Eruvin 61b

עירובין ס״א ע״ב

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Topic

Measuring the תחום from a desolate or inhabited city (שבת versus הניח עירוב), and the opening of chapter הדר: how a נכרי or a non-accepter of עירוב in a shared חצר forbids carrying.

Overview

The גמרא opens with a dispute about a desolate city. שמואל says that according to the רבנן, one who is physically there when שבת begins may walk the whole city plus 2,000 אמות, but one who only placed his עירוב there gets just 2,000 אמות from the עירוב. רבי אלעזר says both may walk the whole city plus 2,000 אמות. The גמרא challenges רבי אלעזר from the משנה's cave 'with no residents.' It answers that this means a place not fit to live in. A second challenge comes from a ברייתא that pairs a city with a cave. The גמרא answers by reading both places as inhabited and assigning the ברייתא to רבי עקיבא. The mention of מערת צדקיהו refers only to size. מר יהודה advises the people of מברכתא to place their עירוב deeper inside the shul, and רבא rejects this, because the הלכה does not follow רבי עקיבא. The chapter כיצד מעברין ends, and the new chapter's משנה rules that a נכרי, or one who does not accept עירוב, sharing a חצר forbids carrying there. רבי אליעזר בן יעקב limits this to a case with two Jews, and רבן גמליאל and רבי יהודה give two versions of a story about a צדוקי neighbor.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. Statementשמואל: Being there versus placing an עירוב in a desolate city
2. Statementרבי אלעזר: No difference between being there and placing an עירוב
3. ChallengeChallenge from the cave case in the משנה
4. Resolution'No residents' means not fit to live in
5. ChallengeA new source: a ברייתא about a huge city or a huge cave
6. ChallengeInference: city is like cave, so only being there counts
7. ChallengeThe ברייתא must follow the רבנן, which contradicts רבי אלעזר
8. ResolutionRead it the other way: the cave is like the city, so both are inhabited
9. ChallengeBut the ברייתא mentions מערת צדקיהו, which was desolate
10. ResolutionLike מערת צדקיהו only in size, not in being empty
11. Statementמר יהודה tells the people of מברכתא to place their עירוב deeper inside
12. Rejectionרבא rejects מר יהודה's advice
13. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter כיצד מעברין
14. StatementA neighbor who does not join the עירוב prevents carrying
15. Statementרבי אליעזר בן יעקב requires two Jews
16. Statementרבן גמליאל's story about the צדוקי neighbor
17. Statementרבי יהודה's different version of the father's words