Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 3, scan section 36

not prepare for a festival on the Sabbath or vice versaJ] The Rabbis taught : " If one made an Erub on the eve of the first day by means of his feet {i.e., by standing at the place where he intends to rest) he must do so again on the eve of the second day. If he made an Erub (of victuals) on the eve of the first day and the Erub was consumed, it does not hold good for the second day. Such is the dictum of Rabbi. R. Jehudah, how- ever, said: " This is like driving an ass and leading a camel " {i.e., R. Jehudah means to say this: If the two days have but one degree of sanctification and the Erub was made for both days. 84 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. the maker loses the two thousand ells in the opposite direction from that towards which his Erub was made, and merely gains two thousand ells in the one direction towards which his Erub was made. If the two days have different degrees of sanctifica- tion and hence the Erub is valid only for one day, the maker of the Erub should on the second day be on a par with the rest of his townsmen, but in reality he only has two thousand ells on the way back to the town and no more). R. Simeon ben Gamaliel and R. Ishmael the son of R. Johanan ben Berokah, however, both say, that if a man made an Erub with his feet on the eve of the first day it suffices for the second day and if he made an Erub (of victuals) on the eve of the first day and it was consumed, he is exempt from making it on the eve of the second day. Said Rabh : " The Halakha prevails according to the opin- ion of the four old sages and in conformity with R. Eliezer, who says, that the two days have different degrees of sanctification ; and the four old sages are : R. Simeon ben Gamaliel, R. Ishmael the son of R. Johanan ben Berokah, R. Elazar ben R. Simeon and R. Jose ben R. Jehudah. The last of these is generally quoted by Rabbi anonymousy wherever his opinion seems to be justifiable and according to another version, one of the four sages is R. Elazar ben Samua instead of R. Jose ben R. Jehudah. Rabh's information on this point was derived from a tradition, which was to the effect, that those four sages held in accordance with R. Eliezer concerning the two degrees of sanctification for both days. R. Jehudah said : If one made an Erub on the eve of the first day with his feet, he must do likewise on the eve of the second day, and if he made an Erub on the eve of the first day with bread, he must make it in like manner on the eve of the second day. If he made an Erub on the eve of the first day with bread which was lost, he may make it on the eve of the second day with his feet, but if he made it with his feet in the first instance he must not make it with bread in the second instance, because making an Erub with bread to commence with on Sabbath or on a festival would be an infraction of the law prohibiting the prepar- ing on a Sabbath for a festival or vice versa. If a man made an Erub with bread on the eve of the first day, he must make it with bread on the eve of the second day also and, according to Samuel, he should use the same bread in both cases (for if he uses new bread in the second instance it will be a case of prepar- ing on a Sabbath for a festival). Said R. Ashi : We can adduce TRACT ERUBIN. 85 this also from our Mishna, which teaches: " But how must this be done ? One carries out the Erub to the place, where he means to deposit it on the eve of the first day of rest and remains with it until dusk, when he carries it back with him ; he then brings the Erub out again on the second day, remains with it until dusk, then eats it and goes away." (The fact that it says, " he carries it back with him and then brings it out again," is proof that it must be the same Erub.) The sages that differ with Samuel and assert that new bread may be used on the eve of the second day maintain, that the Mishna merely administers good advice and tells us, that we need not trouble ourselves to make a new Erub in case the first one is lost. MISHNA: R. Jehudah said: " If a man apprehend that the new year will be celebrated two days, he must prepare two Erubin." He then says: My Erub of the first day shall be valid for the east and of the second day for the west ; or of the first day for the west and of the second day for the east. My Erub shall be valid for the first day, and on the second I am like my townsmen ; or my Erub shall be valid for the second day and on the first I am like my townsmen. The sages however did not coincide with him. R. Jehudah further said : " A man may conditionally separate (the heave-ofTering from) a basket of fruit on the first day of the new year and eat it on the second day; likewise an egg which is laid on the first day of the festival may be eaten on the second." The sages however do not coincide with him. R. Dosa ben Harchinas said : He who stands before the pulpit to pray on the first day of the new year must say: Strengthen us, O Lord our God, on this day of the new moon, whether to-day or to-morrow (be the true day). And on the morrow he says the same prayer with the variation "whether this day or yesterday be the true one." The sages, however, do not agree with him. GEMARA: Who are the sages, that do not coincide with R. Jehudah ? Said Rabh : That is R. Jose, as we have learned in a Boraitha: The sages agree with R. Eliezer that " if a man apprehend that the new year will be celebrated two days,* he * The Israelites living in exile were dependent for their information concerning the date of the New Year entirely upon the messengers sent out by the high court in Palestine, which in turn fixed the date upon the testimony of witnesses who would announce when the new moon appeared (as explained in Tract Rosh Hashana). Thus the exiled people did not know whether the 30th or 31st day from the first day of 86 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. should prepare two Erubin. He then says: My Erub of the first day shall be valid for the east and of the second day for the west ; or of the first day for the west and of the second day for the east. My Erub shall be valid for the first day and on the second I am like my townsmen ; or my Erub shall be valid for the second day and on the first I am Hke my townsmen." R. Jose, however, does not consent to this. (He holds that if the witnesses come before the high court in the afternoon of the first day that had been kept holy and declare that the next day is New Year, both days are nevertheless holy and are of one degree of sanctification.) We have learned in a Boraitha: How does R. Jehudah explain his dictum, that " a man may conditionally separate (the heave-offering from) a basket of fruit on the first day of the New