עירובין 61:1 — Soncino English Talmud

but the people of the small town may not walk through the whole of a large town. Now what is the reason? Obviously because the measure of the latter terminated in the middle of the former town, while that of the former terminated at the end of the latter town. And R. Idi? — He read in both cases ‘The people may’ and expounded [the Mishnah cited] as referring to an ‘erub that one deposited; but of the case of one who was measuring, we have there learnt nothing. Have we not indeed? Did we not as a matter of fact learn: And to the measure of whom the Rabbis have spoken a distance of two thousand cubits only is allowed even if the end of his permitted measure terminated within a cave? — His ruling was required in respect of a Sabbath limit that terminated at the far end of a town, a case of which we did not learn. R. Nahman stated: He who learns ‘The people may’ is not in error, and he who learns ‘the people may not’ not in error. ‘He who learns "the people may" is not in error since he might explain it to refer to an ‘erub that one had deposited; while ‘he who learns "the people may not is not in error’ since he might explain that it refers to a case where the Sabbath limit was being measured, and that a clause is missing [from the Mishnah] which should properly read thus: The people of a large town may walk through the whole of a small town but the people of the small town may not walk through the whole of the large town. This, however, applies only to a case where the Sabbath limit was being measured, but if a man stayed in a larger town and deposited his ‘erub in a smaller town or if he stayed in a small town and deposited his ‘erub in a large town he may walk through the whole of the town and a distance of two thousand cubits beyond it. R. Joseph citing Rami b. Abba who had it from R. Huna ruled: If a town was situated on the edge of a ravine, and there was a barrier four cubits in height in front of it, its Sabbath limit is measured from the edge of the ravine, otherwise measuring must begin from the door of every inhabitant's house. Said Abaye to him: You told us in connection with this that the barrier must be four cubits in height; but why should this one be different from all other barriers whose prescribed height is only four handbreadths? — There, the other replied, the use of the place involves no fear, but the use of the place here does involve fear. Said R. Joseph, whence do I derive this ruling? From what was taught: Rabbi permitted the inhabitants of Gader to go down to Hamethan but did not allow the inhabitants of Hamethan to go up to Gader. Now what could have been the reason? Obviously, that the former did put lip a barrier while the latter did not put up a barrier. When R. Dimi came he explained: The people of Gader used to molest the people of Hamethan, and ‘permitted’ meant ordained’. Then why should Sabbath be different from other days? — Because intoxication is not uncommon on such a day. Would they not molest them when they come there? — No; a dog in a strange town does not bark for seven years. Now then, might not the people of Hamethan molest those of Gader? — No; they were not so submissive as all that. R. Safra explained: Gader was a town that was built in the shape of a bow. R. Dimi b. Hinena explained: The former were the inhabitants of a large town while the latter were inhabitants of a small town. Thus taught R. Kahana. R. Tabyomi, however, taught as follows: R. Safra and R. Dimi b. Hinena differ, one explaining that Gader was a town built in the shape of a bow while the other explains that the latter were the inhabitants of a small town while the former were inhabitants of a large town. MISHNAH. THE PEOPLE OF A LARGE TOWN MAY WALK THROUGH THE WHOLE OF A SMALL TOWN, AND THE PEOPLE OF A SMALL TOWN MAY WALK THROUGH THE WHOLE OF A LARGE TOWN. HOW IS THIS [To BE UNDERSTOOD]? IF A MAN STAYED IN A LARGE TOWN AND DEPOSITED HIS ‘ERUB IN A SMALl TOWN OR IF HE STAYED IN A SMALL TOWN AND DEPOSITED HIS ‘ERUB IN A LARGE TOWN, HE MAY WALK THROUGH ALL THE TOWN AND TWO THOUSAND CUBITS BEYOND IT. R. AKIBA RULED: HE IS ALLOWED TO WALK NO FURTHER THAN TWO THOUSAND CUBITS FROM THE PLACE OF HIS ‘ERUB. SAID R. AKIBA TO THEM: DO YOU NOT AGREE WITH ME THAT IF A MAN DEPOSITED HIS ‘ERUB IN A CAVE HE MAY WALK NO FURTHER THAN TWO THOUSAND CUBITS FROM THE PLACE OF HIS ‘ERUB? THEY REPLIED: WHEN IS THIS THE CASE? ONLY WHERE NO PEOPLE DWELL THEREIN BUT WHERE PEOPLE DWELL THEREIN ONE MAY WALK THROUGH THE WHOLE OF IT AND TWO THOUSAND CUBITS BEYOND IT. THUS IT FOLLOWS THAT [WHERE AN ‘ERUB IS DEPOSITED] WITHIN IT THE LAW IS MORE LENIENT THAN [WHERE ONE IS DEPOSITED] ON THE TOP OF IT. AND TO THE MEASURER, OF WHOM [THE RABBIS] HAVE SPOKEN A DISTANCE OF TWO THOUSAND CUBITS IS ALLOWED EVEN IF THE END OF HIS [PERMITTED] MEASURE TERMINATED WITHIN A CAVE.67^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^ᵇʰ^ᵇⁱ^ᵇʲ^ᵇᵏ^ᵇˡ^ᵇᵐ^ᵇⁿ^ᵇᵒ

^ᵃnote:As if it were no bigger than four cubits. They may walk so far only as the termination of their Sabbath limit in whatever part of the town that may happen to be, in agreement with the first ruling of R. Joshua b. Levi.
