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ERUVIN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNA 3

Kehati

The following are the legal principles of this and the following mishnayot: (1) All the Rabbinic shevat restrictions apply only on Shabbat and not on Shabbat eve at twilight (this is the opinion of Rabbi in his opposition to the Sages; the law follows his opinion), i.e., they are prohibited only on the Shabbat itself, but are permitted at twilight. However, anything prohibited due to shevut is permitted at twilight only for the purpose of a mitzvah or in an emergency (Bambarn, Hil. Shabbat 24:10). (2) Eruvei tehumin may be made only for the purpose of a mitzvah. (3) The time for establishing a person's Shabbat station is Shabbat eve, at twilight. (4) The person who makes eruvei tehumin and his eruv must be in one place, i.e., he must be able to eat the food of his eruv at twilight in the place he intends to make his Shabbat station.

If he put it - the eruv, on a tree - that stands in the public domain, and is at least four by four tefahs: higher than ten tefahs - thus enjoying the legal status of a private domain, his eruv is not an eruv - the Gemara explains that since he intended to establish his Shabbat station under the tree, in the public domain. And he put his eruv in the tree up above, in the private domain, he and his eruv are not in one place, for at the time of the establishment of the eruv, i.e., at twilight, he could not take down the eruv from the tree which is a private domain, to the place he establishes as his Shabbat station which is the public domain, in order to eat it there; therefore, his eruv is not a valid eruv, but if he put the eruv in a tree lower than ten tefahs his eruv is an eruv - the space in the tree lower than ten tefahs has the legal status of a karmelit, and the carrying from a karmelit into the public domain is forbidden only by the Rabbinic law of shevut. Since anything prohibited on account of shevut is permitted on Shabbat eve at twilight for the fulfillment of a mitzvah (see the introduction to this mishnah), the person and his eruv are in one place, for at the time of the establishment of the eruv, at twilight, he could have taken down his eruv from the tree to the place of his Shabbat station, in order to eat it there. Even though it is forbidden to make use of a tree, this also is only a Rabbinic prohibition and is not in effect at twilight; therefore, his eruv is a valid eruv.
If he put it in a pit - which is in a karmelit, e.g., in a valley, and he intended to establish his Shabbat station there, even if the pit is one hundred amot deep - and is therefore a private domain, his eruv is an eruv - for the above-mentioned reason, that since the prohibition of carrying from the private domain to the karmelit is only a prohibition of shevut, and whatever is prohibited on account of shevut is permitted on Shabbat eve at twilight, the person and his eruv are in one place, for at the time of the establishment of the eruv, at twilight, he can take his eruv from the pit, in order to eat it at his Shabbat station, in the karmelit.
If he put it - the eruv, at the top of a reed or at the top of a pole: if it - the reed, was detached from the ground, and then inserted - in the ground, in the public domain, even one hundred amah high, then it is an eruv -because the place in which the eruv is set down does not have an area of four by four tefahs and is therefore not a private domain, and he may take down the eruv from there to his Shabbat station, which is in the public domain. If, however, they are attached to the ground, his eruv is not valid, because the Sages prohibited taking the eruv from there, lest he cut or tear the top of the reed or of the pole when he takes the eruv, thinking that they are inserted and not attached. Since this is a preventive measure to avoid the violation of a Torah law, it is also prohibited at twilight, and the person and his eruv are therefore not in one place. If he put it - the eruv, in a turret - a turret-shaped closet, and he locked the closet, and the key was lost - but it is possible to take out the eruv from the closet at twilight, even without the key, e.g., the lock is tied with ropes that may be cut with a knife, and since he spoils the ropes by cutting them, this is only a prohibition of shevut, and is not prohibited at twilight, then this is an eruv - for the person and his eruv are in one place, since he can cut the ropes at the time of the establishment of the eruv, and take it out from the closet.
Rabbi Eliezer says: If he does not know whether the key is in its place - and it is feared that it was lost, and will not be found, it is not an eruv for Rabbi Eliezer holds that a vessel may be handled only for its normal use, and the knife may not be moved in order to cut the ropes, for a knife may be used on the Shabbat only to cut food. Since this entails two prohibitions of shevut (the handling of the knife, and the cutting of the ropes), they are prohibited even at twilight. The eruv can, therefore, not be taken out without the key. Thus the person and his eruv are not in one place, and his eruv is not valid. The halakhah is not in accordance with Rabbi Eliezer.

