Talking Talmud

Make way for the wealthy! Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (and R. Akiva) each showed respect to those who were wealthy. And also thought they should toe the line of a standards of dress. But Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi was wealthy himself! Why all the homage to wealth? Also - the case of someone who goes away for Shabbat (or the weekend, if not Jewish) - what happens to the courtyard they left behind without partic...

The case of 2 homes that separated by 3 ruins. Each can dump things into the ruin closest to them, respectively, but they are prohibited from using the middle one. (Though halakhah says they can both use the middle). R. Elazar hears this and goes to confront Rav (as we last saw him go confront Shmuel - never mind that Rav and Shmuel lived in different places!). But didn't Rav himself say that the...

When the Gemara not only interprets, but reinterprets the Mishnah. Specifically, the two-story homes, and those who live in the upstairs homes. "To the courtyard" - both residents really do have access! The mishnah is contradictory, to what we know from everywhere else - so the Gemara's reinterpretation seems necessary. Also, the case of two-story homes, where the top story balcony hangs out over...

Standardized measurements are not yet in place in the time of the Talmud. So what size is a se'ah? There's a range presented on the daf, in a bit of a whirlwind. Also - Residents of two-story homes that open to the courtyard who forgot to make an eruv - and what it means to be upstairs when it comes to exiting to the courtyard, or downstairs and sharing space with the upstairs people.

Whenever there's a mishnaic statement that includes R. Yehudah's opinion, and it I closed the wording of "aimatai," he's clarifying not arguing -- when does that apply? The Gemara's case is the populations that are disqualified from giving testimony - all gambling categories, and people who mess around with other people's money, which suggest the person is not trustworthy. The Gemara qualifies tha...

What foods work to make an eruv? Not salt and water, and possibly a whole loaf of bread. Why pieces of bread would not be sufficient - because of enmity, no less - seems to be perfectly in line with the cooperative efforts of eruv. Plus: bread that's not fit for a dog, and how today it just might be gourmet. Also: Giving a coin to a shopkeeper to enlist him as proprietor of an eruv becomes a compl...

First, mention of eruv tavshilin. Then: A disagreement between Rav and Shmuel whether one needs to take possession of the eruv. And then that comes to a head in a real case, in which a mother-in-law prepared food for the daughter-in-law's eruv, but the daughter-in-law was not involved. The case is then explored by many, thinking to be more leniently, and, at the end of the day, the conclusion appe...

3 mishnayot on things that can come between courtyards and change the need for eruvin: 1. A ditch between two courtyards. The Gemara delves into the authority behind the mishnah's psak, and also attempts a comparison and then rejects it. 2. A haystack that is between 2 courtyards that is 10 tefachim high functions as a partition, until the livestock from either/both courtyards reduce it to lower t...

A ladder that is dug out if the wall - handholds - must cover the whole height of the ladder. Which leads into the next case, that isn't quite a ladder: namely, a tree. Note that you wouldn't otherwise be able to climb the tree on Shabbat, but what about in its function as a means to ascend the wall? What about the tree as a place to put your eruv? It seems that at the end of the day, Shabbat over...

The case of a wall between courtyards, and that wall changes - whether because the ground changes or the wall changes. For example, if you have a basin right next to the wall - which the Gemara develops and refines, when the original case doesn't hold up to scrutiny - from adding dirt, a rim, a trowel, and a comparison to turnips. Alternatively, bringing a ladder to the wall - whether an Egyptian...

When you have an outer house and an inner house, is the outer house a gatehouse, which would have implications for eruvin - in some ways, a study on how different spaces function differently with regard to different people. Chapter 7: A wndow in the wall that separates two courtyards - at a specific point in the wall - does that interfere with the partition function? Are the two courtyards one, or...

The case of a courtyard inside a courtyard - what happens if the inner people established an eruv, but the outer people did not? Or the reverse? Or if they made an eruv for each separate courtyard, but not together? And all the other permutations. Note that the principle here precludes individuals from establishing eruvin. Also, R. Yosef on the case of inner/outer courtyards - in which he incorrec...

In the context of the alleyway cooperative and the courtyard cooperative, and the minimum requirements for the number of people participating: is one house on one courtyard on one alleyway really enough to merit an eruv? Shmuel seems to have said yes (he confirms that he said as much!). And R. Eliezer can't believe it. But when he confronts Shmuel, Shmuel is silent, in response. Which leaves us gu...

