Eruvin 74a — the Talmud in English

until there are

two

houses

in each courtyard,

and

two

courtyards open into it

of the alley.

And presumably, they permitted this alley like any other alley, with a lehi and a korah.

And therefore: if the courtyards were open to one another, and they made an eruv together by way of their entrances, they are considered like one courtyard, and this alley has not two courtyards but only one courtyard, and it is not permitted with a lehi and a korah, and it is impossible to carry in the alley.

And for this reason it does not teach: “open to one another.”

For an alley is not permitted with a lehi and a korah, according to Rav, unless there was at least one courtyard that was not joined with its fellow courtyards. Or, the courtyards were on the two sides of the alley, so that they are joined together only by means of the alley between them—Rashi.

And Shmuel said: Even if

a house was open into the alley,

one house

without a courtyard,

and one courtyard

into which one house was open, it is permitted with a lehi and a korah.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Even if

there was

one ruin

open to the alley, and in addition there was a courtyard with a house open to the alley, it is permitted with a lehi and a korah.

Said

he raised a question

Abaye to Rav Yosef:

Did

Rabbi Yohanan say even in the case of a vineyard path

that was open to the alley, and there was another courtyard and house there, that the alley is permitted with a lehi and a korah?

He said to him

Rav Yosef

to Abaye: Rabbi Yohanan said only in the case of a ruin, which is fit for dwelling.

But a vineyard path, which is not fit for dwelling—

no

did he say.

Rav Huna Hinnana said: And Rabbi Yohanan followed

his position, for he permitted carrying in an alley to which a ruin was open by means of a lehi and a korah, even though that ruin had not joined in the alley, for a ruin, which is not a place of dwelling, does not prohibit the rest of the inhabitants of the alley, and does not join in the alley—

according to his reasoning:

For we learned:

Even though the Sages prohibited taking out from a house to a courtyard and from one house to another, nevertheless,

both the roofs

of the houses,

and the enclosures

[an enclosure outside the city, to bring wood there for storage],

and the courtyards

of separate owners—

are one domain

[since they are not a place of dwelling, and it is permitted to carry from roof to roof and from courtyard to courtyard, or from roof to courtyard and from courtyard to roof]

for vessels that spent Shabbat

on the eve of Shabbat

within them

of the roofs and courtyards.

But not for vessels that spent Shabbat inside the house,

for it is prohibited to take those vessels from courtyard to courtyard, or to a roof or an enclosure.

And all that we require in order to join these courtyards with one another is only to permit the vessels of the house to be taken out from courtyard to courtyard.

And

Rav

said concerning it: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon

that the courtyards are one domain, and it is permitted to carry from one to the other.

And this is when they did not join

the courtyards separately, for then they cannot take out vessels that spent Shabbat in the house to their courtyard.

But if they joined

the courtyards separately, so that they can then take out vessels from the house to the courtyard—

we decree

not to carry from courtyard to courtyard,

lest one come to take out vessels

vessels

that

spent Shabbat in

houses, from courtyard to courtyard.

And Shmuel said:

The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon,

whether they joined or whether they did not join.

And Rabbi Yohanan likewise said: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon, whether they joined or whether they did not join.

It follows that

Rabbi Yohanan holds that

we do not decree lest one come to take out vessels from houses to another courtyard

because it would be a decree to prevent a decree [Mishna Berura].

And according to his reasoning, he holds

here

with regard to a ruin

also,

that

we do not decree lest one come to take out vessels

of the courtyard in the alley—by way of the alley—

to the ruin.

And even though it is prohibited to take them there, since it did not join in the alley. But from the alley to the ruin there is no prohibition if they spent Shabbat in the alley, for the alley and the ruin are one domain.

But there is no prohibition in taking utensils from the alleyway to the ruin if they rested in the alleyway, because the alleyway and the ruin are one domain.

Rav Bruna was sitting and stating this teaching

of Shmuel, who said above that the alley is permitted with a lehi and a korah even if it contains only a house and a courtyard.

Rabbi Elazar bar Bei Rav said

to Rav Bruna: Did Shmuel indeed

say this?!

He said to him

Rav Bruna:

Yes!

He said to him

Rabbi Elazar to Rav Bruna:

Show me Shmuel’s lodging

[show me the place where Shmuel is staying], and I will ask him whether he said this!

He came and showed him

Rav Bruna brought and showed Rabbi Elazar

before Shmuel.

He said to him

Rabbi Elazar asked Shmuel: Did the Master indeed

say this?

He said to him

Shmuel:

Yes!

And Rabbi Elazar challenged Shmuel:

But is it not the Master who said: In the laws of eruvin we have only according to the

wording of the

language

of

our Mishna

[it is accepted that the tannai was precise in his wording in order to teach—Gaon Yaakov].

And we learned in our Mishna:

that the alley is “for courtyards”—

like courtyards are for houses!

And for this reason it taught “courtyards,” in the plural, to teach that an “alley” is called so only when “courtyards” are open to it, and not one courtyard.

And since this is so, it is not called an “alley” so as to permit it with a lehi and a korah, but it is a “courtyard,” and it is permitted only with partitions.

And how could you say that it is considered an alley, permitting it with a lehi and a korah, even with one house and one courtyard?!

Shmuel was silent

Shmuel!

And we raise the question for ourselves: Does this silence teach that

he accepted it from him

Shmuel and conceded to Rav that two courtyards, and two houses in each courtyard, are required in order to permit it with a lehi and a korah?

Or he did not accept it from him.

Come and hear: There was a certain alley in which Ivut bar Ihi resided

[the name of a Sage] in one courtyard, together with another resident in that courtyard.

And there was also another courtyard in that alley in which there was only one house. [See illustration]

He made for it

Ivut, for this alley,

a lehi

[a lehi] in order to permit it,

and Shmuel permitted him

to carry in the alley.