עירובין 56

56:1

black bread, new beer and vegetables? — This is no difficulty, one [statement referring] to garlic and leek while the other [refers] to other vegetables; as it was taught: Garlic is a vegetable, leek is a semi-vegetable; if radish appears a life-giving drug has appeared. Was it not, however, taught: If radish appears a drug of death has appeared? — This is no contradiction, the latter might deal with the leaves while the former with the roots, or the latter might refer to the summer while the former might refer to the winter. Rab Judah citing Rab said: In a town which abounds with ascents and descents men and beasts die in the prime of their lives. ‘Die’! Can one really think so? — Rather say: They age in the prime of life. R. Huna son of R. Joshua remarked: The crags between Be Bari and Be Narash have made me old. Our Rabbis taught: If a town is to be squared the sides of the square must be made to correspond to the four directions of the world: Its northern side, [for instance,] must correspond to the North, and its southern side to the South; and your guiding marks are the Great Rear in the North and the Scorpion in the South. R. Jose said: If one does not know how to square a town so as to make it correspond with the directions of the world, one may square it in accordance with the circuit of the sun. How? — The direction in which on a long clay the sun rises and sets is the northern direction. The direction in which on a short day the sun rises and sets is the southern direction. At the vernal and autumnal equinoxes the sun rises in the middle point of the East and sets in the middle point of the West, as it is said in Scripture: It goeth along the south, and turneth about the north; ‘It goeth along the south’ during the day ‘and turneth about the north’ during the night. The wind turneth, turneth about moveth refers to the eastern horizon and the western horizon along which the sun sometimes moves and sometimes turns about. R. Mesharsheya stated: These rules should be disregarded for it was taught: The sun has never exactly risen in the North East and set in the North West, nor has it ever risen precisely in the South East and set in the South West. Samuel stated: Thee vernal equinox occurs only at the beginning of one of the four quarters of the day viz., either at the beginning of the day or at the beginning of the night or at midday or at midnight. The summer solstice only occurs either at the end of one and a half, or at the end of seven and a half hours of the day or the night. The autumnal equinox only occurs at the end of three, or nine hours of the day or the night, and the winter solstice only occurs at the end of four and a half, or ten and a half hours of the day or the night. The duration of a season of the year is no longer than ninety-one days and seven and a half hours; and the beginning of one season is removed from that of the other by no more than one half of a planetary hour. Samuel further stated: The vernal equinox never begins under Jupiter but it breaks the trees, nor does the winter solstice begin under Jupiter but it dries up the seed. This, however, is the case only when the new moon occurred in the moon-hour or in the Jupiter-hour.31

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56:2

Our Rabbis taught: If [a circular] town is to be [circumscribed by a] square [the sides must be] drawn in the shape of a square tablet. The Sabbath limits also are then drawn in the shape of a square tablet. When the measurements are taken one should not measure the two thousand cubits from the middle point of the town corner, because, thereby, one loses the corners. One should rather imagine that a square tablet of the size of two thousand cubits by two thousand cubits is applied to each corner diagonally, so that the town gains thereby four hundred cubits in each corner, the Sabbath limits gain eight hundred cubits in each corner, while the town and the Sabbath limits together gain twelve hundred cubits in each corner. This is possible, Abaye explained. in a town of the size of two thousand by two thousand cubits. It was taught: R. Eliezer son of R. Jose stated: The limit of the allotted land beyond the confines of the levitical cities was two thousand cubits. Deducting from these an open space of one thousand cubits, such open space would represent a quarter of the entire area the remainder of which consisted of fields and vineyards. Whence is this deduced? — Raba replied: From Scripture which says. [And the open land,..] from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about, the Torah has thus enjoined, ‘Surround the city by an open space of one thousand cubits’. ‘Such an open space [it was said] would represent a quarter of the entire area’ — ‘A quarter’! Is it not in fact one [in the neighbourhood] of a half? — Raba replied: The surveyor Bar Adda explained this to me. Such a proportion is possible in the case of a town whose area is two thousand by two thousand cubits. For what is the area of its limits? Sixteen [million square cubits]. What is the area of the corners? Also sixteen [million square cubits]. Deducting [for the open spaces] eight [million square cubits] front the limits, and four [million square cubits] from the corners, to what area would this space amount? To one of twelve [million square cubits]. Would then ‘such an open space represent a quarter’? Is it not in fact more than a third of the entire area? — Take the four [million square cubits] of the town area itself and add to them. Does not this, however, still amount to a third? — Do you imagine that a quadrilateral town was spoken off? No, a circular town was meant. For by how much does the area of a square exceed that of a circle? By one quarter [approximately] — Deduct a quarter from the measurements given and there would remain nine [million square cubits]; and nine [million] represents one quarter of thirty six [million]. Abaye said: This is also possible in the case of a town that has an area of a thousand by a thousand cubits For what are its limits? Eight [million square cubits]. What is the area of the corners? Sixteen [million square cubits].39

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