Eruvin 21a (כא.) — the Talmud in English

But a person,

even one of the pilgrims

(climbs up and climbs down) climbs [

grasping with his hands and feet the two walls of the pit on its two sides]

and descends

into the pit,

and climbs up

from it. Since he is able to do so, they did not permit him to rely on the partitions around the wells. [Edited according to Gaon Yaakov].

And we raise an objection to that which we said, that the partitions around the wells were not permitted for a person:

Is that so? But Rav Yosef said that Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said [Bach]:

Bach:

The partitions around the wells were permitted only for a well of living water.

And necessarily, this does not come to exclude the water of pits, whose water is merely collected [because a pit is inferior, as sometimes its water runs out, as we said at the beginning of the chapter]. For if so, let him teach: “The partitions around the wells were permitted only for a well”; why do I need the phrase “living water”? Necessarily, “living water” means clear water fit for drinking [Ritva].

And now this is difficult:

And if

you say that

for an animal

alone we permit it,

what difference is there to me whether it is living water or collected water,

meaning, water that is not clear [so one must force the explanation according to the Ritva].

And we answer: Although it is not permitted for a person, nevertheless

we require water that is fit for a person,

because since the water renders the partitions around the wells a partition, we require significant water.

With regard to the body of the matter: The partitions around the wells were permitted only for an animal, but a person

(climbs up and climbs down) [

climbs down and climbs up — Gaon Yaakov],

Gaon Yaakov.

and if the

pits

are wide,

so that he cannot grasp himself against the two walls of the pit on its two sides, descend, and drink,

for a person as well

it is permitted to draw water from the pit into the area between the partitions and drink.

And a person may not draw water and place it before his animal; but he may draw water and pour it before an animal, and it drinks on its own [

and this is the beraita that we cited above, on folio 20:].

Rav Anan challenged this: If so,

as the beraita teaches,

of what use are the partitions around the wells?!

And we are astonished at Rav Anan’s challenge:

“Of what use are they”

—is this rhetorical?! Surely they are useful

for drawing water from them;

so what is he challenging?

Rather,

this is how Rav Anan challenged:

What purpose is served by the head and most of the body of the cow

which the Mishna teaches? It is permitted to draw water and pour it before the cow even when its head and most of its body are not inside, since there is nothing to be concerned about [as we said above]. And we answer:

Abaye said [

and this is the matter that we cited above in the Gemara]:

Here, with what are we dealing? With a trough standing in the public domain, ten handbreadths high and four handbreadths wide, whose head extends between the partitions,

as we explained above.

Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that Rav said:

The burganin [huts of the city watchmen] that are located within seventy cubits and some additional amount of the city are incorporated [from the language of a pregnant woman] with the city; that is, it is as though the city extends as far as the burganin. From there onward, one measures the Shabbat limit of two thousand cubits for those who observe the eve of Shabbat in the city.

But

there are no burganin in Babylonia,

meaning that the burganin in Babylonia are not “incorporated” with the city, and the Shabbat limit is measured from the boundary of the city.

And

it is not permitted to construct

partitions around wells outside Eretz Yisrael,

apart from Babylonia.

And we explain the reason:

There are no burganin in Babylonia:

since

floodwaters are common

there [there are frequent water floods there] that wash away the burganin, and consequently they are not considered significant.

There are no partitions around wells outside Eretz Yisrael: Because academies are not common [

yeshivot], and we maintain that partitions around wells were permitted only for the animals of pilgrims and for the animals of those traveling for the sake of a mitzva. Since academies are not common there, with students traveling from city to city to study Torah, partitions around wells were not permitted there.

But conversely,

burganin outside Eretz Yisrael, and partitions around wells in Babylonia, where academies are common,

we construct!

Some say: Rav Yirmeya bar Abba said that

Rav said: There are neither burganin nor partitions around wells, neither in Babylonia nor in

the rest of

outside Eretz Yisrael.

And we explain the reason:

There are no burganin in Babylonia:

since

floodwaters are common

there, as stated above.

Burganin

outside Eretz Yisrael are also not permitted: because thieves are common,

stealing the huts; therefore they are not significant enough to be considered houses that can be incorporated with the city.

Partitions around wells in Babylonia are not permitted: because water is common [

water is readily available], so why should we need to permit them there?

Partitions around wells

outside Eretz Yisrael are also not permitted, because academies are not common.

Rav Hisda said to Mari, son of Rav Huna, son of Rav Yirmeya bar Abba: They say that you come from Barnash [

a place-name]

to Daniel’s synagogue, [

I have heard people say about you that you come from Barnash to the synagogue where Daniel used to pray [as it is written [Daniel 6:11]: “And its windows were open [toward] him in his upper chamber [with their direction] toward Jerusalem, and he prayed and gave thanks before Him”]]

and the

distance between them

was three parasangs [

three parasangs, which are twelve times the Shabbat limit of two thousand cubits]

on Shabbat!

Why did you rely

on leaving the boundary of Barnash? Surely there were

burganin

along the entire route, each one within seventy cubits and some additional amount of the next, all of which are incorporated with Barnash!

