Terminology: Karpef! (finally). Also, the case if the karpef near the home of the Resh Galuta. Who, in the end, has harsh words for the sages Andrew their figuring and configuring of the eruv. We see some of the tension between the political power, as compared to the sages themselves, in Babylonia, specifically. Plus: Comparing the verse used to criticize the sages to its meaning in its original context (Jeremiah). Also: When the group of people in homes on a courtyard join together to make an e...
Sep 04, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 26
More on the karpef. What if you demarcate the space with another partition, in addition to the original partition that demarcates it. Also, the inheritance rules for the convert (ger), or acquiring the property from the ger, are a little unexpected. To take possession, one would have to actively improve the land. Plus, the case of a woman who doesn't improve the land to take possession in the accepted way - so the halakhah didn't accept her claim. The challenging additional factor is that one ma...
Sep 03, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 25
"New faces": More on the courtyard garden area - set up to be part of one's residence, where people may we'll need to carry. What if you take one amah at a time and fence it off? What if you broach the fence and seal it off, to the size of a pomegranate - will that be sufficiently redone, such that it's fundamentally a new item (as per the impure and its repair vs. reconfiguration to a new sandal, a case from Masekhet Shabbat, if you recall). Also: What happens if a residential courtyard has bee...
Sep 02, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 24
The focus on the cisterns and wells. Plus, the new mishnah - including 3 unusual statements that are not the halakhah, but are in the mishnah, giving us a window into the crafting of the Mishnah. Also: In determining measurements of the area of an eruv, the daf takes us back to the dimensions of the Mishkan, with all the implications of that comparison.
Sep 01, 2020•19 min•Season 3Ep. 23
One who makes himself cruel for the sake of Torah, or Torah study... isn't doing the right thing, which of course should be obvious, but the fact that self-sacrifice for the sake of Torah can go wrong is a worthy point. Now, back to Eruvin topics - what happens when you have an apparent public domain passageway through what would otherwise be a private domain? Do you have to divert the path? Note that the topography of a given area can make a difference, how you block off private domains. Note t...
Aug 31, 2020•18 min•Season 3Ep. 22
Extending the private domain via the boards around the well, which fundamentally come to include it - and the limitations on this extension. There's a need for access to water - for animals, for people on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, etc. And on this daf, that measure of specificity comes into play. Also: Those limitations become even clearer in the context of "burganim," watchman's towers, and whether they were allowed outside of the Land of Israel... And whether those well extensions were permit...
Aug 30, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 21
Note: Apologies for the interference from Yardaena's outdoor setting to record. Setting an enclosure around a well from before Shabbat - what if it dries up over the course of Shabbat? Or dries up and then is filled again by rain, both over the course of Shabbat? Namely, the status over Shabbat has shifted from what it was at the beginning of Shabbat. Does that change the standing of the enclosure? Is the eruv legitimate, insofar as permitting carrying? The need for access to water clearly made ...
Aug 29, 2020•13 min•Season 3Ep. 20
More aggadot. The gold on the gold-plated altar did not melt in all the years of sacrifices. So too the nature of the Jewish people, who may sin, but have enough mitzvot to their individual credit that the sin has no power over them. Also: 3 entrances to Gehinom - the wilderness (Korach), the sea (Yonah), and Jerusalem. Plus 7 names for Gehinom. How do you get there? By means of mistaken actions or sin, that still does not resemble the grim Christian conception of punishment, at least not from t...
Aug 28, 2020•28 min•Season 3Ep. 19
A small portion of a long mishnah: the case of arranging boards as an enclosure around a well, where 4 boards look like 8, or 8 that look like 12. The key being the "dyumadim" - double-boards. Then the daf moves on to aggadot connected to that "dyu" (two). Specifically, Adam and Eve, who were also two, but one. Also an observation on Eve as a receptacle for a baby. And the image of God as Adam's "best man," accompanying him at his wedding, putting God into the equation for both of them. Plus: A ...
Aug 27, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 18
What happens if the terms by which you established your eruv change over that Shabbat? Also: The mishnah that closes the chapter - 4 exemptions for those involved in military encampments, including, of course, eruv. Plus: burial of a soldier in the place where he fell. Is he considered a "met mitzvah"? Or does that particular mitzvah only kick in when there's nobody to do the burial? Certainly, in this case, you don't dig up the seat to bury him there. Do the least amount of damage to the surrou...
Aug 26, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Terminology: Parutz, breach. The case of "Parutz ke-omed," when the breached part and the wall part are equal - as disputed by R. Papa and R. Huna. Where the sources and the bottom line don't quite line up. Also, the new mishnah, that follows the previous mishnah. Setting up an eruv out of ropes, when you're on the go, and you need to make camp for Shabbat. Note the debate of horizontal vs. vertical elements of the enclosure. Is the caravan case (on the go) an example because it happened often o...