Some commentators express puzzlement, for the first section of the mishnah, in which the person put the eruv on a tree, lower than ten tefahs, also entails two prohibitions of shevut, that of carrying out from the karmelit to the public domain, and the prohibition of making use of the tree (see Ibsefot Rabbi Akiva Eiger). The author of Tiferet Yisrael resolves this question: the case in the first section of the mishnah is different, for the person is not liable for the use of the tree on account of his carrying from the karmelit to the public domain, nor is he liable for the carrying on account of the use of the tree. Since he does not transgress two prohibitions simultaneously, the two transgressions were committed independently for the purpose of a mitzvah, and this is not prohibited at twilight. In the last section of the mishnah, however, two interdependent violations are being committed, for the taking of the knife is also a prohibition of shevut, since it is for the purpose of cutting the ropes, and it is as though the two transgressions were being committed simultaneously. Rabbi Eliezer therefore holds, in such a case, that they are prohibited at twilight as well.

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 3: MISHNA 4

Kehati

This mishnah continues to discuss the law of an eruv tehumin which could not be eaten at twilight by the person who made it, or when there is a doubt whether the eruv existed at twilight in the place where the person had set it down.

If it - his eruv, rolled outside the bounds - of 2,000 amot, and the person and his eruv are therefore not in one place, for he may not walk there at twilight and bring it back to within the bounds. The Gemara explains that the eruv rolled away more than four amot, for the person who put the eruv has few amot [within which he may walk]; and - or, a mound - of stones, fell on it - the eruv, and it cannot be retrieved without profaning the Shabbat by an act of work which is prohibited at twilight as well, or it the eruv, in was burned, or - a person prepared his eruv with - terumah and it became unclean - there, and neither a priest nor an Israelite may eat it. If one of these things happened on Shabbat eve, during the day, it is not an eruv - for if it rolled outside the bounds, or a mound fell on it at the time of the establishment of the eruv, i.e., at twilight, the person and his eruv were not in one place, and he could not eat it then in the place of his Shabbat station (see the introduction to the preceding mishnah); and if it was burned, the eruv was not in existence at twilight; and if he made his eruv with terumah and it became unclean, the eruv was not fit to be eaten at twilight; but if one of these things occurred - after nightfall, then it is an eruv - since the eruv existed at twilight, it established his Shabbat station, and even if it was lost later, his eruv is valid; if there is a doubt - e. g., the eruv was lost, and it is not known whether it was lost after nightfall or during the day,
Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah say: Then this is an ass driver and a camel driver - i.e., this is comparable to a person driving both an ass and a camel, and he is between them, with the ass in front and the camel behind him, the result is that the ass pulls him forward while the camel delays him and pulls him back. Similarly, if a doubt arose regarding a person's eruv, he may not walk from the place of the eruv a distance of 2,000 amot in any direction, for the eruv may have been lost during the day, and it did not establish his Shabbat station, and his Shabbat station is therefore within the settlement from where he may go 2,000 amot in any direction; but he may also not go from his settlement 2,000 amot in any direction, for his eruv may have been lost only after nightfall, and it had established his Shabbat station at twilight, being allowed to go 2,000 amot from the place of his eruv, and not from his settlement. Owing to this doubt, he may go 2,000 amot from his settlement in the direction of his eruv only, for this he would be allowed in either hypothesis. However, he may go neither beyond his eruv nor 2,000 amot from his settlement in any other direction. at Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon say, A doubtful eruv is valid - for we say that we maintain the eruv in its presumptive state, and just as it existed when he set it down, so, too, did it exist at twilight, and it was lost only after nightfall; his eruv, therefore, is valid.
Rabbi Yose said, Avtulmos testified in the name of five elders - the leading Sages of the time, regarding a doubtful eruv, that it is valid - this is the halakhah (Ramban, Hit. Eruvin 6:12).

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