And he expressed his astonishment at them:

Did not the father of your father

[that is, Rav Yirmeya bar Abba, who was the father of Rav Huna, Mari’s father] say above

in the name of Rav: There are no burganin in Babylonia?!

He went out and showed him those towns that were absorbed within seventy cubits and some additional amount [

Mari went out and showed Rav Hisda ruined towns in which sections of the walls of the houses remained, scattered along the route, each one absorbed within seventy cubits of the adjacent one; that is, there was no distance of more than seventy cubits and some additional amount between them].

And those towns were “incorporated” with Barnash, as we say below: A burial monument that has not been breached is incorporated with the city, even though it is not an actual house. The same applies to ruined cities whose house walls remain standing.

Rav Hisda said: Mari bar Mar expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written: “For every limit [

for everything to which you assigned an end and measure — Ritva; and Meiri explained: for every desire, from the expression “My soul yearns and pines”]

I have seen a limit,” [

I knew and saw the end of that measure, how great it is — Ritva; see Rashi in Ein Yaakov] [but]

“Your mitzva is exceedingly broad,” [ “mitzva” means the Oral Torah, as explained in the Gemara, Berakhot 5a, according to our version, and in the introduction of Rambam to the Mishne Torah]

Here “commandment” means the Oral Torah, as explained in the Gemara of Berakhot 5a according to our version, and in the introduction of Rambam to the Mishneh Torah

exceedingly [

I did not know its measure — Ritva; see Rashi]?

David said this but did not explain it,

what the end of its measure is;

Job said it but did not explain

how large it is;

Ezekiel the prophet said it

but

did not explain it, until

the prophet

Zechariah son of Iddo came—

and explained it!

And we explain it:

David said it but did not explain it, as it is written: “For every limit I have seen a limit; Your mitzva is exceedingly broad”!

Job said it but did not explain it, as it is written: “Its measure is longer than the earth [

the letter he is pronounced, meaning: the measure of wisdom — Ramban in his commentary on Job]

and broader than the sea,”

but he did not explain how large it is!

Ezekiel said it but did not explain it, as it is written:

“And I saw, and behold, a hand was extended toward me, and behold, in it was a scroll of a book [

a scroll of the Oral Torah]. And He spread it before me, and it was written on the front and on the back” [

on its front and on its back],

“and written upon it” [

on it, Radak]

“lamentations, mourning, and woe.”

And since the verse was cited, we explain it:

“Lamentations”: This is the punishment of the righteous in this world,

for the righteous are punished for their sins in this world;

and similarly it says: “It is a lamentation, and they shall lament it,”

which demonstrates that what is mourned over because of calamity is called a “lamentation.”

“Mourning”: This is the reward of the righteous in the World to Come, and similarly it says:

that “mourning” is an expression of joy:

“Upon my melody on the lyre.”

“And woe”: This is the punishment of the wicked in the World to Come, and similarly it says: “Woe upon woe” [

one event upon another, calamity upon calamity. Menachem associated it with the meaning of breaking — Rashi on Ezekiel]

shall come.”

Until Zechariah son of Iddo came and explained it: “And he said to me: What do you see? And I said: I see a flying scroll” [

folded, as we translate: “It shall be square,” “doubled”] —

“flying,” Rabbi Hananel]

“its length is twenty cubits” [

with the cubit of the Holy One, blessed be He, Rashi]

“and its width is ten cubits; and when you spread it out” [

when you open it from its folds and spread it out],

“it becomes twenty

cubits long, as it was,

by twenty

cubits wide, since its width is doubled.

And it is written

in the words of Ezekiel cited above:

“It was written on the front” [

on the front]

“and on the back” [

and on the back],

“and when you peel it” [

when you place what you peeled from the scroll, its back, on the side facing the scroll’s front, after spreading it out from its folds],

how large does it become? Forty

cubits long, double what you had until now,

by twenty

cubits wide, as it was.

And it is written: “Who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and the heavens” [

the entire world]

“with a span” [

half a cubit]

“measured,” and so on,

demonstrating that the size of the world is half a cubit of the Holy One, blessed be He, by half a cubit.

Go and calculate: How many half-cubit-by-half-cubit squares are there in a scroll forty cubits long by twenty cubits wide, which is eight hundred square cubits [and every square cubit contains four half-cubit-by-half-cubit squares]?! You therefore have three thousand two hundred spans in the scroll [according to Rabbi Hananel and the Ritva; see Rashi]!

It follows that the entire world—

which is one half-cubit by one half-cubit [span]—

is one three-thousand-two-hundredth of the Torah!

And Rav Hisda said: Mari bar

Mar

expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written

in Jeremiah: “The Lord showed me, and behold, two baskets of

very good figs

—copper baskets—

set

—prepared—

before the Sanctuary of the Lord,”

after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, exiled Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, who was righteous, together with the craftsmen and the smiths—great Torah scholars: “craftsman,” because when he spoke everyone became silent like deaf people; and “smith,” because they would close matters and no one could open them—from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylonia.