עירובין 101 — Soncino English Talmud

¹MISHNAH. WITH THE DOOR IN A REAR COURT, OR THE STOP-GAPS IN A BREACH OR REED-MATS ONE MAY NOT CLOSE [AN OPENING] UNLESS THEY ARE RAISED FROM THE GROUND. GEMARA. Does not the following, however, present a contradiction: With a door, a reed-mat or a keg, that drag along the ground,it is permitted. whenever they are fastened and suspended, to close an opening on the Sabbath and much more so on a festival day? — Abaye replied: The latter refers to such as have a hinge. Raba replied: It refers to a case where they had a hinge. An objection was raised: With a door, a reed-mat or a keg, that drag along the ground, whenever they are fastened, suspended and raised from the ground even if only by a hair's breadth. It is permitted to close an opening; otherwise this is forbidden? Abaye explains in accordance with his view, and Raba explains in accordance with his view. ‘Abaye explains in accordance with his view’: They must either have a hinge or be raised from the ground. ‘Raba explains in accordance with his view’: They must either have had a hinge or must be raised from the ground. Our Rabbis taught: If boughs of thorn-bushes, or bundles of wood were prepared to serve as a stop-gap for a breach in a courtyard, whenever they are fastened and suspended, it is permitted to close with them on the Sabbath and much more so on a festival day. R. Hiyya learned: With a widowed door that is dragged upon the ground it is not permitted to close tan opening]. What are we to understand by a ‘widowed door’? — Some say: One made of a single board. Others Say: One that has no frame. Rab Judah ruled: A pile may be laid out from the top downwards. but it is forbidden to build it up from the bottom upwards, and the same applies to an egg, a pot, a bed and a cask. A certain Sadducee once said to R. Joshua b. Hananiah. ‘You are a brier, since of you it is written in Scripture: the best of them is as a brier’. ‘Foolish man’, the other replied, ‘look up the conclusion of the text where it is written: The upright man is a better [protection] than a tabernacle’. ‘What then was meant by The best of them is as a brier?’ ‘As briers protect a gap so do the best men among us protect us’. Another interpretation: The best of them is as a hedek because they crush the wicked men in Gehenna; as it is said in Scripture: Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples etc. MISHNAH. A MAN MAY NOT STAND IN A PRIVATE DOMAIN AND OPEN A DO ON IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, OR IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND OPEN A DOOR IN A PRIVATE DOMAIN, UNLESS HE HAS MADE A PARTITION TEN HANDBREADTHS HIGH. so n. MEIR. THEY SAID To HIM: IT ONCE HAPPENED AT THE BUTCHERS’ MARKET IN JERUSALEM THAT THEY LOCKED THEIR SHOPS AND LEFT THE KEY IN A WINDOW ABOVE A SHOP DOOR. R. JOSE SAID: IT WAS THE WOOL-DEALERS’ MARKET. GEMARA. As to the Rabbis, how is it that when R. Meir spoke of a PUBLIC DOMAIN they retorted by citing a karmelith, since Rabbah b. Bar Hana stated in the name of R. Johanan: As for Jerusalem, were it not that its gates were closed at night, one would have incurred the guilt of carrying in it as a public domain? R. Papa replied: The latter statement refers to the time before breaches were made in its wall whereas the former refers to the time after the breaches had been made. Raba replied: The final clause deals with the gates of a garden. and it is this that was implied: is A MAN MAY NOT STAND IN A PRIVATE DOMAIN AND OPEN A DOOR IN A KARMELITH, OR IN A KARMELITH AND OPEN A DOOR IN A PRIVATE DOMAIN.59^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ^ᵃᵉ^ᵃᶠ^ᵃᵍ^ᵃʰ^ᵃⁱ^ᵃʲ^ᵃᵏ^ᵃˡ^ᵃᵐ^ᵃⁿ^ᵃᵒ^ᵃᵖ^ᵃᵠ^ᵃʳ^ᵃˢ^ᵃᵗ^ᵃᵘ^ᵃᵛ^ᵃʷ^ᵃˣ^ᵃʸ^ᵃᶻ^ᵇᵃ^ᵇᵇ^ᵇᶜ^ᵇᵈ^ᵇᵉ^ᵇᶠ^ᵇᵍ

^ᵃnote:Which as a rule is not fixed to the wall but is movable, and leaned against the doorway only when it is desired to shut it.
^ᵇnote:Or ‘(bundles of) thorns’.
^ᶜnote:On the Sabbath.
^ᵈnote:A doorway or breach.
^ᵉnote:Lit., ‘high’.
^ᶠnote:If they reach the ground this is forbidden, since their erection resembles ‘building’.
