Halakhah for Eruvin 6:2

אָמַר רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל, מַעֲשֶׂה בִצְדוֹקִי אֶחָד, שֶׁהָיָה דָר עִמָּנוּ בְּמָבוֹי בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם, וְאָמַר לָנוּ אַבָּא, מַהֲרוּ וְהוֹצִיאוּ אֶת כָּל הַכֵּלִים לַמָּבוֹי, עַד שֶׁלֹּא יוֹצִיא וְיֶאֱסֹר עֲלֵיכֶם. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר בְּלָשׁוֹן אַחֵר, מַהֲרוּ וַעֲשׂוּ צָרְכֵיכֶם בַּמָּבוֹי עַד שֶׁלֹּא יוֹצִיא וְיֶאֱסֹר עֲלֵיכֶם:

R. Gamliel said: Once a Sadducee lived with us in a mavui (an alleyway) in Jerusalem and (on one occasion) Father said to us: "Hurry and take out all the vessels to the mavui before he does so and forbids it to you." [Our Mishnah is defective. This is what was taught: "A Sadducee is like an idolator. R. Gamliel says: He is not like an idolator, and once a Sadducee … and Father said to us: 'Hurry and do what you need before he takes out (his vessels) and forbids it to you'" — whence we see that he is like an Israelite, who can negate his rights. And because one who negates his rights and then retracts (his negation), whether unintentionally or deliberately forbids (usufruct) to others, R. Gamliel said: Hurry and do what you need before he takes out his vessels to the courtyard and reassumes the rights that he had negated and thereby forbids it to you. But if he were like an idolator, who cannot negate his rights without renting, how could he have forbidden it to them after having received his rent?] R. Yehudah says: He said otherwise, viz.: "Hurry and do what you need in the mavui before it (the day) is out and it is forbidden to you." [i.e., The above is not what R. Gamliel said, for he holds a Sadducee to be like an idolator, and that episode is no proof to the contrary, for this is what he said: "Hurry and do what you need on Sabbath eve before it gets dark" — Not: "before he takes out his vessels," as you say, but: "before the day is out and it is forbidden to you." The halachah is that any Jew who desecrates Shabbath in public is like an idolator, and it is forbidden to make an eruv with him, and he may not negate his rights, but they must be rented from him as they are rented from an idolator. And if one observes Shabbath in the open, even if he sometimes desecrates it in secret and does not acknowledge the institution of eruv, such as the Sadducees in our time, it is forbidden to make an eruv with him, but he may negate his rights without renting them (this, if he is not an idolator.)]

Explore halakhah for Eruvin 6:2. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.