Eruvin

but is forbidden to drink wine on any of the weekdays.1 Now, if it is granted that the law of Sabbath limits is applicable,2 it is quite intelligible why the man is permitted [to drink wine] on Sabbaths and festival days; but if it be contended that the law of Sabbath limits is inapplicable2 why [it may be asked]3 is it permitted [for the man to drink wine] on Sabbaths and festival days? — There4 the case is different since Scripture said: Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet etc.5 and Elijah,6 surely, did not come on the previous day. If so, even in the case of weekdays, [the drinking of wine] should be permitted on any day since Elijah did not come on the previous day? But the fact is that7 we assume that he appeared before the high court,8 then why should we not here also assume that he appeared before the high court? — Israel has long ago been assured that Elijah would not come either on Sabbath eves or on festival eves owing to the people's pre-occupation. 9 Assuming10 that as Elijah would not come11 the Messiah also would not come,11 why should not [the drinking of wine] be permitted on a Sabbath eve? — Elijah would not, but the Messiah might come because the moment the Messiah comes all will be anxious to serve12 Israel.13 [But why14 should not the drinking of wine] be permissible on a Sunday? May it then be derived from this15 that the law of Sabbath limits is inapplicable16 for had it been applicable16 [the drinking of wine] should have been permissible on a Sunday since Elijah did not arrive on the preceding Sabbath?17 — That Tanna was really in doubt as to whether the law of Sabbath limits was or was not applicable,16 and his ruling15 is just a restriction.18 On what day, however, did the man make his vow?19 If it be suggested that he did it on a weekday [the difficulty would arise:] Since the naziriteship had once taken effect20 how could the Sabbath subsequently annul it?21 — The fact is that the man is assumed to have made his vow on a Sabbath22 or on a festival day, and it is on that day only that he is permitted [to drink wine].23 Subsequently however, this is forbidden to him.24 ONCE [ON A SABBATH] THEY DID NOT ENTER THE HARBOUR etc. A Tanna taught: R. Gamaliel had a tube through which he could see at a distance of two thousand cubits across the land and a corresponding distance across the sea. If a man desires to ascertain the depth of a ravine let him use25 a tube and by looking through it be in a position to ascertain the depth of the ravine,26 and if he wishes to ascertain the height of a palm-tree let him measure his own height and the length of his shadow as well as that of the shadow of the tree,27 and he will thus ascertain the height of the palm-tree.28 If a man desires to prevent wild beasts from sheltering in the shadow of a grave [mound]29 let him insert a rod30 [in the ground] during the fourth hour of the day31 and observe in which direction its shadow inclines and then make [the mound] slope [from the ground] upwards32 and [from its top] downwards.33 Nehemiah son of R. Hanilai was [once on a Sabbath day] absorbed in34 an oral study and walked out beyond the Sabbath limit.35 ‘Your disciple Nehemiah’, said R. Hisda to R. Nahman, ‘is in distress’. ‘Draw up for him’, the other replied: ‘a wall of human beings and let him re-enter’.36 R. Nahman b. Isaac was sitting behind Raba while the latter sat before R. Nahman when R. Nahman b. Isaac said to Raba: What exactly was the point that R. Hisda raised?37 If it be suggested that we are dealing [here with a case where the distance could be] fully lined with men38 and that the point he raised was whether the halachah was in agreement with R. Gamaliel39 appearance. His arrival and the subsequent bustle and welcome would interfere with these preparations. arrival. the bottom of the ravine, and by subtracting the distance between the brink of the ravine and his position from the distance the tube commands he obtains the dept of the ravine (Rashi). length of his shadow. 83 and 87]. note). slope on that sidle is exposed to the rays of the sun. Though the mound, at a later hour of the day, when the sun will be shining in the opposite direction, would be casting a shadow on the other side no wild beast is likely to seek shelter there at that late hour, because (a) the ground then is almost as hot in the shade as in the sun and (b) the beast who began to look for a shelter at the early fourth hour of the day would by that time have found one, so that in either case it would not return to the grave. inhabitants. was stranded and to form two human walls, stretching from there to the Sabbath limit, between which Nehemiah could pass. was not within its walls at the time the Sabbath began.