^ᵍnote:To the ruling in our Mishnah.
^ʰnote:Aliter: A plough used as a bar.
^ⁱnote:Lit., ‘and there Is no need to say’.
^ʲnote:How then is this Baraitha, which only insists on suspension, to be reconciled with our Mishnah which demands that THEY must be RAISED FROM THE GROUND?
^ᵏnote:Which imparts to them the character of a proper door the closing of which cannot be mistaken for ‘building’. Suspension alone is, therefore, sufficient.
^ˡnote:Though they have none now. The mere mark of the hinge suffices to impart to them the character of a proper door (cf. prev. ii.)
^ᵐnote:Lit., ‘high’.
^ⁿnote:Lit., ‘(they) may not close with them’. How then is this Baraitha, which requires both suspension and raising from the ground, to be reconciled with the previous Baraitha and with our Mishnah?
^ᵒnote:The last cited Baraitha.
^ᵖnote:So R. Han.
^ᵠnote:This is explained anon.
^ʳnote:By inserting into a gap such a board which has no resemblance to a door, one appears to be actually building on the Sabbath.
^ˢnote:To bind it together (cf. Rashi) or against which to shut (cf. Jast.).
^ᵗnote:For making a fire on a festival day.
^ᵘnote:The upper logs or chips being held up in the air while the lower ones are inserted and arranged beneath them.
^ᵛnote:Placing, for instance, two chips at the bottom and another two crosswise above them; since this has the appearance of building which is forbidden on a festival day as on the Sabbath.
^ʷnote:That is to be roasted. The egg must be held up while the wood is laid out under it (cf. prev. two notes).
^ˣnote:Supported on two casks. Cf. Bezah 32b.
^ʸnote:The center cloth must be held up while the frame is pushed under it (cf. prev. notes).
^ᶻnote:If it is to be placed on two other casks.
^ᵃᵃnote:Micah VII, 4’
^ᵃᵇnote:Lit., , ‘lower (your eyes) to the end’.
^ᵃᶜnote:Cf. A.V. ‘sharper than a thorn hedge’ (R.V. and A.f.T. ‘worse than’).
^ᵃᵈnote:E.V., ‘brier’.
^ᵃᵉnote:Mehadekin of the same rt. as hedek by interchange of (guttural) h with (aspirate) h.
^ᵃᶠnote:Or ‘crush’.
^ᵃᵍnote:Micah IV, 13.
^ᵃʰnote:With a key that he picks up in the public domain.
^ᵃⁱnote:Even though the key was picked up within four cubits from the door. This is a preventive measure against the possibility of transferring the key from the public into the private domain.
^ᵃʲnote:By taking up a key from the roof of a shop that was no less than four handbreadths wide and above ten handbreadths from the ground.
^ᵃᵏnote:Though the key was picked up in a private domain. This is a preventive measure against the possible transfer of the key from the private into the public domain below ten handbreadths from the ground.
^ᵃˡnote:In the latter case.
^ᵃᵐnote:Within the public domain.
^ᵃⁿnote:To separate his position from the public domain (cf. supra n. 18).
^ᵃᵒnote:The Rabbis who differed from him.
^ᵃᵖnote:Or: Crammers’, or: Poulterers’.
^ᵃᵠnote:Standing in the public domain.
^ᵃʳnote:The key being held above ten handbreadths from the ground.
^ᵃˢnote:The movement of objects between which add a private domain is Pentateuchally forbidden.
^ᵃᵗnote:Which is subject to a Rabbinical restriction only.
^ᵃᵘnote:Var. lec.. R. Huna (Asheri).
^ᵃᵛnote:As the gates, however, were closed at night all the roads and streets of the city were only subject to the restrictions of a karmelith. Now since the preventive measure against the possibility of transferring the key from one domain into another was made by R. Meir only in the case of a public and a private domain (where a Pentateuchal law might be transgressed), what objection does the Jerusalem incident (which relates to a private domain and a karmelith where only a rabbinical law might possibly be transgressed) provide against R. Meir?
^ᵃʷnote:Var. lec. Rabbah.
^ᵃˣnote:Lit., ‘here’, that Jerusalem is subject to the restrictions of a karmelith only.
^ᵃʸnote:Our Mishnah which regards Jerusalem as a public domain.
^ᵃᶻnote:In our Mishnah.
^ᵇᵃnote:Lit., ‘comes to’.
^ᵇᵇnote:Which, being greater than two beth se'ah, and not having been enclosed for dwelling purposes, is subject to the laws of a karmelith.
^ᵇᶜnote:By pushing his hand through a hole in its walls into the garden.
