Eruvin 61a

עירובין ס״א ע״א

Learn Eruvin 61a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Measuring the תחום שבת through cities: a measurer versus someone whose עירוב is inside a city, a city on a ravine's edge, and the towns of גדר and חמתן.

Overview

The amud opens with an attempt to find a source in the משנה for רבי יהושע בן לוי's rule about a תחום that ends exactly at the far end of a city. רבי אידי reads the משנה differently, as speaking about a נותן who placed his עירוב inside the city. The גמרא answers that only the end-of-city case was new. רב נחמן then says both readings of the משנה are correct: one speaks about a נותן and the other about a מודד. Next, רב יוסף teaches that a city on the edge of a ravine measures its תחום from the edge only if it has a four-אמות barrier, because the edge is frightening to use. He tries to prove this from רבי's ruling about the towns of גדר and חמתן. רב דימי, רב ספרא and רב דימי בר חיננא each explain that ruling differently, so it is no longer proof for the barrier rule. Finally, a new משנה teaches that whoever places his עירוב inside a city may walk all of it plus 2000 אמות. רבי עקיבא disagrees, and the משנה discusses a cave with and without residents and a מודד whose measurement ends inside a cave.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. ProofFinishing the quote of the משנה used as proof
2. ProofExplaining why the משנה proves the rule
3. Rejectionרבי אידי reads the משנה differently
4. ChallengeChallenge: a משנה does discuss a מודד
5. ResolutionThe end-of-city case still needed to be taught
6. Statementרב נחמן says both versions of the משנה are correct
7. ResolutionEach version speaks about a different case
8. ResolutionFilling in the missing words of the משנה
9. StatementA city on the edge of a ravine
10. ChallengeWhy does this barrier need to be four cubits high?
11. ResolutionA ravine's edge is frightening to use
12. ProofProof from the towns of גדר and חמתן
13. RejectionThe ruling was about violence, not barriers
14. QuestionWhy only on שבת?
15. ResponseDrunkenness is common on Shabbat
16. ChallengeWon't they fight in חמתן too?
17. ResolutionA dog away from home doesn't bark
18. ChallengeWon't חמתן take revenge?
19. Resolutionגדר won't be pushed around that much
20. ResolutionThe bow-shaped city explanation
21. ResolutionThe large city and small city explanation
22. StatementA second version of who said which answer
23. StatementNew משנה: walking through an entire city
24. StatementThe משנה explains: the עירוב is placed inside the city
25. Statementרבי עקיבא counts the 2000 אמות from the exact spot of the עירוב
26. Proofרבי עקיבא brings proof from an עירוב placed in a cave
27. RejectionThe חכמים answer: the cave rule applies only when nobody lives there
28. ConclusionThe surprising result: inside the cave can be more lenient than on top of it
29. StatementSomeone whose measured 2000 cubits end inside a cave