Eruvin 85a — the Talmud in English

A cistern

found in a small alley

between two courtyards [(

which are not adjacent to one another, but rather a wall separates each courtyard from the small alley in which the cistern is located. And the wall has no opening through which to exit into that alley, but only a window through which to draw water)].

And that cistern was

four

handbreadths

distant from the wall

of this

courtyard

four

handbreadths

and from the wall of this courtyard, and when the inhabitants of each courtyard wish to draw water from the cistern, they must throw it through the air a distance of four handbreadths, and draw water.

The strict law is that, since they use the cistern at a distance of four [handbreadths], these do not prohibit those from using the cistern and bringing water from it into the courtyard designated for each one, and from there into his house.

For one person does not prohibit another when his use is through the air.

Rather, the Sages said to make a slight indication, so that they would not come to use another shared domain without an eruv.

And therefore:

this one projects

from his wall toward the cistern

a projection

of any width

whatsoever

as an indication,

and draws water

from the cistern. And

this one projects a projection of any size whatsoever, and draws water. [(

See the illustration on the next page)]

And Rav Yehuda, on his own authority [(

not in the name of Shmuel)]

said: even

if he projects from his wall

a reed [(

a stalk)], which is not so noticeable, it suffices.

Abaye said to Rav Yosef: This statement that

he said

Rav Yehuda,

that for a reed at least some correction is required,

is Shmuel’s!

That is: he learned it from Shmuel, his teacher, and did not learn it from Rav, his teacher. [(

And although Rav Yehuda explicitly said it in the name of Shmuel, it entered our minds now that Abaye heard this statement as follows: Rav Yehuda said: A cistern between two courtyards—this one projects a reed of any size whatsoever and draws water.)]

For if

you say that this statement of Rav Yehuda

is Rav’s,

it is.

Rav said

Rav:

One person does not prohibit another through the air,

and we do not require even the slightest correction, such as a reed.

And we explain:

And from where is Shmuel’s [opinion derived]?

That is: From which statement of Shmuel did Rav Yehuda learn that Shmuel holds that some slight correction is required even when he uses it through the air?

If you say, from this statement that Rav Nahman said in the name of Shmuel [(

above, page 84b)]:

A roof adjacent to the public domain requires a fixed ladder to permit its use,

then apparently the inhabitants of the public domain prohibit [the roof’s use] even through the air, since ordinarily the public domain has fences close to the walls, and the use of the roof by the inhabitants of the public domain is through the air a distance of four handbreadths?

It cannot be said that he learned it from this statement:

For

perhaps, as

he explained it

Rav Pappa

above, it is speaking of a case in which the inhabitants of the public domain use the roof in their usual manner, with a cap and a scarf.

And therefore we retract this and say:

Rather,

Abaye knew well that which Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel concerning a cistern between two courtyards.

And Abaye came to say: The statement that Rav Yehuda said, “even a reed,” did not come to dispute Shmuel, but to explain him.

And this is what Abaye said: This statement of Rav Yehuda, who said, “and even a reed,” from which you infer that one person prohibits another through the air and that a slight correction is required—he learned it from Shmuel, and

from this

he learned it: Shmuel said,

“This one projects a projection of any size whatsoever and draws water, and this one projects a projection of any size whatsoever and draws water,”

and you may infer from it:

The reason is that he projected [(

that he projected)] a projection of any size whatsoever, and therefore it is permitted for him to draw water.

If he did not project

a projection,

we say: One person prohibits another through the air,

and some slight correction is required.

And since Shmuel said a projection “of any size whatsoever,” and did not say a projection “four handbreadths wide,” you may infer from this by itself that even a mere reed suffices.

We further explain:

And Rav—

for it is possible to learn from him that one person does not prohibit another, even through the air, and that no slight correction is required, as we said—

from where

did you learn that he holds so?

If you say, from this,

as we learned [and we brought it above, page 84b]:

Two balconies, one above the other,

and they are not aligned one opposite the other.

If they made a partition—

in order to draw water from the sea beneath the balcony—

for the upper one, but they did not make a partition for the lower one, both are prohibited

from drawing water through the upper one

until they make an eruv,

since they prohibit one another.

And

Rav

Huna said in the name of Rav about it:

They taught

that the lower one prohibits the upper one

only when it is adjacent,

the upper one being adjacent to the lower one across the width of the wall, within four handbreadths.

But when it is distant—

across the width of the wall—

four

handbreadths, and the lower one must use the upper one with a throw through the air a distance of four handbreadths, this is not considered use, and

the upper one is permitted and the lower one is prohibited.

Thus we see that Rav holds: One person does not prohibit another through the air, and we do not require even a slight correction.

This is not so:

For

perhaps here is different,

since the lower one does not prohibit the upper one,

because for this one [(

the lower one)] it is

by throwing [(

in both senses: throwing upward and throwing across a distance)],

and

also

lowering

into the sea, which are three forces.

Whereas for this one [(

the upper one)] it is

by lowering alone.

Just

as

“for this one it is by throwing, and for this one it is by an opening” is comparable,

for we assign it to the one who has the opening—that is, in our case, to the upper one.

Rather, from this statement that Rav Nahman said in the name of Rabbah bar Avuha in the name of Rav,

we shall know that one person does not prohibit another through the air:

Two houses

belonging to two people,

and three ruins

whose partitions are breached toward one another

between them, [(

and the ruins contain no dwellings apart from the use made of them by the inhabitants of the houses, but they do not open into them by a doorway)]:

This one,

one of the homeowners,

uses the one adjacent to him [(

the ruin adjacent to him)]

by throwing

from his window, which opens onto the ruin adjacent to him.

And this one uses the one adjacent to him by throwing,

and this one does not prohibit that one, even though the ruins are breached toward one another, since each one’s use of a ruin that is not adjacent to him is through the air a distance of four handbreadths.

But he may not use on Shabbat the ruin that is not adjacent to him by throwing, since his fellow uses that place comfortably by lowering.