King Solomon's Takanah: Rambam's Eruv - Hakirah.org

190 : Hạkirah, the Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law and Thought
of the border area of the well. 21 In a בקעה with no well the פסים also
have this effect (Hilchos Shabbos 17:33) because it is an area that lends
itself to settlement. 22 Since the area within a בקעה is naturally enclosed
and lends itself easily to settlement, the delineation of borders there
23 ‏.רה ‏"י also suffices to make a
Mechitzos
As we noted above, Rambam does not believe that three walls makes
an area a
, and only with regard to a מבוי is he clear that
three walls constitutes a כרמלית (Hilchos Shabbos 14:4). Even the
presence of four physical walls does not necessarily impact the area
encircled. All Rishonim deduce (Eruvin 22b, see Tosafos "
Ritva) from the gemara’s conclusion that the mountains around Eretz
Yisrael do not preclude the area from becoming a ‏"ר , that either
distant walls or natural walls do not constitute full ‏.מחיצות According
to Rambam, while both deductions are essentially true, the primary
concept behind this is that only walls of a defined structure such as a
have any impact, and only such walls create מדינה
a ‏"י or even separate an inhabited area from a רה ‏"ר to make it a
walls clearly ‏,קרפף (Hilchos Shabbos 14:4). In the case of a כרמלית
encircle a garden or orchard and the entire structure stands out as a
unique physical entity (Hilchos Shabbos 16:1 ff.) 24 Distant natural walls,
and ד ה דילמא
רה
רה ‏"י דאורייתא
דיר,‏ סהר,‏ חצר,‏ מבוי,‏
רה
מחיצות 21 See Eruvin 19b where the gemara makes a distinction between
– פסין and
22 See Hilchos Shchenim 6:2 where dwellers in a בקעה also have
responsibilities to each other, implying that it is a joint structure for
‏.זו תורת מחיצה עליה...‏ וא לו תורת פסין עליהן
living.
23 According to our girsa in the gemara (Eruvin 20a) "
‏.רה ‏"ר could be placed in a פסין , it follows that "
דעבד כעין פסי ביראות
ברה"ר וזרק לתוכה חייב
Rambam apparently had a different girsa since he does not allow פסי ן in
a ‏"ר but only in a ‏.בקעה In fact, this is a more likely girsa since the
gemara then says even if רבים בוקעין the פסי ן are effective, which really is
less of a reason than a ‏"ר itself. The Yerushalmi also does not speak of
רה
רה
‏.מקום אחר but רה ‏"ר
24 There is no reason to believe that less than four full מחיצות would
suffice in a ‏,קרפף and even the leniency applying to the fourth wall of
there. need not apply חצר