Torah Community Connections

Week 14 - Thursday - 2 March 2000

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 5: MISHNA 3

And similarly three triangular villages: if there are between the two outer ones 141 1/3, the middle one makes the three to be as one.

Kehati

This mishnah continues the teachings of the preceding mishnah in regard to the law of the addition of a karpef to a town.

And similarly three triangular villages - which are located in a triangle - if there are between the two outer ones 141 1/3 - i.e., the middle village is viewed as if it stood in line between the two outer villages, and if the distance from the first to the middle one, and from the middle to the last one, does not exceed 141 1/3 amot (Ramban), i.e., as the measure of a karpef to each one - the middle one makes the three to be as one - all three villages are considered to be one, and their Shabbat bounds are measured outside the boundaries encompassing all three. The Gemara explains that this applies only if the distance between the outer villages and the middle one does not exceed 2,000 amot. Since the inhabitants of these villages may go from one to the other on the Shabbat without an eruv, we view the middle village as if it were located between the two outer ones. If, however, the distance between the middle village and the outer ones is more than 2,000 amot, we do not view it as such.

We have followed the explanation of Rashi and Ramban, which is also followed by Bartenura. Another opinion, however, is critical of this interpretation, because the wording of the mishnah, "if there are between the two outer ones," is not consistent with it. Ravad interprets the mishnah as follows: if the middle village is projected between the other two, and the space between the two outer ones does not exceed 141 1 /3 amot, i.e., between each of the outer ones and the middle one there is only the space of one karpef (see Ramban, Hil. Shabbat 28:5, and the commentaries on Ramban).

ERUVIN: CHAPTER 5: MISHNA 4

One may measure only with a rope of fifty amot, not less and not more. And one may not measure except opposite his heart. If a person was measuring and he reached a valley or a fence, he absorbs it and he returns to his measure. If he reached a hill, he absorbs it and he returns to his measure, provided that he does not go out beyond the bounds. If he is not able to absorb it regarding this Rabbi Dostai the son of Rabbi Yannai said, in the name of Rabbi Meir, "I heard that they cut through in the hills."

Kehati

This mishnah teaches how the 2,000 amot of the Shabbat bounds are measured.

One may measure - the Shabbat bounds only with a rope - of flax, of fifty amot - in length, not less - than fifty amot, because the measuring is performed by two people, one holding each end of the rope, and if the rope were short, it would be stretched excessively by them, and would become longer, and as a result, the distance measured would be too long, and not more - than fifty amot, because a rope that is too long will not be stretched out properly, and the measure taken with it will be shorter than its actual length, and the distance measured for the bounds would be too short (Gemara). The Jer. Talmud states explicitly: not less, because it would be stretched out and increase; and not more, because it would shrink and reduce (the distance).
And one may not measure except - each surveyor should hold the end of the rope, opposite his heart - the Sages established the way of holding the rope, so that one of the surveyors should not hold the rope at the level of his neck, and the other at the level of his feet, or the like, thus diminishing the bounds. However we are not concerned about the different heights of the surveyors, because they usually are people of mean stature (Hameiri).

If a person was measuring - rope length after rope length, and he reached a valley or a fence - e.g., a high, inclined heap of stones, he absorbs it - the slope of the valley, i.e., he does not descend into the valley and measure along its incline, but only its width from bank to bank; so also in the case of a fence, he absorbs its ascent and its descent, i.e., the rope is not stretched over the fence and down its inclines on either side, but the rope is raised measuring across the width of the fence from above. The Gemara explains that this refers to a case in which the valley is less than fifty amot wide, and one person stands on each bank of the valley and they extend the rope over the valley from bank to bank; and he returns to his measure - the Gemara concludes the following from this wording of the mishnah: if they were measuring facing the settlement, for instance, to the east, and they came to a valley wider than fifty amot, and the rope was not long enough to "absorb" the valley, but moving right or left thus deviating from the alignment with the settlement where the valley is shorter and they could "absorb" it there, then even though this place is not opposite the settlement, they may go there in order to "absorb" the valley, and afterwards they return to their original line of measurement, opposite the settlement, and complete the measuring of the bounds. And similarly, If he reached a hill, he absorbs it - its incline, e. g., he erects two poles, one on either side of the hill, and he extends the rope from the top of one pole to the top of the other above the hill. The Gemara states, "This applies only to a hill with a gradient of ten [tefahs] to five [amot], but a hill with a gradient of ten within four amot," i.e., the incline is steeper, "it is enough to estimate the distance" since it is difficult to measure this with the aid of poles or similar devices, and he returns to his measure, provided that he does not go out beyond the bounds - if the valley or the hill are very wide within the bounds, so that it is not possible to "absorb" them with a rope of fifty amot, but they are narrow outside the bounds, the surveyor may not go outside the bounds in order to "absorb" them there and afterwards to return to his measuring opposite the settlement, lest people think that the bounds extend to the place where the surveyors "absorbed" the valley or hill. If he is not able to absorb it - e.g., the width of the valley or of the hill, in any place within the bounds, exceeds fifty amot,
regarding this Rabbi Dostai the son of Rabbi Yannai said, in the name of Rabbi Meir, "I heard that they cut through in the hills" - i.e., they consider the hills as though they were pierced, and they measure the land beneath them. The Gemara explains that they measure the hill with a short rope of four amot. The person standing in the lower position holds the end of the rope against his heart, while the person in the higher position holds it against his feet, and they measure the entire hill in this manner, and a similar procedure is employed to measure a valley or a fence. In this manner the measure of the hill is reduced each four amot, because the person in the upper position holds the rope against his feet, and not against his heart [maintaining the rope in a horizontal position]. The mishnah uses the wording "regarding this Rabbi Dostai said" to teach that the procedure of cutting through is applied only when surveying the Shabbat bounds, but not when measuring for the eglah arufah (the heifer whose neck is broken) in order to determine to which city the corpse is closer, nor when measuring the bounds of the cities of refuge, for these latter two measurements are commanded by Torah law.

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