^ᵇᵈnote:Sc. the garden, this being a preventive measure against the possibility of transferring the key from the karmelith into the private domain.
^ᵇᵉnote:Picking up a key from a spot four handbreadths wide and ten handbreadths high.
^ᵇᶠnote:At a height of ten handbreadths from the ground.
^ᵇᵍnote:Cf supra n. 2. mut. mut.

²UNLESS HE HAS MADE A PARTITION TEN HANDBREADTHS HIGH; SO R. MEIR. THEY SAID TO HIM: IT ONCE HAPPENED AT THE BUTCHERS’ MARKET IN JERUSALEM THAT THEY USED TO LOCK THEIR SHOPS AND LEFT THE KEY IN A WINDOW ABOVE A SHOP DOOR. R. JOSE SAID: IT WAS THE WOOL-DEALERS’ MARKET. Our Rabbis taught: The doors of garden gateways, whenever they have a gate-house on their inner side, may be opened and closed from within; if they have it on their outer side; they may be opened and shut from without; if they have one on either side they may be opened and shut from either side; if they have none on either side they may be neither opened nor shut from either side. The same law applies also to shops that open into a public domain: Whenever the lock is below ten handbreadths from the ground the key may be brought on the Sabbath eve and placed on the threshold, and on the following day the door may be opened and duly closed when the key may again be placed on the threshold; and whenever the lock is above ten handbreadths from the ground. the key must be brought on the Sabbath eve and inserted in the lock, and on the following day It may be opened and shut and returned to its place; so R. Meir. The Sages, however, ruled: Even when the lock is above ten handbreadths from the ground the key may be brought on the Sabbath eve and placed on the threshold, and on the following day the door may be opened and shut and the key may be returned to its place or it may be put on a window above the door. If the window, however, had an area of four handbreadths by four this is forbidden, since the transfer of the key would constitute a transfer from one domain into another. Since it was stated: ‘And the same law applies also to shops It may be concluded that we are dealing with a threshold that had the status of a karmelith; but, then, how are we to imagine the conditions of the lock? if it is one that was less than four handbreadths in width it would surely be a free domain; and if It was four handbreadths wide, would the Rabbis in such a case have ruled: ‘Even when the lock is above ten handbreadths from the ground the key may be brought on the Sabbath eve and placed on the threshold and on the following day the door may be opened and shut and the key may be returned to its place or it may be put on a window above the door’, seeing that thereby one is moving an object iron a karmelith into a private domain? — Abaye replied: The fact is that the lock was less than four handbreadths but there was sufficient space [in the door] in which to cut and make it up to four handbreadths; and it is this principle on which they differ: R. Meir holds the opinion that the door is regarded as virtually cut for the purpose of completing the prescribed width, while the Rabbis maintain that it is not regarded as cut for the purpose of completing the prescribed width. Said R. Bibi b. Abaye: From this Baraitha you may deduce three things: You may deduce that virtual cutting for the purpose of completing a prescribed width may be assumed; you may deduce that R. Meir withdrew from his view on the gates of a garden; and from the ruling of the Rabbis you may also deduce that R. Dimi's view is tenable. For when R. Dimi came he reported in the name of R. Johanan: In a place whose area is less than four handbreadths by four it is permissible for both the people of the public domain and those of the private domain to re-arrange their burdens, provided only that they do not exchange them. MISHNAH. IF A BOLT HAD A KNOB AT ONE END, R. ELIEZER FORBIDS IT [TO BE MOVED] BUT R. JOSE PERMITS IT. SAID R. ELIEZER: IN A SYNAGOGUE AT TIBERIAS THE COMMON PRACTICE, IN FACT, WAS TO TREAT IT AS PERMITTED, UNTIL R. GAMALIEL AND THE ELDERS CAME AND FORBADE IT TO THEM. R. JOSE RETORTED: THEY TREATED IT AS FORBIDDEN, BUT R. GAMALIEL AND THE ELDERS CAME AND PERMITTED IT TO THEM. GEMARA. Where it can be lifted up by the cord to which It was tied, no one disputes that it is permissible to move it] . They only differ^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ^ᵇᵖ^ᵇᵠ^ᵇʳ^ᵇˢ^ᵇᵗ^ᵇᵘ^ᵇᵛ^ᵇʷ^ᵇˣ^ᵇʸ^ᵇᶻ^ᶜᵃ^ᶜᵇ^ᶜᶜ^ᶜᵈ^ᶜᵉ^ᶜᶠ^ᶜᵍ^ᶜʰ^ᶜⁱ^ᶜʲ^ᶜᵏ^ᶜˡ^ᶜᵐ^ᶜⁿ^ᶜᵒ^ᶜᵖ^ᶜᵠ^ᶜʳ^ᶜˢ^ᶜᵗ^ᶜᵘ^ᶜᵛ^ᶜʷ^ᶜˣ^ᶜʸ

^ᵇʰnote:In the latter case.
