Eruvin 5

כֵּיצַד מְעַבְּרִין אֶת הֶעָרִים, בַּיִת נִכְנָס בַּיִת יוֹצֵא, פָּגוּם נִכְנָס פָּגוּם יוֹצֵא. הָיוּ שָׁם גְּדוּדִיּוֹת גְּבוֹהוֹת עֲשָׂרָה טְפָחִים, וּגְשָׁרִים וּנְפָשׁוֹת, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶן בֵּית דִּירָה, מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הַמִּדָּה כְנֶגְדָּן, וְעוֹשִׂין אוֹתָהּ כְּמִין טַבְלָא מְרֻבַּעַת, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּהֵא נִשְׂכָּר אֶת הַזָּוִיּוֹת:

How me'abrin cities? ["me'abrin," as in "ishah me'ubereth" (a pregnant woman). This is the intent: How are cities extended? "If one house were recessed and another projected etc." When he came to designate the city tchum and to measure two thousand cubits outside it, if the wall were not straight, but the houses were close together…] If one house were recessed [within the city more than its neighbor, so as to give a "defective" appearance] and another projected [more than its neighbor], or if one turret were recessed and another projected, or if there were tall ruins [sections of the wall of ruined houses within seventy cubits and a fraction of the city], or structures over tombs (provided that they contain living quarters) — the measure is taken opposite them [i.e., If the projections were in the northeast corner, it is perceived as if there were other projections opposite it in the southeast corner, and a line stretched from one to the other; and the measurement is taken from the line outwards so that the tchum be equal in the two corners and not longer in one and shorter in the other.] And it [the tchum] is made like a square tablet, [two thousand cubits on the sides as in the middle] so that the corners be gained, [and (it is not made) round, two thousand cubits in the middle and losing at the sides, as a circle does.]

נוֹתְנִין קַרְפֵּף לָעִיר, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, לֹא אָמְרוּ קַרְפֵּף אֶלָּא בֵין שְׁתֵּי עֲיָרוֹת, אִם יֵשׁ לָזוֹ שִׁבְעִים אַמָּה וְשִׁירַיִם, וְלָזוֹ שִׁבְעִים אַמָּה וְשִׁירַיִם, עוֹשֶׂה קַרְפֵּף לִשְׁתֵּיהֶן לִהְיוֹתָן כְּאֶחָת:

A karpef (an enclosed space) is provided for a city. [Whoever comes to measure t'chumin for a city leaves a space of seventy cubits and a fraction, seventy and two-thirds cubits; and from there he begins to measure the two thousand cubits, viz. (Numbers 35:4): "From the wall of the city and outwards, one thousand cubits roundabout," Scripture hereby intimating: Provide an "outwards," and then measure, i.e., provide a karpef of seventy cubits and a fraction and then measure from there.] These are the words of R. Meir. The sages say: A karpef was instituted only between two cities. If each had (an outer edge of) seventy cubits and a fraction, a karpef is made for both, to be as one. [If two cities were close to each other, each is accorded a karpef of seventy cubits and a fraction in order to connect them thereby, to be regarded as one city; so that if one wished to go from one of them through the other, two thousand cubits are measured for him outside of the other, the two of them being regarded as one city through these karpefoth which join them. The halachah is in accordance with the sages, that a karpef is not provided for one city but only for two.]

וְכֵן שְׁלֹשָׁה כְפָרִים הַמְּשֻׁלָּשִׁין, אִם יֵשׁ בֵּין שְׁנַיִם הַחִיצוֹנִים מֵאָה וְאַרְבָּעִים וְאֶחָד וּשְׁלִישׁ, עָשָׂה אֶמְצָעִי אֶת שְׁלָשְׁתָּן לִהְיוֹתָן כְּאֶחָד:

Likewise, three villages in a triangle — if there are between the two outer ones (and the middle one) one hundred and forty-one and a third cubits, the middle one causes the three of them to be regarded as one. [("in a triangle":) Not necessarily a triangle, but with the third standing afar, opposite the outer ones, in such manner that if it were placed between them there would be no more than one hundred forty-one and a third cubits (seventy and two-thirds cubits for each) between it and each of the outer ones, in which instance the three are regarded as one, so that a man leaving one of them to pass through the others counts the two thousand cubits from the wall of the outer village. This, when there are no more than two thousand cubits between the middle and the outer ones. For since the (men of) the middle one may go to the outer one and vice versa without an eruv, we say that the middle one is regarded as placed between them; but we do not say this when the distance is greater than two thousand cubits.]

