Un albero che si piega sul terreno, [cioè i cui rami si inclinano verso il basso tutto intorno] —se i suoi rami non sono tre tefachim dal suolo, è permesso portare sotto se. [Poiché i suoi rami non sono tre tefachim al di sopra del suolo, essi sono considerati attaccati al suolo e sono, quindi, come delle partizioni, per cui è consentito trasportare al di sotto di esso. In ogni caso, lo spazio tra i rami e il terreno deve essere riempito con paglia e stoppie o simili, e i rami devono essere legati in modo che non vengano spostati dal vento. Per qualsiasi partizione che non può resistere a un vento normale non è una partizione. E si può portare lì solo (la distanza di) beth sa'atayim (settanta cubiti e un residuo). Per all'interno di qualsiasi partizione il cui scopo è "spazio"— cioè proteggere lo spazio dei campi e dei vigneti, ma non abitare — è permesso trasportare solo beth sa'atayim.] Se le sue radici sono tre tefachim dal suolo, non può sedersi su di esse, [è vietato fare uso di un albero (su Shabbath) —un decreto, per non venire a strapparlo. Ma se non sono alti tre tefachim, sono come il terreno ed è permesso sedersi su di loro.] La porta del muktzeh, [uno spazio dietro le case, la cui porta non è incassata in una presa, come altre porte, ma che si erge contro l'apertura, e viene posizionata a terra quando viene rimossa], e spine in [cioè, riempiendo] una breccia e [stuoie]—è vietato chiuderli (l'apertura) con loro a meno che non siano sopra il livello del suolo. [Tutti questi non sono legati e non fissati in posizione, ma quando uno viene ad aprirsi (il recinto), li mette a terra. Per questo motivo, non li sostituisce, dando l'impressione di "costruire" (un lavoro proibito del sabato)— a meno che non siano al di sopra del suolo, nel qual caso non viene data l'impressione di "costruzione", e può chiudere (lo spazio) con loro.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
המיסך – that its branches hang over downwards from all of its sides around.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
Introduction
The first part of this mishnah deals with carrying below the branches of a tree and sitting on a tree’s roots. The second part of the mishnah deals with setting up a make-shift door.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
מטלטלין תחתיו – for since its branches are not three handbreadths or higher from the ground, they are like the legal fiction of considering separated parts as united and they are seen as partitions. Therefore, it is permitted to carry underneath it, but nevertheless, it is necessary to fill the airspace that is between the branches and the land with straw, stubble and similar things, and to tie up the branches so that the wind doesn’t move them for a partition that is unable to withstand a wind that is present is not a partition. But we don’t carry in it other than in a field requiring one Se’ah of seed (a square measure) which is seventy cubits and a balance (less than eighty) for every partition whose usage is for the airspace, that is to say, to protect the airspace of the fields and vineyards and not to dwell there, we don’t carry there other than with a field requiring one Se’ah of seed/בית סאתים.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
If a tree overshadows the ground: if its branches are not higher than three handbreadths from the ground it is permitted to carry underneath it. If a tree’s branches lie within three handbreadths from the ground it is as if they are attached to the ground. This is a special rule that is applied in certain circumstances according to which anything that is three handbreadths from the ground it is as if it is attached to the ground. Assumedly the branches are at least ten handbreadths high and therefore they act as partitions. The area in between the branches is therefore considered a private domain and it is permitted to carry there.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
לא ישב עליהן – for it is prohibited to use a tree lest one detaches something, but if it is not higher than three [handbreadths], it is permitted to sit upon it.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
If its roots are three handbreadths high above the ground, one may not sit on them. On Shabbat it is forbidden to climb on or make any use of a tree, lest by doing so one comes to break off a branch, an activity which is forbidden. The mishnah teaches that if the roots are higher than three handbreadths one may not sit on them, since they are part of the tree. However, if they are less than three handbreadths than they are part of the ground and it is permitted to sit on them.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
הדלת שבמוקצה – it is wide, that is behind the house, and its door is not affixed with a hinge like other doors but stands upright against the opening and when he opens it, the door attaches to the ground.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Eruvin
With the door in the “muktzeh”, and the thorns in the breach [of a wall] and reed mats, one may not close an opening, unless they are high off the ground. In this context “muktzeh” refers to a backyard separate from the courtyard which was used usually for storage. Since people didn’t regularly go in and out of the muktzeh and it was only used to store items which were not particularly valuable (like produce and wood) it did not have a regular door, with a hinge and lock. Rather the door was just propped up against the opening in the wall and when people went in, they would take the door down and lay it on the ground. The thorns referred to here were used to fill up holes in a wall. The mishnah says that it is forbidden to use these three things (the muktzeh door, the thorns and the reed mats) to make a door. The reason is that these are not actually doors (which have hinges and locks) and therefore one who puts them into the opening of the wall looks like he is building, and not just putting a door in its place. In other words, this is prohibited because it looks too much like building. However, if when placing them he raised them from the ground, then it is clearer that he is not building and it is permitted. Others explain differently. They explain that these three things will make furrows in the ground when the door is opened and it is forbidden on Shabbat to make furrows. Therefore, if he wishes to use them as a door, he must lift them a little off the ground so that they won’t make furrows.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
חדקים – thorns that they set up to close with them a breach.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Eruvin
וכן מחלצות – [matting] of reeds – all of these are not attached and are not affixed in their places but when we come too open, we cast them on the ground; therefore, we don’t lock with them for it appears like “building,” other than if they are above the ground, for then, they do not appear like “building” and one can lock things with them.
