If one throws (an object) from the private domain [reshuth hayachid] to the public domain [reshuth harabim] or from the public domain to the private domain, he is liable. [The private domain is a place surrounded by four walls ten cubits high, with a space between them of four by four cubits or more, even several miles, as in the instance of a district surrounded by a wall, with its doors closed at night. And alleyways with three walls, and a lechi (a symbolic enclosure) on the fourth side; a mound ten cubits high and four wide; a hole, ten deep and four wide; and even vessels, such as ships and wooden towers and the like — if they are four by four and ten in height, they are all a private domain. And the atmosphere of a private domain is (regarded as) a private domain, until the heavens. And the thickness of the walls of a private domain is regarded as that domain. And a public domain — marketplaces, thoroughfares, deserts and the roads leading to them, this, on condition that the road be sixteen cubits wide, unroofed, and (in the view of some) that six hundred thousand cross it everyday, as in the instance of the flags of the desert. And the atmosphere of the public domain is regarded as that domain only up to a height of ten cubits. Above that in the public domain it is regarded as makom p'tur ("a place of exemption"). And a place lacking four by four, higher than three cubits is a makom p'tur. Even thorns, thistles, and dung in a public domain, higher than three and lacking four by four is a makom p'tur. Likewise, a place surrounded by walls and lacking four by four, or a hole lacking four by four, from a depth of three cubits until the tehom (the interior of the earth) is a makom p'tur. And a place surrounded by four walls from three to ten cubits high, four by four or more in width, or a mound which is four by four or more, from three to ten cubits high, or a hole four by four, from three to ten cubits deep, or a mavui (an alleyway) closed off on three sides and lacking a lechi or a beam on the third side, and the sea and a valley — all of these are a "karmelith"; that is, "kemo almanah" ("like a widow"), neither a virgin nor married. Similarly, this domain is neither private nor public. And the atmosphere of a karmelith is regarded as the karmelith until a height of ten, beyond which it is a makom p'tur. If one takes something out from a private domain to a public domain or brings something in from a public domain to a private domain, he is liable for a sin-offering. From a private domain to a karmelith or from a public domain to a karmelith or from a karmelith to either, he is exempt but it is forbidden. From a private domain or from a public domain to a makom p'tur or from a makom p'tur to either, it is permitted ab initio, and, it goes without saying that it is permitted from a karmelith to a makom p'tur or from a makom p'tur to a karmelith. And if one carries from the beginning of four cubits to the end in a public domain he is liable for a sin-offering. In a karmelith, he is exempt but it is forbidden. In a private domain and in a makom p'tur, it is permitted ab initio to move and carry objects in the entire domain, even if it were several miles.] (If one throws) from one private domain to another with a public domain intervening, R. Akiva rules "liable," [holding that when the object passed through the atmosphere of the public domain within ten cubits (from the ground) it is as if it landed there.], and the sages rule "not liable." [They hold that when the object is "caught" within ten cubits (from the ground) in the atmosphere of the public domain it is not as if it has landed there. But above ten, which is a makom p'tur, all agree that he is not liable. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
הזורק מרשות היחיד לרשות הרבים – the private/individual domain is a place that is surrounded by four partitions ten handbreadths high and between them are four handbreadths by four handbreadths or more, even if there are several miles, if they surrounded for living such as a district/province/large town which is surrounded by a wall and its doors are locked at night and their alleys have three walls and a stake fastened in the ground by the side of a wall, serving as a mark or as fictitious partition/enclosure for the purposes of enabling those who live there to move objects on the Sabbath in the fourth direction, and similarly a large hill that is ten [handbreadths] high and four [handbreadths] wide or an incision/trench that is ten [handbreadths] deep and four [handbreadths] wide and even utensils such as a boat or a tower of wood and things like them, if they have [a circumference of four by four at a height of ten , all of these are the public domain. And the airspace of the private domain is like the private domain up to the sky. And the thickness of the walls of the private domain are judged as the private domain. But the public domain is like the marketplaces and the desert streets and the roads open to them and it should be that the width of the path is sixteen cubits and there should not be a ceiling upon it. And there is one who holds that it also requires that six-hundred thousand people pass through it every day like the marches of the Israelites in the desert (see Tractate Shabbat 98a). But the airspace of the public domain is not like the public domain other than up to ten handbreadths for above from ten [handbreadths] is free/exempt. But a place that lacks four by four [handbreadths] and is or higher than three [handbreadths] is the exempt/free space and even thorns and thistles and excrement in the public domain that are at least three [handbreadths] or higher but lack four by four [handbreadths] are considered an exempt place. But a place that is surrounded by four partitions whose height is from three [handbreadths] to ten and it has four by four [handbreadths] or more, or a hill/mound that has four by four [handbreadths] or more which is higher than three [handbreadths] up to ten or a ditch which has four by four [handbreadths] and is deep from three until ten [handbreadths] or an alley that is closed from three directions and lacks a mark as a fictitious partition/enclosure or a beam on the fourth direction, and the sea and the valley – all of these are a Karmelit. The explanation of a Karmelit (a marked-off plot in a public thoroughfare – which cannot be considered either private or public domain) is like a “widow” – that is to say, like a widow who is not a virgin, nor married to a husband. Such is this domain which is neither a private domain nor a public domain and the airspace of a Karmelit is like a Karmelit up until ten [handbreadths] and above that, it is considered an exempt space. A person who removes something from the private domain to the public domain or brings something in from the public domain to the private domain is liable for a sin-offering (see Tractate Shabbat, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1). From a private domain to a Karmelite and/or from a public domain to a Karmelit, or from a Karmelite to either of them is exempt but it is forbidden. [A person who brings something] from a private domain or from a public domain to an exempt space or from the exempt space to both of them -it is ab initio permitted, and we don’t have to say, from a Karmelit to an exempt space and from an exempt space to a Karmelit it is permitted. But a person who transfers an object from the beginning of the four cubits to the end of the four cubits in the public domain is liable for a sin-offering. In a Karmelit, he is exempt, but it is forbidden. In the private domain and in the exempt place, it is permissible ab initio to carry and transfer throughout the entire domain and even if it several miles.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
Introduction
After having learned the laws of carrying from one domain to another, this chapter teaches laws concerning throwing something from one domain to another.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Shabbat
ר"ע מחייב – for he holds that since the object has passed in the airspace of the public domain, within ten [handbreadths], it is as if it has come to rest; but the Rabbis hold that something absorbed in the midst of the ten [handbreadths] of airspace of the public domain is not like someone who placed it there, but above from ten [handbreadths] it is an exempt space, and no disputes that he is exempt, and the Halakha is according to the Sages.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
If one throws from the private domain into the public domain [or] from the public domain into the private domain, he is liable. Throwing is considered to be like carrying and hence one who throws from one domain to another is liable.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Shabbat
From one private domain to another private domain, and the public domain lies between: Rabbi Akiva makes him liable, But the sages exempt him. Rabbi Akiva treats the object which flies over the public domain as if it had actually landed in the public domain. Therefore, in his opinion this person has taken something from the private domain and brought it out to the public domain. The sages, however, rule that he is exempt because the object never actually landed in public domain.
