R. Shimon says: He gives them to his friend, and his friend to his friend until he reaches the outer courtyard (of the city), [and he does not carry them less than four cubits at a time when he is afraid of robbers — a decree lest he carry them from the beginning of four cubits to the end. The halachah is in accordance with R. Shimon.] And thus with his son, [whose mother bore him in the field on Shabbath — he gives him to his friend, etc. This is preferable to carrying him four cubits at a time.] He gives him to his friend, and his friend to his friend, even a hundred. R. Yehudah says: A man gives a jug to his friend, and his friend to his friend, even outside the tchum. [The jug in this instance is hefker (ownerless), for if it belonged to someone, the ruling is that a beast and vessels are "as the feet of the owners." And R. Yehudah holds that articles of hefker do not acquire "resting."] They said to him ["They" here refers to R. Yochanan b. Nuri, who says that articles of hefker acquire "resting" in their place]: This (the jug) may not travel farther than the feet of its owner. [That is, if it had an owner who did not make an eruv it could travel only two thousand cubits; so, now, too, it may travel only two thousand cubits from the place of its resting. The halachah is in accordance with R. Yehudah.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
ר"ש אומר נותנן לחבירו – and he doesn’t bring them in less [less] than four cupids for he fears from robbers, it was made a decree lest he cause them to pass from the beginning of four [cubits] to the end of four [cubits], and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Shimon.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
Introduction
This mishnah is a continuation of yesterday’s mishnah, in which we discussed carrying tefillin in from the public domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
וכן בנו – that his mother gave birth to in the field on Shabbat.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
Rabbi Shimon says: he should pass them [the tefillin] to his fellow and his fellow should pass them to his fellow, and so on, until they reach the outermost courtyard. Rabbi Shimon is more lenient than the sages in the previous mishnah concerning bringing tefillin in from the public domain. While he also obviously cannot just allow a person to carry them in himself since this would be a toraitic prohibition, he does allow one to pass them in from person to person. Since no single person carries the tefillin more than four cubits in the public domain (which would be a toraitic transgression) this is allowed in order to protect the tefillin. Once the tefillin get to the outermost courtyard, where they will be protected, they shouldn’t pass them any further.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
נותנו לחבירו –one gives him to his fellow, for this is preferable than to carry him a bit less than four cubits.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
The same is true in the case of his child: he passes him to his fellow and his fellow passes him to his fellow, and so on, even if there are a hundred. This refers to a child who is born out on the field on Shabbat. The father (or anyone else) may not just carry him, since carrying a child who cannot walk on his own is a violation of carrying on Shabbat. Rather what he should do, according to Rabbi Shimon, is pass him from person to person until the child reaches the city. According to the Talmud, the other sages disagree with Rabbi Shimon and hold that in cases such as this, it would be better for one person to carry the child all the way back, as long as he stops to rest before he walks four cubits at one time. In such a way, he does not commit a toraitic transgression of Shabbat. This is preferred because this involves far less people than does Rabbi Shimon’s suggestion. In contrast, Rabbi Shimon reasons that advising someone to carry for a distance of less than four cubits at a time is dangerous because he may easily walk too far and thereby commit a toraitic transgression. We see here that there is a debate over what is worse the appearance of many people together carrying something on Shabbat, or the possibility that one person may commit an actual toraitic transgression.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
אפילו חוץ לתחום – it speaks of an ownerless earthen wine jug, for if it has owners we surely hold that the animals and utensils are like legs of the animals, and Rabbi Yehuda holds that ownerless possessions do not acquire a place to be the center of Sabbath movements.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
Rabbi Judah says: one may pass a jar to his fellow and his fellow may pass it to his fellow even beyond the Shabbat limit. They said to him: this must not go further than the feet of its owner. Rabbi Judah extends the halakhah stated by Rabbi Shimon above to include a situation where someone is stuck outside of the Shabbat border and need food or water on Shabbat. People from within the city may pass food or water out to him, even if it goes beyond the Shabbat limit. The sages partially disagree and hold that one may not pass something beyond the place to which the object’s owner may himself go. If the owner was dwelling in the city when Shabbat began, then just as he may not go beyond the Shabbat limit, so too his belongings may not be passed beyond that limit.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
אמרו לו – Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri (see Talmud Eruvin 97b) is the one who states this for we understand from him that ownerless possessions do acquire a place to be the center of Sabbath movements in their place.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
לא תהלך זה יותר מרגלי בעליה – that is to say, if they had owners and they did not create a symbolical community of residence by an Eruv, he would not walk more than two-thousand cubits; here too, he should not walk other than two-thousand cubits from the place where he appointed a place to be the center of Sabbath movements.