אֵין מוֹדְדִין אֶלָּא בְחֶבֶל שֶׁל חֲמִשִּׁים אַמָּה, לֹא פָחוֹת וְלֹא יוֹתֵר. וְלֹא יִמְדּוֹד אֶלָּא כְנֶגֶד לִבּוֹ. הָיָה מוֹדֵד וְהִגִּיעַ לְגַיְא אוֹ לְגָדֵר, מַבְלִיעוֹ וְחוֹזֵר לְמִדָּתוֹ. הִגִּיעַ לְהָר, מַבְלִיעוֹ וְחוֹזֵר לְמִדָּתוֹ, וּבִלְבַד שֶׁלֹּא יֵצֵא חוּץ לַתְּחוּם. אִם אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהַבְלִיעוֹ, בָּזוֹ אָמַר רַבִּי דוֹסְתַּאי בַּר רַבִּי יַנַּאי מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי מֵאִיר, שָׁמַעְתִּי שֶׁמְּקַדְּרִין בֶּהָרִים:

We measure [the two thousand cubits of the tchum Shabbath] only with a [flaxen] rope of fifty cubits, not less, [for when the rope is short, it is stretched more and the measure increases], and not more, [for when it is longer, its weight doubles it in the middle and it shortens.] And one measures only against his heart. [The sages fixed a place for the end of the rope, each against his heart. For if one placed it against his heart and the other against his feet, the rope would shorten and the tchumin would diminish.] If he were measuring and he came to a valley or a fence [a fallen stone wall that became a high, slanted heap], he "swallows it up" [If it were not fifty cubits wide from edge to edge above, even if its incline were more than a thousand, we do not say that it is included in the measurement of the tchum; but one stands on one side and one on the other, and the incline is swallowed up with one rope], and he returns to his measure. ["He returns to his measure" implies that if its width in the direction of the city were more than fifty, so that he could not swallow it up there with the rope, and with one of its ends not in the direction of the city, he could swallow it up — he goes and swallows it up there, and he keeps on walking and measuring from the edge onwards until the spot where the width of the valley ends in the direction of the city, and he continues measuring in the direction of the city and completes the measure of the tchum.] If he came to a mountain, he swallows it up [This, if the mountain is not very steep, but on an incline, so that walking five cubits of it lifts one only ten handbreadths; but if it is so steep that less than five cubits of walking lifts one ten handbreadths, he does not swallow it up, but only estimates (its distance) and goes on.], so long as he does not go outside the tchum. [When the measurer goes to "swallow up" the mountain or the valley, he may not go outside the tchum to a place where the heads of the valley are so narrow that he can swallow them up, in order to return thence to his measurement in the direction of the city — a decree by reason of the possibility of one's seeing him going and measuring there and saying that the tchum measurement of the sides of the city extends that far.] If he is unable to swallow it up, about this R. Dostai said: I heard that mountains are "bored through." [("about this R. Dostai said":) "about this," to exclude (the measurements for) cities of refuge and for the red heifer, (the city) closest to the slain man, where there is no boring through. ("bored through":) They (the mountains) are regarded as bored through, and they are measured through the hole to exclude the measurement of the slope, as stated in the gemara. It is measured with a four cubit rope. The lower (measurer) places the rope against his heart, and the higher, against his feet, and they measure the whole, four cubits after four cubits progressively, so that a four cubit slope loses half a man's height. The halachah is in accordance with R. Dostai.]

אֵין מוֹדְדִין אֶלָּא מִן הַמֻּמְחֶה. רִבָּה לְמָקוֹם אֶחָד וּמִעֵט לְמָקוֹם אַחֵר, שׁוֹמְעִין לִמְקוֹם שֶׁרִבָּה. רִבָּה לְאֶחָד וּמִעֵט לְאַחֵר, שׁוֹמְעִין לַמְרֻבֶּה. אֲפִלּוּ עֶבֶד, אֲפִלּוּ שִׁפְחָה, נֶאֱמָנִין לוֹמַר, עַד כָּאן תְּחוּם שַׁבָּת, שֶׁלֹּא אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים אֶת הַדָּבָר לְהַחֲמִיר אֶלָּא לְהָקֵל:

Only a mumcheh [one expert in measurement] takes the measure. [The Gaon explains it as in (Numbers 34:11): "Umachah ('And it shall strike upon') the slope of the sea of Kinereth." That is, the tchum should be measured ab initio from a straight, level place, where there is no need for "boring through."] If it were more in one spot and less in another [i.e., If the signs of one tchum (measurement) projected beyond those in the opposite corner], we follow the greater [and discount the shorter measurement; for (we assume that) he did not stretch the rope tightly enough to begin with. And it is taught in the Tosefta that he must stretch it with all of his might.] If it were more for one and less for another [This is what is meant: If two experts measured it, and it (the measurement) were more for one and less for the other], the greater measurement is followed. Even a bondsman and even a bondswoman are believed to say: "Until here is the tchum Shabbath." For the sages instituted this (the tchum) not for stringency (of regulation) but for lenity.