How do eruvin reflect the relationships of the people joining together in the eruv? For example, students who eat out and about (literally, in the fields), and then would sleep at the rebbe's house. Does the eating place or the sleeping place determine the starting point to measure an eruv techumin? The Gemara testifies to the phenomenon of the different cases - placing the eruv where one sleeps,...

A dad of two mishnayot. 1. The case of several groups in a large hall... A dispute whether every group would need to contribute to an eruv in that space or not. When are physical dividers among the groups considered sufficient partitions to divide among the people, and when are they low enough to simply divide the space, but not line up halakhic areas for eruv. Which leads us to speculate about th...

If you have a partnership with those who live on the same courtyard - where everyone owns wine, for example - that precludes the need for an eruv. But what if one person owns oil instead? Also, some returning concepts in terms of joint ownership and "yesh Bereirah." Also, if your oil is terumah and your wine is not, and they don't mix, is that enough separation?? Plus - a shituf mavoi AND an eruv...

The case of 5 homes on a courtyard, where one forgot to join in the eruv, and he therefore renounces his rights to the courtyard, so that everyone else can carry - does he have to do so before each one of the other 4 who live there? It ends up being a dispute between Abaye and Rabbah. Also: Can an heir to one who dies on Shabbat do that renouncing on Shabbat, and thereby allow an eruv for the neig...

A person who goes out with a coral ring and hides it from the eyes of R. Yehudah HaNasi on Shabbat, so as not to be obviously carrying on Shabbat -- that kind of respect for Shabbat allows that same person to renounce his ownership rights within a courtyard, and enabling others to carry. [What's What: Mumar.] Brazen desecration of Shabbat becomes the measuring stick for the sinner - based on wheth...

The case of the need for warm water for a baby to be circumcised, in the absence of an eruv. Abaye explains why neither he nor Rava were up on the home's eruvin, including his own inability to contribute bread. Note that the food of the eruv is not symbolic! Other similar cases - if the mother needs hot water on Shabbat, a non-Jew can heat it for her. But only if she seems incapable of managing ot...

When there's a non-Jew who lives on the same courtyard or alleyway as Jews, and the non-Jew has another exit from his house, out to a valley... which door gets the primary use? Notably, because of that second door, he doesn't negate the Jews' ability to make an eruv chatzerot. Why is his exit to the valley considered his primary used exit? Because it's uniquely his. But what if it opens to a small...

What it means to negate other people's ability to carry within an eruv chatzerot - how that happens, when one potential participant in the cooperative doesn't join, whether out of spite or simply not being Jewish, for example, and the range in between. Note that these cases are indeed practical - "real world halakhah," more so than the theoretical expansion of policy. The goal becomes circumventin...

R. Sheshet says he can exempt the entire world from responsibility for any sin that anyone may have done - because of the verse that equates mourning for the Temple with drunkenness. But transactions made while drunk are upheld when sober. Rather - don't pray when drunk. Especially if you're really intoxicated. Though if you're truly as drunk as can be (as drunk as Lot!), you won't be held account...

What can you do when a non-Jew lives on your courtyard and doesn't want to contribute to an eruv? Among the solutions suggested are establishing better terms with the non-Jew, including monetarily (rather than getting rid of eruv!). We think this is a lovely solution, and R. Nachman agrees, calling the halakhah an excellent one! Which is unusual - that Chazal assess the halakhot. More: When the Ge...

Regarding the prohibition of answering halakhah in the presence of one's teacher: R. Eliezer tells his wife, Imma Shalom, that he doubts the one who taught halakhah in his presence would make it through the year. Which comes to pass. Which is plenty eerie - and he credits his prediction on this tradition that one is not allowed to teach halakhah before his teachers. Plus: The case of Yehoshua ben...

A new perek (#6), a new mishnah... What happens when there's no possibility of carrying, even given the hope of an eruv hatzerot. One who lives on the same courtyard as a non-Jew (or a Samaritan or a Sadducee), none of whom accept the rabbinic authority that establishes eruv, cannot be active sharers of space when it comes to eruv. Alternatively, the problem isn't the one Jew among other non-Jews,...