^ᵇnote:For the difference between the rights of the inhabitants of the large and those of the smaller town respectively.
^ᶜnote:Lit., ‘not?’
^ᵈnote:In agreement with the rulings of R. Joshua b. Levi (cf. supra nn. 10f).
^ᵉnote:How, in view of the rulings in the Mishnah just cited, could he maintain that R. Joshua b. Levi's rulings are sheer imagination.
^ᶠnote:The first and second clause of the Mishnah cited.
^ᵍnote:Lit., ‘people, people’, sc. instead of reading ‘The people of the large town may . . . but the people of the small town may not’ etc. he reads: ‘The people . . . may’ in both clauses.
^ʰnote:Of the inhabitants of the large town.
^ⁱnote:In the small town. As the man's ‘erub lay within the town the whole of it, as far as he is concerned, is rightly regarded as no bigger than four cubits.
^ʲnote:That spoken of by R. Joshua b. Levi.
^ᵏnote:Hence R. Idi's exclamation.
^ˡnote:A man who measures the two thousand cubits distance from the place which he acquired as his Sabbath abode or in which he deposited his ‘erub.
^ᵐnote:Supra 52b, Mishnah infra ad fin. The interior of a cave being presumably subject to the same law as the interior of a town, R. Joshua b. Levi's ruling in respect of the latter is obviously covered by the one relating to the former. An objection against R. Idi. Aliter: Why should R. Joshua R. Levi merely repeat a Mishnah?
^ⁿnote:R. Joshua b. Levis.
^ᵒnote:In the Mishnah. Hence also the justification of R. Idi's exclamation. (Cf. supra n. 8 ad fin).
^ᵖnote:In the final clause of the Mishnah just discussed.
^ᵠnote:Cf. supra n. 2.
^ʳnote:Sc. where no ‘erub had been deposited within either town, where in consequence the whole town cannot be regarded as four cubits in respect of the Sabbath limit, and where, as a result actual distances must be measured.
^ˢnote:Where the latter was situated entirely within the Sabbath limit of the former. If, for instance, the distance between the two towns was one thousand cubits and the smaller did not cover more than one thousand cubits the people of the larger town may walk through the whole of the smaller (which being within their Sabbath limit, is regarded as no bigger than four cubits) and another thousand cubits or more beyond it to complete their two thousand cubits Sabbath limit.
^ᵗnote:Since the larger town (cf. prev. n.) is not entirely situated within their Sabbath limit. They may, therefore, walk the distance of a thousand cubits between the two towns and another thousand cubits, to complete their Sabbath limit, within the larger town itself, but no further.
^ᵘnote:That was situated within the Sabbath limit of his own town.
^ᵛnote:In which his ‘erub had been deposited.
^ʷnote:Lit., ‘if’.
^ˣnote:So MS.M. Cur. edd. omit ‘cubits’.
^ʸnote:Which is regarded as the boundary of the town.
^ᶻnote:Lit., ‘and if not’, i.e., if no such partition was provided.
^ᵃᵃnote:Of the Sabbath limit of the town.
^ᵃᵇnote:All the town, in the absence of the partition, being regarded, for the reason to be given presently, as an occasional and irregular settlement which, in respect of Sabbath limits, cannot be treated as one unit of four cubits. Every house must be considered as a separate unit and the Sabbath limit of its tenants begins from that house.
^ᵃᶜnote:R. Joseph.
^ᵃᵈnote:V. supra 60b.
^ᵃᵉnote:In cases where a height of four handbreadths is enough.
^ᵃᶠnote:Owing to the steepness of the ravine.
^ᵃᵍnote:A higher barrier is consequently required.
^ᵃʰnote:On the Sabbath.
^ᵃⁱnote:Tosef. ‘Er. IV.
^ᵃʲnote:Being situated on the slope higher than Hamethan.
^ᵃᵏnote:Which connected all their houses into one town and thus enabled them to begin their Sabbath limit from the town boundary.
^ᵃˡnote:Having been situated on a lower part of the slope.
^ᵃᵐnote:At the base of their slope, in consequence of which (cf. supra p. 426, n. 9) only the tenants of the few houses that were within the Sabbath limit of Gader could be permitted to go up to that town, but the tenants of all the other houses that were without that limit could not.
^ᵃⁿnote:From Palestine to Babylon.
^ᵃᵒnote:‘Rabbi permitted’ etc. v. supra.
^ᵃᵖnote:Sc. It was an ordinance laid down by Rabbi that, while the people of Gader were allowed to visit Hamethan, the people of the latter town, for their own safety, shall not visit the former.
^ᵃᵠnote:If the ordinance had no bearing on the laws of Sabbath limits.
^ᵃʳnote:The people of Gader.
^ᵃˢnote:The Hamethan people.
^ᵃᵗnote:To Hamethan.
^ᵃᵘnote:Proverb. As visitors the Gaderites would not venture on a quarrel.
^ᵃᵛnote:If the Gaderites were at a disadvantage when at Hamethan.
^ᵃʷnote:The people of Gader.
^ᵃˣnote:Though the Gaderites, as visitors, would seek no quarrels at Hamethan, they would nevertheless defend themselves if attacked.
^ᵃʸnote:So with R. Han., contra Rashi (cf. Tosaf. s.v. rhg a.l.).
^ᵃᶻnote:Whose ends were four thousand cubits apart. In such a case (cf. supra 55a) the Sabbath limit is measured from the imaginary chord of the bow. The limit of Gader consequently included Hamethan which was no more than two thousand cubits distant from the chord. The position of the latter town, however, whose limit terminated at the Gader chord which was more than two thousand cubits distant from the center of its arc, prevented its inhabitants from walking to Gader which thus lay beyond their Sabbath limit.
^ᵇᵃnote:The people of Gader.
^ᵇᵇnote:The Sabbath limit of Gader terminated at the far end of Hamethan (the smaller town) while the Sabbath limit of Hamethan terminated in the middle of the large town of Gader. As all Hamethan lay within the Sabbath limit of Gader the people of the latter town were permitted to traverse its whole area (as if all the town were no bigger than four cubits) and distances completing the permitted two thousand cubits beyond it. As part of Gader, on the other hand, was without the Sabbath limit of Hamethan the people of the latter town could walk only to the end of their Sabbath limit.
^ᵇᶜnote:Specifying the authorship of each of the two last mentioned explanations.
^ᵇᵈnote:V. p. 427, n. 18.
^ᵇᵉnote:V. p. 427, n. 19.
^ᵇᶠnote:The people of Hamethan.
^ᵇᵍnote:In addition to the distances of two thousand cubits in all directions.
^ᵇʰnote:That was situated within its Sabbath limit.
^ᵇⁱnote:J.T., Alfasi and cur. edd. supra 60b read: ‘but the people . . . may not’. Cf. also R. Nahman's justification of the alternative readings of our Mishnah.
^ᵇʲnote:In addition to the distances of two thousand cubits in all directions.
^ᵇᵏnote:The Rabbis who differed from his view.
^ᵇˡnote:Sc. a person who did not deposit his ‘erub in the town in question but was measuring his way and advancing towards it from his home town or from a place where he had deposited his ‘erub.
^ᵇᵐnote:But no more.
^ᵇⁿnote:Of two thousand cubits.
^ᵇᵒnote:And even if that cave was inhabited. Only in the previous case where the ‘erub lay within the town or within the cave did the Rabbis regard the entire area of the town and cave respectively as no bigger than four cubits.