Eruvin 38a (לח.) — the Talmud in English

Do you not concede

that there is reason for concern

lest the wineskin burst, and he be found retroactively drinking untithed produce?!

He said to them: When it bursts!

Mishna:

A person's place of residence for purposes of Shabbat is established when Shabbat or the festival begins, for the entire Shabbat or festival, with no possibility of changing it or dividing it.

The tannaim disagreed as to whether Shabbat and a Festival that are adjacent to one another constitute a single sanctity and therefore have one place of residence, with no possibility of dividing the place of residence between the days; or whether they constitute two sanctities, in which case their places of residence can be divided by placing an eruv, or two eruvin, in the ways that will be explained in the Mishna before us.

Rabbi Eliezer says: With regard to a Festival adjacent to Shabbat, whether before it or after it,

if he needed to travel on the first day to the east of the city and on the second day to its west,

a person may place two eruvin —

one in the east of the city and the other in the west of the city —

and say: My eruv

on the

first

that is, my eruv in the east shall acquire for me, when the first day begins,

the east.

And on the second

my eruv in the west shall acquire for me

the west.

Or he may say:

On the first day, the west, and on the second day, the east.

Alternatively, if he needs to travel outside the city's Shabbat limit only on the first day, while on the second day he need not move beyond his limit in either direction, and he does not wish to forfeit either the two thousand cubits of his limit to the east or the two thousand cubits of his limit to the west, he places one eruv on the side toward which he wishes to travel on the first day, and says:

My eruv

shall acquire for me only

on

day

one, and on

day

two

I am

like the people of my city;

or, if he needs to travel outside the limit only on the second day, he says:

My eruv

shall acquire for me only

on

day

two, and on

day

one

I am

like the people of my city,

who have two thousand cubits in every direction.

And the rationale of Rabbi Eliezer is that he maintains that a Festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another are not like one long day; rather, they are two sanctities, and each day has its own place of residence.

And the Sages say:

It is impossible to divide the place of residence of the two days, since they constitute one sanctity and are considered like one long day.

Rather:

Either he places

two eruvin

in one direction

for both days,

or he does not place an eruv at all,

and on both days he is like the people of his city.

The Mishna returns and explains:

Either he places

two eruvin

for two days

in one direction,

or he does not place an eruv at all. [

That is what it initially stated: “Either he places an eruv in one direction.” And the Gemara explains why both formulations are necessary.]

The Mishna now explains, according to the Sages,

what he should do

so that the eruv will be effective for both days, in the same place of residence, as stated!?

The Mishna assumes that, according to the Sages, although Shabbat and the Festival constitute one sanctity and one long day, he must nevertheless acquire the eruv anew when the second day begins.

If Shabbat follows the Festival:

he brings it

the agent who places the eruv

at

the beginning of day

one

to the end of two thousand cubits,

and remains there until dark

[he remains in that place until nightfall, and acquires a place of residence for his sender for that day],

and takes it

the eruv, so that it will not be lost before the beginning of the second day [for if it were lost, he would not have an acquired place of residence for the following day],

and comes back

to his home .

The next day, on the Festival, before Shabbat begins, he again comes to the place of his eruv, with the eruv that he placed there the previous day, and

remains until dark

the agent

over it

[over the eruv that he brings there]

and eats it

there if he wishes,

and comes back

to his home without the eruv, since it is Shabbat.

If he does not act through an agent, he does not need an eruv at all. Tosafot Yom Tov.

And it emerges that

the agent

benefits

both

from his going,

as he enables his sender to travel by means of the eruv on the following day,

and

also

benefits

the agent

from

eating

his eruv

at the place where it was placed.

Rashi explained: With regard to a Festival that occurs after Shabbat, when he cannot bring his eruv on Shabbat for the sake of the Festival, what should he do?

He brings it on the first day, on Friday evening, and returns there on the second day, on Shabbat itself, to see whether his eruv is still there; he remains there until dark, and eats it there or at home.

And if

his eruv was eaten

on

the first day,

his

eruv

was effective for him only

for

the

first day, and his eruv

is not effective

for the second day.

The rationale of the Sages is explained in the Gemara.

Rabbi Eliezer said

and challenged

them [

them ]

Rabbi Eliezer:

Since you say that an eruv must be placed for both days, and if his eruv was eaten on the first day, the eruv is not effective for him on the second day, you necessarily

concede to me that they are two sanctities!

For if they constituted one sanctity, this would be like a case in which his eruv was eaten after twilight, in which case it acquired a place of residence for that entire day.

And since you too maintain that they are two sanctities, why may he not place one eruv for each day in a different direction?!

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: And the Sages say: Either he places an eruv in one direction, or he does not place an eruv at all; either he places an eruv for two days, or he does not place an eruv at all.

