Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 3, scan section 1

IflMIMnllMIIUUIIIMHllUOIIlHJIHIIIIIIIMMIIIMIIMIUimillMMHinilMUimflllUi^ tihravy of Che trheolojical ^emmarjp PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY •a^^t- PRESENTED BY John Stuart Conning, D.D. BM 500 .R6 l?18^.1-4 Talmud. New edition of the Babylonian Talmud NEW EDITION ^0, OF THE Babylonian Talmud Original Uejt, ]£Mte5, CorrecteD, jformulateO, an5 Xrranslate& tnto Englisb MICHAEL L. RODKINSON SECTION MOED (FESTIVALS) TRACT ERUBIN Volume IIL Boston THE TALMUD SOCIETY 1918 EXPLANATORY REMARKS. In our translation we adopted these principles: y. Tenan of the original — We have learned in a Mishna; Tania~-Wt have learned in a Boraitha; Itemar — It was taught. 2. Questions are indicated by the interrogation point, and are immediately followed by the answers, without being so marked. 3. When in the original there occur two statements separated by the phrase, Lishna achrena or IVaibayith Aetna ox Ikha ^'a;wrt (literally, "otherwise interpreted "), we translate only the second. 4. As the pages of the original are indicated in our new Hebrew edition, it is not deemed necessary to mark them in the English edition, this being only a translation from the latter. 5. Words or passages enclosed in round parentheses ( ) denote the explanation rendered by Rashi to the foregoing sentence or word. Square parentheses [ ] contain commentaries by authorities of the last period of construction of the Gemara. Copyright, 1903, b» MICHAEL L. RODKINSON. Copyright 1916, by P<EW TALMUD PUBLISHING SOCIETY CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction to Tract Erubin, v Synopsis of Subjects of Volume III. — Tract Erubin, . ix CHAPTER I. Regulations concerning the Width and Height of an Erub constructed in Streets inhabited solely by Israelites, and Regulations concerning the Con- struction OF AN Erub by a Caravan, . . . i CHAPTER II. Regulations concerning the Use of a Well and a Gar- den ON the Sabbath .40 CHAPTER III. Regulations concerning Wherewith and Where an Erub may be Made. Whereby an Erub becomes Invalid. The Erub of Limits, with its Conditions. When a Festival or New-Year Precedes the Sabbath, . . 62 CHAPTER IV. Regulations concerning the Overstepping of the Legal Limits on the Sabbath, and Measurements of the Sabbath-Distance, 93 CHAPTER V. Regulations concerning the Boundaries of a Town and THE Measurements of the Legal Limits, . . .119 iv CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE Regulations concerning the Erubin of Courts and Part- nerships, 145 CHAPTER VII. Regulations concerning the Preparation of Erubin for Courts separated by Apertures, Walls, Ditches, and Straw-Ricks. Combination of Erubin in Alleys, . 179 CHAPTER VIII. Regulations concerning the Erubin of Limits. The Quantity of Food required for such Erubin, and Further Regulations concerning Erubin of Courts, 198 CHAPTER IX. Regulations concerning the Combining of Roofs on Sabbath 214 CHAPTER X. Sundry Regulations concerning the Sabbath, . . 227 INTRODUCTION TO TRACT ERUBIN. This Tract, virtually the third of the Sabbath series, treats of subjects similar to those discussed in the first two. The main point of difference is, that most of the laws laid down in the preceding two volumes are founded on biblical behests, while those instituted in the present volume are of purely rabbinical origin, notwithstanding the assertion of a solitary individual who appears in the course of a debate and declares that the legal-limit branch of the Erub is a biblical enactment. A remarkable feature of the Tract is the exposition of the manner in which the shrewd sages circumvene the rigorous pro- hibitions contained in the Tract Sabbath and how they take advantage of every loophole afforded them through imperfec- tions in the law, at the same time avoiding any palpable infrac- tion of the law itself. As already explained in the introduction to Volume I., the restrictions with which the Sabbath was surrounded had their unquestionable political import, but their very rigor made the sages, than whom none knew the people better, doubt whether enforcement and still less voluntary observance could ever be possible. It became necessary, therefore, to find some way of modifying the law, not directly, but by the institution of other in a measure counteracting laws. The solution for this problem presented itself in the "Erub" (literally "commixture") ordinances, the first results of which were to bring about a dis- tinction between the different kinds of ground inhabited by man. Lines of demarcation between public, unclaimed, and private ground and ground which was under no particular jurisdiction were strictly drawn. Whatever ground, however, could be made by hook or crook to come under the category of private ground was eagerly included, as in the latter things could be carried about at will. In order, therefore, to have as much private ground as possible, each man having an interest in public ground would relinquish or transfer his right to his neighbor and thus make it communal or private property. Of course, this could be vi INTRODUCTION TO TRACT ERUBIN. done only among Israelites, and where a Gentile had an interest in a piece of coveted ground, his share had to be bought out- right. It was this desire to be in the same neighborhood, yea, even on the same grounds, that laid the foundation of the subsequent Ghettos, still flourishing in most of the large cities of the world. How this communal living was fostered may be readily under- stood, when it is stated that the sages permitted the execution of a written instrument in Palestine on the Sabbath, under ordi- nary circumstances a grave offence, where a piece of property had to be purchased from a Gentile for communal purposes. (See Gitin, 8b, and Schulchan Aruch Orach Chaym, 306, §11.) The name of this Tract may be said to have a certain signifi- cance. The Hebrew word " Erub " has a variety of meanings, among them " commixture," as stated, " agreeable," " secure," and " safeguard." As the discussions in the Tract will demon- strate, either one of these meanings may be applied to the appel- lation of the Tract and still express the purpose of the laws ordained. By those laws the observance of the Sabbath was made " secure," they proved a " safeguard " against " amalga- mation " or " mingling " with other nations, and by virtue of the modification to the laws of Sabbath which was brought about, the observance of the Sabbath was made more " agreeable. " Several other meanings might be utilized in the same manner, but lest they seem far-fetched they are omitted. Another peculiarity of this Tract is that under no circum- stances and on no occasion is the derivation of a law enacted in this particular Tract inquired into, and unlike other tracts there