Eruvin 39a — the Talmud in English

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a person may not stroll along [

from Rashi it appears that we read

“until”]

the entrance of the province

on Shabbat or on a festival close to nightfall,

in order that he enter the bathhouse—

the one found there—

immediately

when it becomes dark.

It follows that even though he performs merely walking and says nothing, it is forbidden.

And since this is so, had Rabba heard this beraita, he would have

retracted his statement.

For if through speech—to say: “My resting place is in my place”—it would be forbidden on account of preparation, through silence too it would be forbidden.

And we reject this:

It is not so!

Actually,

Rabba heard

this beraita.

And

nevertheless

he did not retract his statement.

For there

in the beraita,

the matter is evident

that he came there in order to know what his field needed, and the Merciful One said: “from finding your occupation”; and likewise at the entrance of the province.

But

here,

when he goes outside the city as far as the boundary—

the matter is not evident

that he is going in order to establish an eruv for the next day.

For

if he is a Torah scholar, we say:

surely

a teaching has drawn him away [

he is contemplating words of Torah and his mind is not upon it].

And if he is an ignoramus, we say:

surely

his donkey has been lost [

a donkey of his was lost].

The essential matter: Rav Yehuda said: If he established an eruv with his feet on the first day, he establishes an eruv with his feet on the second day; if he established an eruv with bread on the first day, he establishes an eruv with bread on the second day;

and if he

established an eruv with bread on the first day, he

can

establish an eruv with his feet on the secon

d day; but

if he established an eruv with his feet on the first day, he may not establish an eruv with bread on the second day, for one does not initially establish an eruv

on a festival for the sake of Shabbat

with bread.

That is, when he did not establish an eruv yesterday for the festival with bread. And the reason is: on account of preparation, “for now he gives it the designation of an eruv” [the language of Rashi. And apparently the intention is: whatever is done initially requires a declaration, and everything that requires a declaration involves preparation, as we said above; and see also Rashi, s.v. “This too is precise”].

And we explain that which Rav Yehuda said:

If he established an eruv with bread on the first day, he establishes an eruv with bread on the second day.

Shmuel said: And specifically with that same bread.

For if not, one does not initially establish an eruv with bread.

Rav Ashi said: It is also precise [

that specifically with that same bread upon which he gave a designation yesterday and now remains silent is what is permitted. But it is not permitted to establish an eruv with different bread on the second day, since he needs to give it the designation of an eruv now]—from

our Mishna,

which

teaches:

How does he act? He brings it on the first day and waits until nightfall over it, and takes it and comes away; on the second day he waits until nightfall over it, and eats it and comes away.

We see that he must establish an eruv on the second day with the same bread with which he established it yesterday; therefore it says, “and waits until nightfall over it, and takes it and comes away,” and the reason is on account of preparation, as we said.

And

the Gemara explains the reason of

the Rabbis [

Abaye and Rabba bar Ḥanan, who expressed astonishment above concerning Rabba’s preparation] who did not take heed of this precision:

Perhaps there—

in our Mishna—

he informs us of good advice

so that he should not lose and forfeit his bread and have to trouble himself to bring another, but in fact, if he wishes, he may establish an eruv even with another one.

Mishna:

The preceding Mishna dealt with the matter of Shabbat and a festival, whether they constitute one sanctity and one long day, or whether they are two sanctities.

And in our Mishna the status of the two festival days of Rosh Hashanah will be clarified, with a practical consequence concerning their eruv of boundaries.

According to Rashi, our Mishna was stated with regard to the period when two days of Rosh Hashanah were observed only outside the Land of Israel, whereas in the Land they observed only one day, in accordance with the sanctification of the new moon.

Rabbi Yehuda says: With regard to Rosh Hashanah, when he was afraid lest it be extended,

one who was found in the Diaspora and was afraid lest the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem extend the month of Elul and Rosh Hashanah be postponed—according to his reckoning—by one day; and for this reason he needs to observe two days with the sanctity of a festival, and he needs to go on the first day in one direction and on the second day in another direction:

A person may establish two eruvin

to the east and to the west, and say:

My eruv

that is on the eastern side shall acquire for me a resting place

o

n the

first day to the east, and

my eruv that is on the western side shall acquire for me a resting place

o

n the

second day to the west.

Or he says [according to his desire to go]:

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

Or he places one eruv [when he wishes to go only on one day] and says:

My eruv is for the first day, and on the second day I am like the people of my city.

Or

my eruv is for the second day, and on the first day

I am

like the people of my city.

But the Sages did not agree with him,

as the Gemara explains their reason.

And Rabbi Yehuda further said:

One who had on Rosh Hashanah a basket [a basket] of untithed produce, which he was forbidden to rectify on the festival [for one does not separate teruma on a festival, since it is a rabbinic prohibition, as stated in tractate Beitza], if he wishes to rectify it:

a person may stipulate,

and separate teruma and tithe from it

for the entire basket on the first festival day

of Rosh Hashanah, and say: If today is an ordinary day [because the court extended Elul], then these are teruma and tithe. And if today is sacred [because they did not extend it], my words have no effect.