Aug 25, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 16
What if the lechi was there, in the right spot, with the necessary dimensions, naturally? What if that naturally occurring architecture element can be used as part of your sukkah? And, what if your naturally occurring architectural element is actually alive - not a tree, but an animal? The mishnah indicates that that would be fine, but R. Meir says otherwise. That said, writing a get (a bill of divorcement) on a live animal would be fine (R. Yosi HaGelili disagrees). Which leads to a list of oth...
Aug 24, 2020•27 min•Season 3Ep. 15
Parameters needed for a koreh and lechi, and a round koreh, with its circumference and diameter... leads to a tangent... King Solomon's pool that was 10 amot across, and 30 amot in circumference (an approximation of our knowledge of πd, or, if you prefer, 2πr). This Yam shel Shlomo answers a question about the brim of a koreh. And what about the volume? As compared to mikvaot (at 40 seah!). Also, the next mishnah, defining the lechi: 10 tefachim by amount (or 3 tefachim, according to R. Yosi). H...
Aug 23, 2020•18 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Who's Who: R. Meir. Including the differences of interpretive approach by R. Yishmael and R. Akiva, and we we don't always pasken halakhah according to R. Meir. Also: Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel - long-term disagreements between them, where both sides are treated as legitimate views, and the halakhah is according to Beit Hillel (who actually taught the Torah of Beit Shammai before presenting their own view). Lo and behold, that humility is essential to one in the midst of machloket. Indeed, one...
Aug 22, 2020•23 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Eruvin 12: Terminology: Pas/pasim. R. Eliezer visits his student, R. Yosi ben Preida, and the topic of conversation is the student's need for a second lechi on his alleyway. But how big of a need is it? Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai debate the need for lechi and koreh (is that both or either?!). And their debate answers R. Yosi ben Pereira. Now, another case - with only one board (pas) in a courtyard that has a breach, in this case, by the sea, and the need is to close it up. Do you need 2 pasim?...
Aug 21, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Terminology: Tzurat ha-petach. Pitachei shima'ei. Avkata. The need to visualize, and how that plays out, runs throughout the daf. So, what type of space does "tzurat ha-petach" permit? What does it have to look like? How like a door must it be? 2 lechis and a koreh do, fundamentally, create a doorway... Also, the case of an arch, as part of tzurat ha-petach. And: a strange story about R. Nachman, R. Sheshet, R. Gadda, and the Resh Galuta. What is the nature of your arch, on terms of determining ...
Aug 20, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 11
A sidepost that is visible from the outside, as from within, and R. Yosef says he never heard that halakhah. Who's Who: R. Yosef. Now, the case of a sidepost that ends beyond the wall of the alleyway... works as a lechi, within a certain measurement. If longer, the alleyway is treated as not having any lechi. The next case: A 20-amot-wide alleyway... a couple of suggestions how to divide it and make it usable for an eruv. Also: Another example of R. Dimi's comments, having come from Israel to Ba...
Aug 19, 2020•26 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Topics recurring with more development on each pass, like a spiral passing through again, but at a distance reflecting that development (as an observation of organization). With a focus on Lavud, today - the extension of the material to cover a gap before the wall. As long as that gap is less than 3 tefachim (or 4), you don't need to add an additional koreh (crossbeam). What about a fully suspended beam, with gaps on both sides? In that case, it seems too much to expect lavud to work. Though the...
Aug 18, 2020•21 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Some thoughts on learning Eruvin. Plus: What happens when a backyard is owned by more than one person... Or when the alleyway runs between sites that are nobody's property, but also not a public domain. For example, the sea. For example, a garbage heap. Even R. Yehudah HaNasi didn't have an easy answer -- which leads into the question of how the alleyway itself was going to be treated, and whether it will be set off by a partition or just demarcation. Also: A centipede alleyway. And: An alleyway...
Aug 17, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 8
What do you do when you want to follow the stringencies of two opinions, and they contradict?! Bottom line principle: Follow Beit Hillel! What if you like Beit Shammai's position better? Sure, go ahead. What you should *not* do is follow only the leniencies of both Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. *Nor* only the stringencies of both. Example: Is the new year for the trees on the first or the fifteenth of Shevat? There are practical differences... and Rabbi Akiva kept the stringencies of both dates....
