Eruvin 83a — the Talmud in English

Tanna

in a beraita: an additional measure is taught, which is assessed relative to this loaf:

and half

“half of its half”

of this loaf is the measure

for rendering food impure with food impurity.

According to Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, the measure of the complete loaf is a quarter of a kav, which is six eggs; half of it is three eggs [for the house afflicted with leprosy], and half of its half is one and a half eggs [to disqualify the body], and half of “half of its half” is three-quarters of an egg, which is the measure with regard to food impurity.

But according to Rabbi Shimon, one assesses according to a complete loaf that is one-third of a kav, which contains eight eggs. And accordingly, half of “half of its half” is one complete egg.

For its half is four eggs, for the house afflicted with leprosy.

And half of its half is two eggs, to disqualify the body.

And half of “half of its half,” which is one egg, is the measure for food impurity.

And we raised an objection to it:

And as for the tanna of our Mishna—

for what reason did he not teach

also the measure of

food impurity,

as the tanna taught it in the beraita, namely, half of half of its half of the loaf?

And we answer:

Because their measures are not equal to one another.

For the tanna of the Mishna holds that it is impossible to say that the measure for food impurity is indeed precisely half of half of the loaf whose measure is used for the disqualification of the body, since we find a dispute concerning this matter: some increase this measure, and some decrease it.

At first, the Gemara brings a beraita in which we learned a dispute concerning the measure of half of its half, for disqualifying the body.

As it was taught: How much

is

the measure of half a peras [a peras—half the loaf; half a peras—a quarter of a loaf], which is the measure for a person who eats impure foods, to disqualify his body from eating teruma?

The tannaim disputed this, according to Rabbi Shimon, who says in our Mishna that the measure is two eggs: what is the size of the eggs?

Two eggs

of ordinary size,

slightly less,

since they measured with small eggs,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Yose says: Two overflowing eggs,

slightly more than two ordinary eggs.

Rabbi

measured

in one se'a of grain that had been brought before him how many eggs there were in each kav, and found that in each kav of grain there was a measure of more than twenty-four eggs.

And since, according to Rabbi Shimon, the loaf in question is made from one-third of a kav, it follows that the loaf contains more than eight eggs.

And in half of the loaf [a peras] there are more than four eggs.

And in half of its half [half a peras] there are

two eggs, and more.

And the beraita explains:

How much

“more”

is to be added to each and every egg?

One twentieth of an egg!

That is, for the two eggs, which are half a peras [for disqualifying the body], two twentieths of an egg must be added, which together are one tenth of an egg.

But with regard to

the measure of

food impurity, it was taught:

Rabbi Natan and Rabbi Dosa said:

The measure of

the egg-sized measure that they stated,

which the Sages established for food impurity, is

like it

in the size of the egg

and its shell.

And it is proven that the measure of food impurity is not exactly half the measure for the disqualification of the body.

For if we assess the half according to the ratio stated with regard to the disqualification of the body, then according to Rabbi Yehuda one must subtract slightly from the egg, whereas according to Rabbi Yose one must add until [it is] an overflowing egg and its shell. And according to Rabbi, one must add “and more,” namely, one twentieth of an egg.

And the Sages say: Like it—

without its shell.

And this measure is even less than Rabbi Yehuda’s measure.

Therefore the tanna did not teach in our Mishna the measure of food impurity according to that loaf.

And concerning the dispute in the beraita about the measure of half a peras for disqualifying the body, the Gemara brings another opinion:

Rafram bar Pappa said in the name of Rav Hisda: This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yose.

But the Sages say:

The measure of half a peras for disqualifying the body is

one and a half overflowing eggs.

And who are the Sages?—

Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka,

who establishes the loaf at six eggs, half of which [a peras] is three eggs, and half of the peras is one and a half eggs.

And we raise a difficulty:

It is obvious,

for Rav Hisda himself already said above, “Remove half of them for the shopkeeper” [Rashi].

And we answer: the addition, which is

“overflowing,”

Rav Hisda came

to teach us.

When Rav Dimi came

from the Land of Israel to Babylonia,

he said:

A man named Bonius sent

to

Rabbi

a se'a of grain called

“modia de-kundis,”

from

a place called

Na'usa.

And Rabbi measured

that in that se'a there were

two hundred and seventeen eggs [eggs].

And we raised an objection to it:

This se'a,

this se'a with which Rabbi measured the se'a of the “modia kundasa”—

of where!?

According to the measure of the se'a of which place, among the three types of se'a [desert, Jerusalem, and Tzippori], did Rabbi measure this se'a that was brought before him, and measure in it 217 eggs?

If

he measured with a

desert se'a, then

there are

one hundred forty-four

eggs

in it.

And if

he measured with a

Jerusalem se'a, then

there are

one hundred seventy-three

eggs

in it.

And if it is of Tzippori, then

there are

two hundred seven

eggs

in it!