And tomorrow, on the second day, he stipulates again and says: If yesterday was sacred and my separation did not take effect, then they are teruma and tithe today [for if yesterday was sacred, today is an ordinary day]. And if yesterday was an ordinary day and the teruma and tithe already took effect, so much the better.

And he eats it

the produce of the basket

o

n the festival

second day

of Rosh Hashanah, for on this day, whichever way one considers it, the teruma and tithe have taken effect.

And likewise an egg that was laid on the first day—

which is forbidden to eat on the festival, as stated at the beginning of Beitza—

may be eaten on the second day,

for whichever way one considers it, it is permitted. If the first day was sacred, now it is already an ordinary day and it is permitted; and if today is sacred, the egg was laid on the eve of the festival and it is permitted.

But the Sages did not agree with him,

as the Gemara explains their reason.

Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinos says: The one who passes before the ark on the festival day of Rosh Hashanah

mentions in his prayer also the New Moon, and

says

on the first day:

“Strengthen us [

hasten us and strengthen us, as in: “And we shall move swiftly before our brothers, the children of Israel,” which the children of Gad and the children of Reuben said concerning their going out to war]

Hashem our God, on this day of the New Moon, whether today or tomorrow!”

That is: whether it is today or whether it will be tomorrow.

And tomorrow he says: “

Strengthen us on this day of the New Moon,

whether today or yesterday.”

But the Sages did not agree with him,

as the Gemara explains concerning what they disagree, and their reason.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: But the Sages did not agree with him.

And we explain:

Who did not agree with him?

He said,

the expositor

Rav: It is Rabbi Yosei.

For it was taught: The Sages agree [

for they hold in the preceding Mishna, on page 38a, that a festival and Shabbat adjacent to one another have one sanctity and one resting place for both, and they disagree with Rabbi Eliezer, who holds that they are two sanctities and have two resting places]

with Rabbi Eliezer, concerning Rosh Hashanah, when he was afraid lest it be extended,

that

a person may establish two eruvin, and say: My eruv is on the first day

to the east and on the second day to the west;

or

on the first day to the west and on the second day to the east;

or

my eruv is on the first day, and on the second day I am like the people of my city;

or

my eruv is on the second day, and on the first day I am like the people of my city.

And because the two festival days of Rosh Hashanah are observed only because of uncertainty, and if one is an ordinary day, the other is sacred, they are therefore like two sanctities, with a separate resting place for each day.

Rabbi Yosei forbids!

And this is because Rabbi Yosei holds that for two reasons one must observe two days of Rosh Hashanah in the Diaspora:

a. Because of the uncertainty lest the court have extended the month of Elul, because the moon was not seen in order to sanctify it on the first day.

b. Because sometimes the court in Jerusalem establishes both days to be certainly sacred, even though witnesses came on the first day that the moon had been seen—as will be explained.

And since this is so, because it is possible that both are sacred and it is one sanctity, it is therefore impossible to establish two eruvin for two days.

And for this reason too, our Mishna teaches that an egg laid on one day is forbidden on the other, and it is forbidden to rectify the basket by means of a stipulation, for we are also uncertain: perhaps both days are certainly sacred.

And when does the court establish that both days will certainly be sacred?

When witnesses came on the thirtieth day of the month of Elul, after the time of the offering of the daily offering between the evenings, to testify that the new moon had been seen.

For we hold that sanctity is observed on the thirtieth day of the month of Elul, since it is possible that witnesses will come that very day to testify that they saw the moon, and the court will sanctify the month, and that day will be the festival of Rosh Hashanah.

Therefore, sanctity is observed on it as a matter of uncertainty from the beginning of the day, even before the witnesses come.

But in the morning, the Levites would recite a song of an ordinary day [for even if the month had been sanctified before the morning daily offering, they would recite over the offering only the song of an ordinary day, since they did not institute the recitation of another song, because in most years it is an ordinary day, Rashi, Rosh Hashanah 30b].

And when the afternoon daily offering arrived, since the witnesses had still not come, they recited over it a song of an ordinary day.

And since they had already recited a song of an ordinary day, it turned out that if the court accepted the witnesses after the offering of the afternoon daily offering, it would become clear that the Levites had not recited over the offering the song appropriate to it.

Therefore, the Sages instituted that if witnesses came on the thirtieth day of the month of Elul from the afternoon offering onward [which is the time of the offering of the daily offering between the evenings], they would not sanctify the month on that day; rather, they would postpone the sanctification of the month until the next day, and only from the following day would they count its establishment, so that they would be able to recite the song appropriate to the afternoon daily offering on the festival.

Nevertheless, even at the completion of the thirtieth day they continued to observe sanctity on it, as at its beginning, for so the Sages instituted: they should observe that day as sacred even at the completion of the day, although they then knew with certainty that the festival would be postponed to the following day [after they instituted that witnesses would not be accepted], and it would be the following day that would be sacred.

And it follows that at the completion of the thirtieth day, after the witnesses had arrived and they had not accepted them, sanctity was observed upon them [by force of the enactment of the Sages, certainly], and on the following day too sanctity was observed certainly, by the fundamental law.

And thus

Rabbi Yosei said to them

the Sages: Is it not so that

you agree that if witnesses came from the afternoon offering onward—

they observe

also

that day as sacred and

also

the following day as sacred!