^ᵇⁱnote:To separate his position from the rest of the karmelith.
^ᵇʲnote:Cf. relevant notes on our Mishnah supra.
^ᵇᵏnote:V. supra p. 701, n. 17.
^ᵇˡnote:Such a house having the status of a private domain.
^ᵇᵐnote:Since the lock which is four handbreadths wide and ten handbreadths from the ground has the same status of a private domain as the gate house.
^ᵇⁿnote:That faces the public domain.
^ᵇᵒnote:V. supra n. 11.
^ᵇᵖnote:Even though the key was within the lock. They may not be opened from within as a preventive measure against the possibility of taking the key from the private domain (the lock) into a karmelith (the garden) add they may not be opened from without as a preventive measure against the possibility of taking the key from the private domain into the public domain.
^ᵇᵠnote:This is discussed infra.
^ᵇʳnote:So that it has the status of a karmelith.
^ᵇˢnote:Which is also a karmelith.
^ᵇᵗnote:This is permitted, since the man, though standing in the public domain (cf. Bah a.I.) only moves the key from one karmelith into another.
^ᵇᵘnote:In consequence of which, since it is also four handbreadths wide, it has the status of a private domain.
^ᵇᵛnote:On the top of the lock which is also a private domain. It may not be placed on the threshold Since its removal from the lock to it would be tantamount to a transfer from a private domain into a karmelith.
^ᵇʷnote:On the threshold. The reason is discussed infra.
^ᵇˣnote:Whose sin is less than four handbreadths wide and which is, therefore, regarded as a free domain though it is ten handbreadths high.
^ᵇʸnote:From the threshold which is a karmelith to the window which is a’ private domain. Such transfer is forbidden despite the intervening free domain of the lock through which the key had passed on Its way between the other two domains.
^ᵇᶻnote:Belonging to the shops.
^ᶜᵃnote:If it had not been a karmelith hut a public domain it would have been forbidden to transfer the key from it into the lock.
^ᶜᵇnote:And R. Meir would not have regarded it as a private domain even where it was above ten handbreadths from the ground.
^ᶜᶜnote:The lock being a private domain.
^ᶜᵈnote:So in the original Supra. Cur. edd. a.l. ‘to the threshold’.
^ᶜᵉnote:Of course not.
^ᶜᶠnote:On a level with the top of the lock.
^ᶜᵍnote:R. Meir and the Rabbis.
^ᶜʰnote:Lit., ‘cut to complete’; v. supra 11b and notes.
^ᶜⁱnote:The lock, therefore, has the status of a free domain.
^ᶜʲnote:Who permitted a man standing on a threshold which was a karmelith to take a key from a level above ten handbreadths to a lock of a similar level; and did not provide against the possibility of the man's taking the key into the karmelith in which he stood.
^ᶜᵏnote:Supra 101a where, according to Raba's explanation, R. Meir forbade a man who stood in a karmelith to open a door in a private domain as a preventive measure against the possibility of his taking the key into the karmelith.
^ᶜˡnote:According to which, if the window-sill had an area of four handbreadths by four, it is forbidden to take a key from the threshold (a karmelith) to the lock (a free domain) and from the lock to the window (a private domain) because the transfer from one domain to another is forbidden even via a free domain.
^ᶜᵐnote:Lit., ‘there is’.
^ᶜⁿnote:From Palestine to Babylon.
^ᶜᵒnote:Sc. a free domain.
^ᶜᵖnote:Because it is forbidden to transfer an object from a public domain into a private one or vice versa even via a free domain (cf. supra n. 7).
^ᶜᵠnote:Used for securing a door.
^ᶜʳnote:Lit., ‘at whose head there was’.
^ᶜˢnote:Though it can be used as a pestle for crushing spices.
^ᶜᵗnote:On the Sabbath; unless it was tied to a cord and suspended from the door (v. Gemara infra).
^ᶜᵘnote:Because (cf. .supra n. 1) it may be treated as a vessel which may well be moved about on the Sabbath.
^ᶜᵛnote:The movement of the bolt with the knob.
^ᶜʷnote:The BOLT.
^ᶜˣnote:Lit., ‘by its binding’, sc. the cord by which it is fastened to the door is strong enough to hold it even when it is lifted by it.
^ᶜʸnote:Since it is obvious to all that the bolt formed a part of the door's equipment and its insertion into its socket constitutes no ‘building’.