Eruvin 38a — the Talmud in English

Do you not concede

that one must be concerned

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

He said to them: When it bursts!

Mishna:

A person's Shabbat residence is fixed at the onset of Shabbat or the festival for the entire Shabbat or festival, without the possibility of changing it or dividing it.

And the tannaim disputed whether Shabbat and a festival adjacent to one another are one sanctity, and one Shabbat residence belongs to them, without the possibility of dividing the Shabbat residence between the days; or whether they are two sanctities, and it is possible to divide their Shabbat residence by placing an eruv, or two eruvin, in the ways that will be explained in the Mishna before us.

Rabbi Eliezer says: When a festival is adjacent to Shabbat, whether before it or after it,

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

a person places two eruvin—

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

and says: My eruv

on

the first!

That is to say: my eruv that is in the east shall acquire for me at the onset of the first day

to the east.

And on the second

my eruv that is in the west shall acquire for me,

to the west.

Or he says:

On the first to the west and on the second to the east.

Or when he needs to go outside the city's boundary only on the first day, and on the second day he does not need to move from his boundary, neither in this direction nor in that direction, and he does not wish to lose either the two thousand cubits of his boundary to the east or the two thousand cubits of his boundary to the west: he places one eruv on the side to which he wishes to go on the first day, and says:

My eruv

shall acquire for me only

on

day

one, and on

the

second

I am

like the people of my city;

or when he needs to go outside the boundary only on the second day, he says:

My eruv

shall acquire for me only

on

day

two, and on

the

first

I am

like the people of my city,

who have two thousand cubits in every direction.

And the reason of Rabbi Eliezer is: because he holds that a festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another are not like one long day, but are two sanctities, and each day has one Shabbat residence.

And the Sages say:

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

Rather:

either he places

two eruvin

in one direction

for the two days,

or he does not place an eruv at all,

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

And 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.

And this is what it initially says: “Either he places an eruv in one direction.” And in the Gemara it explains: Why do I need both?

Now the Mishna explains according to the Sages

how should he act

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

The Mishna assumes that according to the Sages, although Shabbat and a festival are one sanctity and one long day, nevertheless he must return and acquire an eruv also at the onset of the second day.

If Shabbat follows the festival:

he transports it

the agent who places the eruv

at

the onset of day

one

to the end of two thousand cubits,

and remains there until dark [

he remains in that place until it becomes dark, and acquires Shabbat residence for his sender for that day],

and takes it

the eruv, so that it will not be lost before the onset of the second day [for if it is lost, he will not have acquired an eruv for the following day],

and comes

to his home.

And he again comes to the place of his eruv on the following day, on the festival, before the onset of Shabbat, with the eruv that he placed yesterday, and

remains until dark

the agent

over it [

over the eruv that he brings there]

and eats it

there if he wishes,

and comes

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

And if he does not do it by means of an agent, he does not need an eruv at all. Tosafot Yom Tov.

And it is found that

the agent

gains

both

through his walking,

for he gains his sender the possibility of walking by means of the eruv on the following day,

and

also the agent

gains

the agent

through

eating his

eruv,

at the place where it was placed.

And Rashi explained: And when the festival occurs after Shabbat, when he cannot transport his eruv on Shabbat for the sake of the festival, how should he act:

He transports it on the first day, on the eve of Shabbat, and returns and goes there on the second day, on Shabbat itself, to see whether his eruv remains, and remains over it until dark, and eats it there or at home.

And if

his eruv was eaten

his eruv

on the first day,

his

eruv

benefited him only

for

the

first day, and his eruv does not

benefit

for the second.

And the reason of the Sages is explained in the Gemara.

He said

and challenged

(to them) [

to them ]

Rabbi Eliezer:

Since you say that one must place an eruv on both days, and if his eruv was eaten on the first day the eruv does not benefit him for the second, inevitably

you concede to me that they are two sanctities!

For if they are one sanctity, this is like a case in which his eruv was eaten after twilight, when he acquired Shabbat residence for that entire day.

