה's wording: an עירוב that works is one placed outside the city's outskirts (עיבור), not outside the תחום. A ברייתא says such a person can lose the whole city, not just what he gained. The גמרא resolves this by asking where his 2000 אמות run out, in the middle of the city or at its far end, and supports the answer with רבי יהושע בן לוי's rule. רבי אידי calls that rule 'words of prophecy.' רבא starts to show that a משנה teaches both cases, and his proof continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַה שֶּׁנִּשְׂכַּר הוּא מַפְסִיד.

What he gains, he loses.

גְּמָ׳

GEMARA:

קָא סָלְקָא דַּעְתָּךְ:

It might enter your mind:

״לַמִּזְרָח״, לְמִזְרַח בֵּיתוֹ.

'To the east' means east of his house.

The steps (13)

  1. StatementEnd of the משנה: what he gains on one side, he loses on the other
  2. StatementThe גמרא's first assumption: east and west of his house
  3. ChallengeHow can the עירוב be closer than his house?
  4. Resolutionרבי יצחק: east and west of his son
  5. ResolutionA second answer: the house stands on a diagonal
  6. ChallengeCan the משנה really mean 'outside the תחום'?
  7. ResolutionCorrected reading: 'outside the outskirts'
  8. ChallengeDoes he lose only what he gains?
  9. ChallengeA ברייתא: he can lose the whole city
  10. ResolutionDifferent cases: where his 2000 אמות run out
  11. ProofSupport from רבי יהושע בן לוי: middle of the city versus end of the city
  12. Challengeרבי אידי questions the logic of the distinction
  13. Resolutionרבא: a משנה already teaches both cases