עִיר שֶׁל יָחִיד וְנַעֲשֵׂית שֶׁל רַבִּים, מְעָרְבִין אֶת כֻּלָּהּ. וְשֶׁל רַבִּים וְנַעֲשֵׂית שֶׁל יָחִיד, אֵין מְעָרְבִין אֶת כֻּלָּהּ, אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן עָשָׂה חוּצָה לָהּ כְּעִיר חֲדָשָׁה שֶׁבִּיהוּדָה, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהּ חֲמִשִּׁים דִּיוּרִים, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, שָׁלֹשׁ חֲצֵרוֹת שֶׁל שְׁנֵי בָתִּים:

The city of an individual, [as when one man acquired all of it and rented out all of its houses to others], which then became a public city — eruvin are made for the whole, [as when it belonged to the individual, no (eruv-less) "remnant" being provided]. But a public city which became the city of an individual — eruvin are not made for the whole. [For it is forbidden to make eruvin for a public city without leaving particular houses without an eruv to serve as a sign that (carrying between the others is permitted) by reason of eruv, so that the ordinance of the public domain not be forgotten. And this city, since it was once a public city and required a "remnant," even though it now belongs to an individual, the original procedure is followed.], unless it made (a city) outside it [a "remnant," not making an eruv between it and the rest of the city. We are hereby apprised that even a remnant "outside it" avails for the rest of the city.] as the city, Chadashah, in Judah, where there were [only] fifty dwellers. [This was the smallest city in the entire land of Judah, and it served as a "remnant" for a large city next to it, being of the size required to serve as an eruv-less "remnant" for the (large) city.] These are the words of R. Yehudah. R. Shimon says: Three courtyards of two houses each (constitute a "remnant.") [The halachah is that even one house in one courtyard constitutes a "remnant." And a city which has only one entrance, even a public city, does not require a "remnant."]

מִי שֶׁהָיָה בַמִּזְרָח וְאָמַר לִבְנוֹ, עָרֵב לִי בַמַּעֲרָב, בַּמַּעֲרָב וְאָמַר לִבְנוֹ, עָרֵב לִי בַמִּזְרָח, אִם יֵשׁ הֵימֶנּוּ וּלְבֵיתוֹ אַלְפַּיִם אַמּוֹת, וּלְעֵרוּבוֹ יוֹתֵר מִכָּאן, מֻתָּר לְבֵיתוֹ וְאָסוּר לְעֵרוּבוֹ. לְעֵרוּבוֹ אַלְפַּיִם אַמָּה, וּלְבֵיתוֹ יוֹתֵר מִכָּאן, אָסוּר לְבֵיתוֹ וּמֻתָּר לְעֵרוּבוֹ. הַנּוֹתֵן אֶת עֵרוּבוֹ בְעִבּוּרָהּ שֶׁל עִיר, לֹא עָשָׂה וְלֹא כְלוּם. נְתָנוֹ חוּץ לַתְּחוּם, אֲפִלּוּ אַמָּה אַחַת, מַה שֶׁנִּשְׂכָּר הוּא מַפְסִיד:

If one were in the east, and he said to his son: "Make an eruv for me in the west"; or if he were in the west, and he said to his son: "Make an eruv for me in the east" — if there are from him to his house two thousand cubits, and to his eruv more than that, he is permitted to his house and forbidden to his eruv. (If there are ) to his eruv two thousand, and to his house more than that, he is forbidden to his house and permitted to his eruv. [("If one were in the east":) in the field, and Shabbath descended upon him there, and he were more than two thousand cubits from his eruv, his eruv is no eruv. Since he may not walk and take it, his habitation is in his house, standing as he does within the tchum of his house. And it is assumed that he desires his habitation to be in his house when his eruv is not an eruv. ("he is forbidden to his house":) to count two thousand cubits on all sides of his house.] If one places his eruv in the outskirts (ibur) of the city, [i.e., in one of the houses standing within the seventy and a fraction cubits], he has done nothing. [For without an eruv, too, he has two thousand cubits on all sides, and the entire city with its ibur are reckoned as his four cubits.] If he placed it outside the tchum [i.e., outside the ibur of the city (Thus is it explained in the gemara)], what he gains [on one side], he loses [on the opposite side. For he counts two thousand cubits on all sides of the eruv, and if he places it at the end of a thousand (from the city) eastwards, it is found that the two thousand to the east end three thousand cubits from the city, so that he gains one thousand (to the east), and the two thousand to the west end one thousand cubits west of the city, so that he loses one thousand cubits. We are hereby apprised that the city is not included in the two thousand cubits to the west, but all of it is regarded as four cubits. This, only when the two thousand cubits from the eruv towards the city terminate at the end of the city or beyond it; but if they terminate in the middle of the city or anywhere within it, he may go within the city only as far as the termination of the two thousand cubits of the eruv and not more, as taught below.]