And since you too hold that they are two sanctities—why should he not place an eruv 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:

And we ask: Why do I need both?

For that which we initially learned, “Either he places an eruv

in one direction” —

what is it? [

What is its meaning?] Inevitably, that he places an eruv only in one direction

for two days!

And likewise that which we subsequently learned, “Either he places an eruv

for two days”—

what is it?

Its meaning is, inevitably, that he places an eruv only

in one direction!

And let it be challenged: What did the tan[n]ay add in his words? For—

it is

his words

the first ones?!

And we explain:

This is what the Sages said to Rabbi Eliezer:

And do you

not concede that one does not place an eruv for one 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

But [

Indeed! And just as we translate “But Sarah your wife will bear a son for you”—bekushta].

They said to him:

Just as one does not place an eruv for one day, half of it to the north and half of it 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 reason of

Rabbi Eliezer:

It is not comparable.

There,

on one day,

one sanctity

it is, and therefore it is impossible to divide the eruv.

But

here,

on a festival and Shabbat,

two sanctities

they are!

And the Gemara brings a beraita in which Rabbi Eliezer and the Sages disputed in a similar manner.

Rabbi Eliezer said to them

And do you

not concede that if he made an eruv with his feet [

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

on the first day,

his walking benefits him only to acquire Shabbat residence on the first day. And he

makes an eruv with his feet

again

on the

second

day if he wishes to go from the city's boundary also on the second day.

Or if

his eruv was eaten on the first day—

you indeed concede to me—that

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

They said to him: But!

Indeed, in this you are correct.

Rabbi Eliezer said to them:

Indeed,

if so, according to your words,

they are two sanctities,

so why should he not place two eruvin for two directions?

And

the Talmud explains the reason of

the Sages [

Ritva]:

It is doubtful to them

whether they are two sanctities or one sanctity.

And

therefore we proceed

here—

not to place two eruvin—

stringently,

for perhaps it is one sanctity!

And here—

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

stringently,

for perhaps they are two sanctities.

They said

and challenged

him

the Sages

to Rabbi Eliezer [

the beraita there, Ritva]: And do you

not concede that one does not initially place an eruv,

when he did not place an eruv during twilight on the eve of the festival [because he did not need to go out, and a need to go out on Shabbat arose for him],

from the festival to Shabbat?!

He said to them: But!

They said to him:

Indeed,

if so, do you hold that

it is one sanctity!

For it is like one day, on which he cannot place an eruv at midday if he did not place one during twilight. And since so, how can he place an eruv for half the day in this direction and half the day in that direction?!

And

the Talmud explains the reason of

Rabbi Eliezer: There,

the fact that it is not effective to place an eruv initially on the festival for Shabbat has as its reason

preparation,

since he is found preparing from the festival for Shabbat [as Rabbah derives on page 38b from the verse “And they shall prepare that which they bring,” that a festival does not prepare for Shabbat, the early authorities], and not because it is one day.

The Sages taught: If he made an eruv with his feet on the first day—

of a festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another—

he makes an eruv with his feet,

that is to say: he must return and make an 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 he need not be concerned lest the eruv that he acquired on the first day acquired for him also for the second, with the result that it would be forbidden for him to go out from the city toward the side opposite his eruv. Certainly they are two sanctities, and there is no uncertainty concerning him,

the words of Rabbi.

Rabbi Judah—

disagrees with that which Rabbi holds, that on the second day he is like the people of his city both for leniency and for stringency—and

says:

It is uncertain whether it is one sanctity, and his eruv on the first day was effective to acquire Shabbat residence also on the second day at the place of his eruv, and he lost the two thousand cubits opposite his eruv; or whether they are two sanctities, and he is like the people of his city, who are forbidden to walk farther than the place of his eruv [which is at the end of two thousand cubits from the city].

Therefore: he is permitted only the two thousand cubits between his eruv and his city, for either way he is permitted within them.