Eruvin 93a

עירובין צ״ג ע״א

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Topic

Whether a מחיצה can create an איסור (אביי's principle of סילוק מחיצות), and רב יהודה's rulings on when people in three adjoining קרפיפות count as a שיירא.

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a debate: can putting up a מחיצה ever create an איסור? A ברייתא about a סוכה on an אכסדרה with פצימין is raised against אביי. אביי answers that in his view the סוכה is still כשרה, and that even in the other view the problem is סילוק מחיצות, the removal of a partition that used to exist. רבה בר רב חנן challenges him with a ברייתא about vines and seeds in a half-roofed house, and אביי gives the same answer. רבא then sends a ברייתא showing that vineyard walls can make the law stricter. אביי points to a משנה about קרחת הכרם and מחול הכרם. He explains that the strictness comes from the vines' four-אמה work area and from the abandoned strip along the fence, not from the wall creating an איסור. Next, רב יהודה rules on three קרפיפות side by side: depending on which enclosure is wider, three people either count as a שיירא with unlimited space or get only six בית סאה. The גמרא asks two follow-up questions about uneven numbers of people and rules that both are decided leniently. Finally, רב חסדא begins a new statement that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (16)

1. ChallengeProof from a סוכה on a portico with posts
2. Resolutionאביי: it is really the removal of partitions
3. ChallengeChallenge from vines in a half-roofed house
4. Resolutionאביי: there too it is removal of partitions
5. Challengeרבא sends a challenge: vineyard partitions can be lenient
6. ChallengeThe strict case: a wall eleven cubits from the vineyard forbids sowing
7. Rejectionאביי: you could have challenged me from a stronger source, a משנה
8. StatementThe משנה defines קרחת הכרם
9. StatementThe משנה defines the vineyard perimeter
10. ResolutionThe fence is not the real reason for the stringency
11. StatementThree enclosures where the outer two are wider
12. StatementThree enclosures where the middle one is wider
13. QuestionOne, two, one: do the middle two join one side or split up?
14. QuestionTwo, one, two: does the single middle person surely make three?
15. ConclusionThe הלכה: these dilemmas are ruled leniently
16. Statementרב חסדא begins a new statement