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)

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Eruvin 62 – Well Sifted Rulings

The Mishanah on the previous page deals with a Jew and a non-Jew whose adjoining homes share a courtyard. Can the share the non-Jew holds in the courtyard restrict the shabbath movement of the Jew?

IF A MAN LIVES IN A COURTYARD WITH A HEATHEN OR WITH ONE WHO DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE PRINCIPLE OF ERUB, EITHER OF THEM CAUSES HIM TO BE RESTRICTED IN THE USE OF THE COURTYARD. R. ELIEZER B. JACOB RULED: NEITHER CAN RESTRICT HIM UNLESS THERE ARE TWO ISRAELITES WHO IMPOSE RESTRICTIONS UPON EACH OTHER.

There is a lot of discussion on this point, about the legal validity of a shared eruv where one party does not share it. And is R. Eliezer b. Jacob right or wrong? Perhaps it hinges on what kind of agreement can be made between them? Or perhaps whether the non-Jew is at home at the time or not.
Ultimately, though:

Rab Judah stated in the name of Samuel: The law (halachah) is in agreement with R. Eliezer b. Jacob; R. Huna stated: The custom (minhag) is in agreement with the ruling of R. Eliezer b. Jacob; while R. Johanan stated: The public act (nahagu) in agreement with the ruling of R. Eliezer b. Jacob.

The difference being who widely promulgated the ruling is. Halachah can be taught publicly. Minhag is taught privately. Nahagu is not taught, but anyone who practices it is allowed to.

Quite a difference!
Said Abaye to R. Joseph: We have a tradition, that ‘the teaching of R. Eliezer b. Jacob is small in quantity but well sifted.’
I like that analogy – the law is not written or invented, it is “sifted” from the all the excess.

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