And we answer:

In fact,

Rabbi measured with a se'a

of Tzippori, and it contains 207 eggs.

And the addition of ten more eggs resulted from the fact that

they brought a portion of dough,

they joined to the se'a of grain, in addition, the measure required for separating hallah from the dough that would be made from this grain, which is one twenty-fourth;

they placed it upon them,

and placed that addition upon the grain in this measure.

And we raise an objection to it: the measure of

the portion of dough

from dough measuring 207 eggs, according to the ratio of one twenty-fourth,

how much is it?—

Eight.

A measure of eight eggs.

For eight times twenty-four is 192 [and he did not take account of the remaining fifteen eggs, since their obligation of hallah is less than an egg].

And if so, even if we join the hallah to the dough, then:

Two hundred seven eggs according to the measure of Tzippori, plus eight for the hallah, amount to only 215. Yet Rabbi measured 217 eggs.

And if so,

it is still lacking

two eggs

for it,

in order to complete the measure that he measured.

Rather, it must be answered that

they brought

also

the “and mores” of Rabbi,

what Rabbi added “and more” to each egg, at a measure of one twentieth of an egg [for two hundred eggs, ten eggs must be added], and

they placed

and added the ten eggs

upon them,

upon the 207 eggs of the se'a of Tzippori, and it follows that with the addition of the ten eggs there are 217 eggs.

And we refute this:

If so,

since they added twenty hundredths [the “and mores” of Rabbi], why do we not count one hundredth of each of the 207 eggs, and if so,

there would be more for it!

For we would receive an addition of more than ten eggs, and together with the 207 eggs we would receive more than 217 eggs!?

And we answer:

Since it is not an egg,

he does not count it.

The reason they did not add to the calculation one twentieth of the seven eggs beyond the two hundred eggs is that they do not reach the measure of one egg.

And in this calculation they did not add the measure of the hallah.

The Sages taught: A Jerusalem se'a exceeds a desert one by one-sixth

from the outside [of the new measure], which is one-fifth from within [of the first measure].

A desert se'a is 144 eggs. 29 - 0.2 = 144/5

It follows that the fifth from within, which is one-sixth from the outside, is 29 eggs, less one-fifth of an egg.

And since the lacking fifth of an egg is not taken into account, 173 = 29 + 144. And this is the measure of a Jerusalem se'a.

And a Tzippori one exceeds a Jerusalem one by one-sixth

from the outside, which is one-fifth from within:

A Jerusalem se'a is 173 eggs. 0\. 6 + 34 = 5 / 173

It follows that the fifth from within, which is one-sixth from the outside, is 34 eggs, with the addition of six-tenths of an egg.

And since an amount less than an egg is not taken into account, then 207 = 34 + 173

And this is the measure of a Tzippori se'a.

It follows

that a se'a

of Tzippori

which is 207 eggs

exceeds a desert one

which is 144 eggs [a difference of 63]—

by one-third.

And we raise a difficulty:

One-third—

of what?

If you say one-third of the desert one,

that is impossible.

For

since

one-third of the desert one, how much is it?—

Forty-eight. 48 = 3 / 144

But the excess—

the difference between the desert and Tzippori measures—

is sixty-three! 63 = 144 - 207

Rather, one-third of the Jerusalem one.

This too is impossible.

For

one-third of it, how much is it?—

Fifty-eight, less one-third. 0.33 - 58 = 3 / 173

But the excess is sixty-three.

Rather,

one-third

of Tzippori.

This too is impossible.

For

one-third of it, how much is it?—

Seventy, less one. 69 = 3 / 207

But the excess—

is sixty-three!

Rather, said Rabbi Yirmeya: This is what he is saying: A Tzippori se'a

which is 207 eggs

exceeds the desert one by nearly one-third of it [of the Tzippori one, which is 69 eggs].

And its one-third [of the Tzippori one, which is 69]

is nearly half of the desert one [which is 72].

Ravina raised an objection to it: Is it something that “nearly” “nearly” does it teach?

Rather, said Ravina: This is what he is saying:

It follows that one-third of Tzippori, with the addition of the “and mores” of Rabbi,

which is seventy-two and one-third, 0.33 + 72 = 3 / 217

exceeds half of the desert one

which is 72 eggs—

by one-third of an egg. The Sages taught: “The first of your kneading.

of the Sepphoris measure, which is 69 eggs].

And one-third of its measure [

of the Sepphoris measure, which is 69]

is approximately half of a desert se’a [

which is 72].

Ravina raised an objection to this: Is

it the case that

“approximately”

“approximately”

is what it teaches?

Rather, Ravina said: This is what it means:

It follows that one-third of a Sepphoris se’a is

an addition of

“and something more”

of Rabbi,

which is seventy-two and one-third. 0.33 + 72 = 3 / 217

It exceeds half of a desert se’a,

which is 72 eggs, by

one-third of an egg.

The Sages taught: “The first portion of your kneading.