אַנְשֵׁי עִיר גְּדוֹלָה מְהַלְּכִין אֶת כָּל עִיר קְטַנָּה, וְאֵין אַנְשֵׁי עִיר קְטַנָּה מְהַלְּכִין אֶת כָּל עִיר גְּדוֹלָה. כֵּיצַד. מִי שֶׁהָיָה בְעִיר גְּדוֹלָה וְנָתַן אֶת עֵרוּבוֹ בְעִיר קְטַנָּה, בְּעִיר קְטַנָּה וְנָתַן אֶת עֵרוּבוֹ בְעִיר גְּדוֹלָה, מְהַלֵּךְ אֶת כֻּלָּהּ וְחוּצָה לָהּ אַלְפַּיִם אַמָּה. וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אֵין לוֹ אֶלָּא מִמְּקוֹם עֵרוּבוֹ אַלְפַּיִם אַמָּה:

The men of a large city traverse an entire small city [If a small city were within its two thousand cubits, and they walk through it, they traverse the entire small city as if it were four cubits and complete the measurement outside it.], but the men of a small city do not traverse an entire large city [as if it were four cubits. For the measurement of its tchum ends within the large city, for which reason they may go only until the termination of their tchum.] How so? If one were in a large city and he placed his eruv in a small city; or, if he were in a small city and he placed his eruv in a large city, he traverses all of it, and outside it, two thousand cubits. [Our Mishnah is defective. This is what was taught: "The men of a large city traverse an entire small city, but the men of a small city do not traverse an entire large city. When is this so? When he measures two thousand cubits. But if he places his eruv within the city — whether the men of a large city place their eruv in a small city, or the men of a small city place their eruv in a large city, they traverse the entire city in which the eruv were placed as if it were four cubits. How so? If one were from a large city and he placed his eruv in a small city, etc."] R. Akiva says: He has only two thousand cubits form the place of his eruv. [He differs with the first tanna and holds that the eruv does not cause the city in which it is placed to be regarded as four cubits, and the two thousand cubits are counted only from the place of the eruv. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Akiva.]

אָמַר לָהֶן רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אִי אַתֶּם מוֹדִים לִי בְנוֹתֵן עֵרוּבוֹ בִמְעָרָה, שֶׁאֵין לוֹ מִמְּקוֹם עֵרוּבוֹ אֶלָּא אַלְפַּיִם אַמָּה. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, אֵימָתַי, בִּזְמַן שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ דִּיוּרִין, אֲבָל יֶשׁ בָּהּ דִּיוּרִין, מְהַלֵּךְ אֶת כֻּלָּהּ וְחוּצָה לָהּ אַלְפַּיִם אַמָּה. נִמְצָא, קַל תּוֹכָהּ מֵעַל גַּבָּהּ. וְלַמּוֹדֵד שֶׁאָמְרוּ נוֹתְנִין לוֹ אַלְפַּיִם, שֶׁאֲפִלּוּ סוֹף מִדָּתוֹ כָּלֶה בִמְעָרָה:

R. Akiva said to them (the sages): Will you not admit to me that if one places his eruv in a cave, he has only two thousand cubits form the place of his eruv? They responded: When is this so? When it is not fit for habitation, [as when its partitions were breached]; but if it were fit for habitation, he traverses all of it, and outside it, two thousand cubits. [For if it were fit for habitation, even if it were uninhabited now, all of it, according to the sages, would be regarded as four cubits. Likewise, a city where no one dwells, but which has a wall roundabout — if one places his eruv therein, it is regarded as four cubits, even if it is as large as Antiocha]. There is found to be more leniency then, with a cave's inside (vis-à-vis the halachah) than its top. [For if one places his eruv on the top of a cave, he has only two thousand cubits from the place of his eruv, its top not being fit for habitation, whereas he may traverse all of its midst and two thousand cubits outside it.] But as far as measuring is concerned, he is given (only) two thousand, even if the measure ends in a cave. [Even though the sages differ with R. Akiva vis-à-vis one's placing his eruv in a city, saying that the entire city is regarded as four cubits, they admit that if one comes from the place of his habitation and his measurement of two thousand terminates even in a cave fit for habitation, he may not enter beyond (the termination of) his measurement.]