We ask: Why do I need both formulations?

Is it not the case that the first statement in the Mishna, “Either he places an eruv

in one direction” —

what does that mean [

what is its meaning]? Necessarily, that he places an eruv only in one direction

for both days!

And likewise, the later statement in the Mishna, “Either he places an eruv

for two days” —

what does that mean?

Its meaning is necessarily that he places an eruv only

in one direction!

And one should challenge: What did the tanna add with his words? After all,

they are

his

initial words?!

And they explain:

This is what the Sages said to Rabbi Eliezer:

Do

you not concede that one does not place an eruv for a single day,

half of it to the north and half of it to the south, [

or half of it to the north and half of it like the people of the city, Ritva].

Rather: “Either he places an eruv in one direction [for the entire day], or he does not place an eruv at all”?!

Rabbi Eliezer said to them

Rabbi Eliezer:

Indeed [

true! And this is as we translate “Indeed, Sarah your wife will bear you a son” as bekushta, “truly”].

They said to him:

Just as one does not place an eruv for a single day, half to the north and half to the south, so one does not place an eruv for two days —

for a Festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another —

one day to the east and one day to the west.

Rather: “Either he places an eruv for two days [in one direction], or he does not place an eruv at all” !

And

the Gemara explains the rationale of

Rabbi Eliezer:

It is not comparable.

There,

on a single day, there is

one sanctity,

and therefore it is impossible to divide the eruv.

But

here,

with regard to a Festival and Shabbat, there are

two sanctities

!

The Gemara brings a beraita in which Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages disagree in a similar manner.

Rabbi Eliezer said to them

Do

you not concede that if one established his eruv with his feet [

that he went to the end of two thousand cubits and remained there for Shabbat]

on the first day,

his going is effective only to acquire a place of residence on the first day, and

he establishes his eruv with his feet

again

on

the second day

if he wishes to travel beyond the city's limit on the second day as well?

Or if

his eruv was eaten on the first day —

you concede to me — that

he does not go out on its account on the second day!

They said to him: Indeed!

You are indeed correct in this.

Rabbi Eliezer said to them:

Precisely,

if so, according to your words,

they are two sanctities,

so why may he not place two eruvin in two directions?

And

the Talmud explains the rationale of

the Sages [

Ritva]:

They are uncertain

whether they are two sanctities or one sanctity.

And

therefore, we proceed

here —

not to place two eruvin —

stringently,

as perhaps it is one sanctity!

And here —

not to rely on an eruv made on the first day —

stringently,

as perhaps they are two sanctities.

They said

the Sages challenged

him,

the Sages,

to Rabbi Eliezer [

the beraita there, Ritva]: Do

you not concede that one may not establish an eruv initially when he did not establish it during twilight on the eve of the Festival [because he had no need to leave, and the need to leave on Shabbat arose only later],

when he did not establish it during twilight on the eve of the Festival [because he had no need to leave, and the need to leave on Shabbat arose only later],

from the Festival for Shabbat?!

He said to them: Indeed!

They said to him:

Precisely,

if so, you maintain that

it is one sanctity!

And it is like a single day, during which one cannot establish an eruv halfway through the day if he did not establish it during twilight. Since that is so, how can one establish an eruv for half the day in one direction and half the day in the other direction?!

And

the Talmud explains the rationale of

Rabbi Eliezer: There,

the reason that one may not initially establish an eruv on the Festival for Shabbat is

because of preparation,

since he would thereby be preparing on the Festival for Shabbat [as Rabba derives on folio 38b from the verse, “And prepare that which they shall bring,” that a Festival may not prepare for Shabbat, according to the Rishonim], and not because it is one day.

The Sages taught: If one established his eruv with his feet on the first day

of a Festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another,

he establishes his eruv with his feet,

meaning that he must establish his eruv with his feet again

on the second day.

If his eruv was eaten on the first day —

he does not go out on its account on the second day,

rather, he is like the people of his city, and there is no need to be concerned that perhaps his eruv acquired a place of residence for him on the first day and also for the second day, in which case he would be prohibited from leaving the city in the direction opposite his eruv. Certainly, they are two sanctities, and there is no uncertainty concerning him,

the words of Rabbi.

Rabbi Yehuda —

disagrees with Rabbi's ruling that on the second day he is like the people of his city both leniently and stringently — and

says:

It is uncertain whether it is one sanctity, in which case his eruv from the first day was effective to acquire a place of residence for him on the second day as well, at the place of his eruv, and he forfeited the two thousand cubits opposite his eruv; or whether they are two sanctities, in which case he is like the people of his city, who are prohibited from traveling beyond the place of his eruv [which is at the end of two thousand cubits from the city].

Therefore, he is permitted only within the two thousand cubits between his eruv and his city, since whichever way one considers it, he is permitted within that area.