What is Talmud Tweets?

What is Talmud Tweets? A short, personal take on a page of Talmud - every day!

For several years now, I have been following the tradition of "Daf Yomi" - reading a set page of Talmud daily. With the start of a new 7 1/2 year cycle, I thought I would share a taste of what the Talmud offers, with a bit of personal commentary included. The idea is not to give a scholarly explanation. Rather, it is for those new to Talmud to give a little taste - a tweet, as it were - of the richness of this text and dialogue it contains. The Talmud is a window into a style of thinking as well as the world as it changed over the centuries of its compilation.

These are not literal "tweets" - I don't limit myself to 140 characters. Rather, these are intended to be short, quick takes - focusing in on one part of a much richer discussion. Hopefully, I will pique your interest. As Hillel says: "Go and study it!" (Shabbat 31a)

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Eruvin 33 – Tree Tops and Basketball

The Mishnah on the previous page states:

MISHNAH. IF HE DEPOSITED [THE ERUV MEAL] ON A TREE ABOVE [A HEIGHT] OF TEN HANDBREADTHS, HIS ERUV IS INEFFECTIVE; [IF HE DEPOSITED IT AT AN ALTITUDE] BELOW TEN HANDBREADTHS HIS ERUV IS EFFECTIVE.

The discussion ensues about why this would be the case. A private domain has no height limit (rises up to the sky). And if was put in a basket and suspended from a tree, there is no height limit. At least, according to Rabbi; so long as the tree is four handbreadths in width. But the Sages disagree – because while the eruv may be effective, the suspended food is not permitted to be moved on Shabbat, making it – in effect – ineffective!

It is this rather that he meant: [If the pole was] ten [handbreadths] high it is necessary that at its top it shall be four [handbreadths wide], but if it was not ten [handbreadths] high it is not necessary for its top to be four [handbreadths wide].

This is part of the argument, found on Shabbat 5a and 101a, in which a basket suspended on a pole in a public domain cannot have anyone toss something into it from a private domain.

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