JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

tified us with Thy commandments and hast commanded us
concerning the ordinance of the eruv” followed by an Aramaic
sentence to the effect that “by virtue of this eruv it is permitted
to bake, to cook, and to kindle light as well as to provide
for our necessary wants on this festival day for the succeeding
Sabbath; for us and for all the Israelites living in this town.” In
some congregations it is customary to announce before the
evening service of the festival that those who have forgotten
to make eruv tavshilin are dispensed by the rabbi’s eruv. In the
Portuguese rite of Amsterdam the congregation was reminded
by the ḥazzan on the day preceding the eve of the festival of
the obligation to make eruv (Vosses tens obrigaçao de fazer Hirub).
The rules regarding eruv tavshilin are discussed in the
Talmud (cf. Mishnah Beẓah 2:1; TB, Beẓah 16a–17b; TJ, Beẓah
2:1) and the codes (Sh. Ar., Oḥ 527).
Bibliography: S. Ganzfried, Code of Jewish Law, tr. by H.E.
Goldin, 2 (1928), 135–45; 3 (1928), 14–16; H. Tchernowitz, Tikkun
Shabbat (1900); N.Z. Nobel, Porat Yosef (1914); Eisenstein, Dinim,
326–8.
[Zvi Kaplan]
ERUVIN (Heb. ןיבּור ִ ע), ֵ the second tractate of the order Mo’ed
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem
Talmuds. It deals with all aspects of the Sabbath eruv:
eruv of Sabbath boundaries, the eruv of courtyards, and the
eruv of the partnership of alleys (see *Eruv). It is thus a continuation
of the tractate Shabbat, and in fact, it appears that
originally the two tractates were one, but in view of its length
(24 and 10 chapters) it was divided into two. This is evidenced
by the fact that the last chapter, the Mishnah of Eruvin, is a
kind of supplement to both Shabbat and Eruvin and deals with
several details of the law of the Sabbath. The Tosefta of Eruvin
also concludes with a statement which applies to the Sabbath:
“The halakhot of the Sabbath … are like mountains hanging
by a hair, having few biblical verses and many halakhot that
have nothing upon which they can be supported” (cf. Ḥag.
1:8). Eruvin contains traditions which relate to the realia of the
Second Temple period. Thus chapter 1:10 states that soldiers
proceeding to battle are exempted from four things: they are
permitted to collect wood for fuel from any place – and it is
not regarded as theft; they are exempt from washing hands before
touching food; they do not have to tithe *demai produce;
and they are permitted to carry things from tent to tent and
from the tent into the camp without an eruv. Chapter 10:11–15
similarly gives a collection of halakhot regarding activities
generally forbidden because they conflict with the spirit of
Sabbath rest but permitted in the Temple. The chief sources
of the Mishnah of Eruvin in its present form are, as usual, the
pupils of Akiva-Meir, Judah, Yose, Simeon, and Eleazar. It is
said of Judah that wherever he teaches a Mishnah in Eruvin,
the halakhah goes according to his teaching (Er. 81b).
The first two chapters deal with the alley and with domains
of a semi-private nature (karmelit), where the sages
permitted carrying after minor modifications had been made.
Chapters three to five deal with the limits of travel on the Sab-
eruvin
bath and their extension by eruv. The next three chapters deal
with the eruv of courtyards and of entrances owned jointly,
and, as stated, chapter ten discusses various details of the halakhot
of the Sabbath. According to Mishnah 6:1, if a Jew shares a
courtyard with a non-Jew or with one who does not admit the
validity of the eruv (such as a Samaritan or a Sadducee), he is
thereby precluded from carrying articles from his house into
the common alley on the Sabbath. The effect of this law was
to limit joint residence with a gentile or sectarian in a building
served by a common courtyard, or using the courtyard on
Sabbaths (cf. Er. 62b: “lest he learn from his actions”). In the
Jerusalem Talmud (Er. 7:9, 24c), however, Joshua b. Levi states:
Why are eruvin made in courtyards? For the sake of peace,
i.e., the carrying of the food before the Sabbath into the house
of one of the neighbors for the eruv of courtyards promotes
peace among the neighbors. The Jerusalem Talmud goes on
to relate the case of a woman who was hated by her neighbor
and sent her eruv through her son. When the neighbor saw
the son she embraced and kissed him; on his return home he
told his mother, who said, “She loves me so much and I did
not know it,” and as a result they were reconciled.
The order of the chapters in the manuscripts differs from
that in the printed text. In the Munich manuscript chapter five
precedes chapter three, and in the Oxford manuscript chapter
four follows chapter two and chapter five follows six, but
the order of the Tosefta accords more with that of the printed
texts even though in many halakhot its order is different from
that of the Mishnah. The Tosefta in the printed texts and in
the Vienna manuscript of Eruvin has eight chapters – in the
Erfurt manuscript (Zuckermandel’s edition) it is divided into
11 chapters – and supplements the topics dealt with in the
Mishnah. Worthy of note are the collection of halakhot in
chapter 4 (3): 5–9 which discuss war on the Sabbath. If gentiles
come to attack Jewish cities, it is permitted to go out with arms
and desecrate the Sabbath; this applies only if they are bent on
hostilities which endanger lives, but if their purpose is only
to take spoil, it is forbidden. If, however, they move against
towns near the border, even if only to take chaff or stubble, it
is permitted to go out against them with arms and desecrate
the Sabbath. In the Babylonian Talmud tractate Eruvin is considered
one of the most difficult tractates, apparently because
of the mathematical calculations (see, e.g., 14a–b or 76a–b) as
well as because of the difficulty in understanding the various
designs of the domains and their mutual relationship, despite
the fact that sketches are provided in order to illustrate them
(starting with the later printed versions).
Many scholars conclude from the discussion in Eruvin
32b, where there occurs the phrase, “Did you embody it in
your Gemara?” that the amoraim already possessed a Gemara
on the Mishnah which was methodically arranged (see
the epistle of Sherira Gaon, ed. by B.M. Levin (1921), 63; Halevi,
Dorot, 3 (1923), 117, et al.). It can also be seen from Eruvin
72a–b that there was an early editing of various discussions
in the Talmud which preceded its final editing (see C. Albeck,
Mavo la-Talmudim (1969), p. 578). Scattered throughout
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