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Week 14 - Monday - 28 Feb. 2000

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 4: MISHNA 8

If a person does not know, or if a person is not versed in the law, and he said, "My Shabbat station is in my place" - his place acquired for him 2,000 amot in every direction. Round ones says Rabbi Hanina ben Antignos. But the Sages say. Square ones, as a square board, so that he has the benefit of the corners.

Kehati

This mishnah is a continuation of the preceding one. It teaches how the 2,000 amot are measured from a person's Shabbat station. The Tannaim differ on the subject.

If a person does not know - a tree or a fence on the way, or if a person is not versed in the law - and he does not know that his statement is effective for establishing his Shabbat station at a place that is distant from his present location, and he said, "My Shabbat station is in my place" - even if he did not say so; the wording "and he said" is due to the preceding mishnah, in the case of which a person must say, "My Shabbat station is underneath it," or it is incidental to the following mishnah, where he must also say so, (Tosafot), his place where he was at twilight, acquired for him 2,000 amot in every direction according to one interpretation, the mishnah teaches that this is not an erroneously established Shabbat station, and this is not similar to the case in which a person was sitting on the way, and stood up and saw that he was close to the town (in which case, according to Rabbi Yehudah, his Shabbat station was erroneously established), for in the case of a person who was close to a town and did not know this, his error in establishing his station is evident. In the current case, however, it is not evident that if he had known about the tree or the fence, he would not have said, "My Shabbat station is in my place" (Rabbi Yonatan ofLunel, Hameiri). And how are these 2,000 amot in every direction? Round ones - i.e., the area of his Shabbat bounds is a circle around the location of his Shabbat bounds, with a radius of 2,000 amot - so Rabbi Hanina ben Antignos - the Gemara explains his reasoning: since we learn the distance of 2,000 amot from the cities of the Levites, as it is written, "And you shall measure outside the city for the east corner [pe'ah] two thousand amot" (Num. 35:5). Rabbi Hanina ben Antignos learns from the last sentence of this verse, "This shall be to them the open land about the cities" - for this purpose you include the corners, but you do not include corners for the establishment of the Shabbat station.

But the Sages say, 2,000 - Square ones - square amot, as a square board - i.e., the area of his bounds is a square, each of whose sides is 4,000 amot long, so that he has the benefit of the corners - by which the square exceeds the circle within it: i.e., if he walks along the diagonal, he has approximately 2,800 amot, according to one problem, he has in every direction the distance of the diagonal (see Tiferet Yisrael; see also Maggid Mishneh on Ramban, Hil. Shabbat 27:2). The Gemara states that the Sages learn from "This shall be to them the open land about the cities" as this shall be all Shabbat stations.

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 9

And this is what they said: The poor person may make the eruv with his feet. Rabbi Meir said: "We, we have only the poor person." Rabbi Yehudah says: "It is all one, whether a poor person or a rich man; that one may make the eruv with bread they said only to make it easier for the rich man, so that he need not go out and make the eruv with his feet."

Kehati

This mishnah is a continuation of the preceding one. It records the discussion of the Tannaim as to whether the eruv is established primarily with the food, or with the person's feet.

And this is what they - the Sages, said: The poor person - if a person is on a journey and he has no food with him, in which case he is a poor man (Rashi, Bartenura), the Sages said that he - may make the eruv with his feet - i.e., he may say, "My Shabbat station is in my place" (in the place in which I am standing), as the preceding mishnah taught.
Rabbi Meir said, We, we have only the poor person - the Sages were lenient permitting only the poor person to make the eruv with his feet. Rabbi Meir holds that "The veruv tehumin is established primarily with bread." Rabbi Yonatan of Lunel gives the following reason for this: by the act of bringing bread with him, a person reveals his intent to establish his Shabbat station in this and no other place. But when he makes the eruv with his feet, it is not manifest that he is walking there to make an eruv. The Sages therefore permitted only the person who is journeying and has no bread with him (and who therefore is a poor person at that time) to establish his Shabbat station by saying, "My Shabbat station is in this place" or "My Shabbat station is in such-and-such a place." According to another opinion, anyone who is going on ajourney is considered to be a "poor person," even though he has bread with him (Tosefot Yom Tov, Hameiri). But a rich person (i.e., a person who is at home and has bread;Rashi, Bartenura), and who wants to make an eruv tehumin in a certain place, may establish his Shabbat station there only if he makes an eruv with bread. According to Rashi, whoever is at home is considered to be a rich person, for there is nobody who does not have the food for two meals in his house.

Rabbi Yehudah says, It is all one, whether a poor person or a rich man - they may make an eruv with their feet, for Rabbi Yehudah holds that eruv tehumin is established primarily with the feet," for since he troubles by himself, it is more evident that he is making an eruv there than if he sends an agent with bread (Rabbi Yonatan ofLunel); that one may make the eruv with bread they said only to make it easier for the rich man, so that he need not go out and make the eruv with his feet - so that he would not have to trouble himself and go by himself, but may send send bread to the place of the eruv with his agent. The Gemara explains that Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah disagree only regarding the question of whether the rich person who is at home may make the eruv with his feet, i.e., to go out to the end of the Shabbat bounds and say, "My Shabbat station is in this place." However, regarding the person who is at home and says, "My Shabbat station is in such-and-such a place," Rabbi Yehudah agrees that he does not thereby establish his Shabbat station, for the Sages were lenient only regarding the person who is journeying. According to another opinion, a poor person who is at home and does not have bread has the same legal status as a person traveling (Bartenura). The halakhah follows Rabbi Yehudah.

There are different opinions regarding the "poor person" and the "rich person" mentioned in this mishnah, some of which have already been cited above.Rabbeina Hananel writes: "Anybody who is on a journey is considered a poor person, since travelers have usually no bread with them. Hameiri writes: And he is called a 'poor person' not because he lacks bread, but because the prime reason of his going out was not to establish his Shabbat station. Therefore he was not concerned about bread, rather he was going on a journey; on the other hand he who has in mind to establish his Shabbat station is called a 'rich person,' because ordinarily he has already provided for bread and the thing necessary for an emu." According to Rambam, even a poor person who sits at home and resolved to establish his Shabbat station in a certain place, and set out on his journey in order to reach that place and establish his Shabbat station, is regarded as if he stood there or as if he set down his eruv there even if he did not reach the place and did not stand there (e. g., his fellow detained him on the way and he turned back to spend the night) (Hil.Eruvin 7:2-3)

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