Un mavui (une ruelle) de plus de vingt coudées —il diminue. [Un mavui dont la largeur ne dépasse pas seize coudées, même s'il est ouvert à ses deux extrémités sur le domaine public; ou bien, seize coudées de large, mais pas mefulash (ouvert aux deux extrémités), mais une extrémité ouverte au domaine public et l'autre fermée—Selon la loi de la Torah, il est permis d'y porter sans aucun tikun (acte d'amendement). Mais les rabbins ont décrété contre lui de peur qu'il ne vienne porter dans le domaine public, et ils l'ont permis avec un lechi (un pieu fixé dans le sol) ou une korah (une poutre, posée en croix) pour servir de signe. S'il plaçait la korah au-dessus de vingt, il «diminue». Autrement dit, il abaisse la korah en dessous de vingt. Pour plus de vingt ans, l'œil ne le remarque pas. Mais s'il y a des amaltera, c'est-à-dire des dessins et des sculptures, même au-dessus de vingt coudées, il n'est pas nécessaire d'abaisser; car l'amaltera le fait remarquer.] R. Yehudah dit: Ce n'est pas nécessaire. [Le but de la korah n'est pas de servir de signe mais d'agir comme une partition. Car nous disons: «L'embouchure du plafond descend et se ferme». Cela étant, quelle différence cela fait-il qu'il soit à moins de vingt coudées ou plus? La halakha n'est pas conforme à R. Yehudah.] Et si elle est plus large que dix coudées, il diminue. [Car si elle est plus large que dix coudées, on ne l'appelle pas une «ouverture», mais une «brèche», et nous avons besoin d'une ouverture. Par conséquent, il diminue la largeur de l'entrée jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit dix ou moins.] Mais si elle a un tzurath hapetach ("l'apparence d'une entrée"), même si elle est plus large que dix coudées, il n'a pas besoin de diminuer. [Partout où les sages disent "tzurath hapetach", il suffit même d'un bâton d'un côté et d'un bâton de l'autre, vingt coudées ou plus, et un bâton au-dessus d'eux, même s'il ne les touche pas, et même s'il est plus plus de trois coudées au-dessus d'eux. Toutes les "coudées" (amoth) mentionnées dans cette Michna et dans tout Eruvin, Souccah et Kilayim, sont une amah de six tefachim (largeurs de main); chaque tefach, quatre doigts et le pouce. C'est juste que parfois la mesure doit être faite avec "tefach atzev", c'est-à-dire en ne laissant aucun espace entre les deux pouces, mais en les touchant; et, parfois, avec un espace entre les deux pouces, sans les toucher, cela s'appelle «tefach sochek». Comment? Lorsque la mesure avec tefach atzev est pour la rigueur (de la règle), comme avec un mavui supérieur à vingt coudées, auquel cas il doit diminuer, et avec une souccah supérieure à vingt coudées, ce qui est pasul (inapte), il mesure avec tefach atzev. Et lorsque la mesure avec tefach sochek est pour la rigueur, comme avec un mavui, qui ne peut être inférieur à dix tefachim, et avec une souccah inférieure à dix tefachim, il mesure avec un tefach sochek; et donc, dans tous les cas.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
מבוי – which is not wide sixteen cubits, even though it is open from its two points into the public domain; alternatively, it is sixteen cubits wide but it is not open, but one head is open to the public domain and the other head is closed, but from the Torah, it is permitted to carry in it without any repair, but the Rabbis made a decree against it, lest they come to carry in full public domain and they permitted with an establishment of a stake fastened in the ground (by the side of a wall, serving as a mark or as a fictitious partition for the purpose of enabling those who live in an ally to move objects on the Sabbath) or a beam/post so that it will have recognition/a sign. But if he placed the beam above twenty cubits high, he should lower it, meaning to say, he should lower the beam so that it will be lower than twenty cubits high, for higher than twenty cubits, it is not discernible to the eye/the eye is attracted, and if [his] beam has a ceiling (see Talmud Eruvin 3a – for different opinions of the meaning of his word), which means drawings/embroidery and is open even higher than twenty cubits, he does not have to lower it, for through these drawings/embroidery, it is discernible to the eye/the eye is attracted.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
Introduction
The first mishnah in Eruvin deals with the entrance to a closed alley. As we mentioned in the introduction, Torah law allows one to carry within this alley. However, the sages forbade this unless there is either a side-post or a cross-beam on top of the entrance. The purpose of either the side-post or the cross-beam was so that people would recognize that the alley was not a public domain and they would realize that while it is permitted to carry in the alley, it is forbidden to carry in the public domain.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
רבי יהודה אומר א"צ – for the reason of the beam is not because of recognition but because of a partition since we said, the mouth of the ceiling goes down and closes up, and since his is the case, what difference does it make within twenty [cubits] and/or higher than twenty [cubits], but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
[The crossbeam] of an alley [whose entrance] is more than twenty cubits high should be lowered. Rabbi Judah says: this is unnecessary. The crossbeam cannot be more than twenty cubits high, otherwise people will not notice it. This is the same rule as the sukkah the sukkah’s roof (skhakh) cannot be more than twenty cubits high because people should notice that they are sitting in a sukkah. In both cases, that of the crossbeam and the sukkah, Rabbi Judah rules that they may be more than twenty cubits high.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
והרחב מעשר אמות ימעט – for more than ten cubits, it is not called an opening, but rather a breach, and we require an opening. Therefore, he should reduce the width of the entrance and reduce it to ten [cubits] or less.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
And [any entrance] that is wider than ten cubits should be reduced [in width]. An entrance to an alley may not be more than ten cubits wide for it to be allowed to carry within the alley. If it is more than ten cubits, then it’s not truly an entranceway but a gap in the walls of the alley. If it is more than ten cubits wide he can reduce it in order to carry in the alley.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
ואם יש לו צורת פתח – in every place where the Sages stated “a form of a doorway” (in width), even if his a reed from here and a reed from there ten handbreadths high or more, and a reed on top of them, even though it doesn’t touch them and even though it is higher than them more than three handbreadths. And all of the cubits that are taught in this Mishnah and in all of [Tractates] Eruvin, and Sukkah and Kilayim, a cubit is six handbreadths and each handbreadth is four fingers with the thumb, but sometimes one needs to measure a “sorrowful” (pressed together) handbreadth (i.e., four fingers closely joined), meaning to say, that one should not make a space in the fingers with the thumb between one to the other, but rather, they would be pressed against each other and touching each other, and sometimes, one must make a space between each digit so that they do not touch each other and this is called the liberal (or smiling) handbreadth. How is this the case? At the time when the measurement Is with the “sorrowful” (pressed together) handbreadth, it is stringent such as an alley entrance which is higher than twenty cubits, he should lower it, and a Sukkah which higher than twenty cubits is invalid, we measure with a “sorrowful” handbreadth, but at the time when the measurement is with a liberal (or “smiling”) handbreadth which is stringent, such as an alleyway entrance, its height cannot be less than ten handbreadths; a Sukkah which is higher than ten handbreadths, we measure with the liberal handbreadth.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
But if it has the shape of a doorway there is no need to reduce it even though it is wider than ten cubits. If the opening has the shape of a doorway, meaning there are poles on both sides and a beam on top of it, then it looks like an entrance and it may be wider than ten cubits. According to the Rambam, if it has such an opening, the beam may even be more than twenty cubits high.