Aug 16, 2020•14 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Terminology: (Mavoi) Mefulash. Also Mavoi Akum. We start with the premise that the in-between status of alleyways as a karmelit will be next to a public domain, and expand the private domain into the karmelit. But this daf suggests that an eruv could be made in a public domain. Could that be done with a lechi (sidepost)? Perhaps you need actual doors at every exit point? Jerusalem becomes a counterpoint - where the doors (gates) were locked at night. Similarly, Mehoza (another city). Those locks...
Aug 15, 2020•16 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Terminology: Gode, Lavud, Lechi, Koreh. And: The crossbeam is there to demarcate the space, distinguishing between the alleyway and the public domain... Or is it a partition? Recognizing that the space within and outside of an eruv is different. Plus: A lechi that protrudes 4 amot into an alleyway - when is that sufficient? Also: Safek d'Rabbanan lehakel - leniencies for rabbinic requirements, when in doubt.
Aug 14, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 5
More on the phrasing of tefachim and amot: they're happy and sad! Also: All those measurements are "halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai." Or are they from the Torah itself? Or are the Torah sources an asmakhta? The verse of the seven species has implicit in it the measurements that each of those species represents, from the amount of time before which a house of tzaraat would render a visitor's clothes impure... to the smallest amount of food that is prohibited on Yom Kippur. Are the seven species conven...
Aug 13, 2020•20 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Terminology: Amaltra - cornice. Amah - cubit. The implication of having amaltrot, even as high as 20 amot, in your alleyway (in contrast to a sukkah). The subjectivity of the measurements (how many tefachim in an amah, without expressed concern for whose tefach, but a concern for expanded vs. contracted amot). The implication of a larger amah in the context of kilayim (hybrid growth). Also, the implication of a minimum amount for a space to be considered an alleyway. Plus: kila'ei ha-kerem, the ...
Aug 12, 2020•25 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Some words of introduction to the tractate. The phenomenon of this loophole that allows us to carry - on the one hand, feels very permissive, and on the other hand, was limiting for the sake of keeping Shabbat. Also some technique and recommendation for managing the new tractate and its more extensive halakhic (rabbinic) discussion. Note that eruvin bring the community together. Plus: explaining the term, in the context of the several kinds of eruvin. And the different domains, in brief. Now, to...
Aug 11, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 2
More on muktzah! "Machmat mi'us" -- you can't handle because it has no purpose, because it's disgusting. When you have debris from your meal on your table, how can move it? Also: Lining up the halakhot of Shabbat with R. Shimon's approach. With an old oil lamp being the prime example of something that has no purpose on Shabbat, and would be unpleasant to handle. Plus: The last mishnah in Masekhet Shabbat - annulling vows on Shabbat, which is less than ideal, but under certain circumstances, can ...
Aug 10, 2020•15 min•Season 2Ep. 157
Astrology, and whether the celestial bodies impact our lives. Namely, depending on which day of the week you were born, your traits and/or success will follow the events of the days of creation. Alternatively, the determining factors in our fates were the hours of the day. And yet, the very strong statement that "ein mazal le-Yisrael" - that astrological sign does not hold sway over Israel. Or perhaps - Israel has the means to overcome the astrology that was otherwise accepted to be governing li...
Aug 09, 2020•31 min•Season 2Ep. 156
First, in memoriam: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, z"l. Then: how far can you to prepare food (for animals) on Shabbat? You cannot overfeed or force-feed animals on Shabbat (especially camels, and excepting chickens). Watering those birds that can't fly to get its own water is also acceptable. Tension between real world application of these laws vs. the true practices and concerns re forcefeeding. Plus: Feeding dogs. How long a food remains in a dog's stomach - but why? Could metaphors be afoot? (audio ...
Aug 08, 2020•25 min•Season 2Ep. 155
(Again with audio issues - it's all here, but you'll hear the separate recordings we did...) Who's Who: Rav Mari bar Rahel. How one can be not obligated to bring a korban chatat for a case of shogeg, and yet be obligated s'kilah (stoning) when intentional? And how does intent with regard to idolatry teach about intent with regard to the rest of Torah? Plus: A prime example of Gemara logic to explain why the s'kilah doesn't take place in the end. And why lashes aren't exacted either. Also: The do...
Aug 07, 2020•21 min•Season 2Ep. 154
Apologies for audio issues - it turns out that we missed ~20 seconds of Anne, but all the key content from the daf is here || If you do teshuvah every day, you'll always be ready to meet your Maker. The value of this approach is illustrated by a parable of servants invited to a feast by the king. The Gemara offers a couple of different ways of ending the parable. Plus: Last chapter of Masekhet Shabbat! Carrying money into Shabbat... An important discussion of why asking a non-Jew to carry money ...
Aug 06, 2020•19 min•Season 2Ep. 153
