MISHNAH. IF A MAN SENDS HIS ERUV [MEAL] BY THE HAND OF A DEAF-MUTE, A PERSON OF LOW INTELLIGENCE OR A MINOR, OR BY THE HAND OF ONE WHO DOES NOT ADMIT [THE PRINCIPLE OF] ERUV, THE ERUV IS NOT VALID.
IF,
HOWEVER, HE INSTRUCTED ANOTHER PERSON TO RECEIVE IT FROM [ONE OF THESE], THE ERUV
IS VALID.
The person who delivers
the meal to a place in the courtyard or separate area which helps define it as
private must, according to this Mishnah, be an eligible agent to a transaction.
Minors, and others, are not because they cannot be party to the transaction.
But the rabbis dispute
that:
Is
not a minor [qualified to prepare an eruv]? Did not R. Huna in fact
rule: “A minor may collect
[the
foodstuffs for] the eruv” ?
And, so long as the courier
is met by an acceptable agent (IF,
HOWEVER, HE INSTRUCTED ANOTHER PERSON TO RECEIVE IT FROM HIM) the eruv
is valid, although the argument is made that the sender might “stand and watch”
thus legitimizing the transaction. But even so:
It
is a legal presumption that an agent carries out his mission
So the agent is not
important – he is simply a courier. The rabbis go further:
For
it was taught: If he gave it to
[a trained] elephant who carried it, or to [a trained] ape who carried it, the eruv
is invalid;
but
if he instructed someone
to
receive it from the animal, behold
the eruv is valid.
Good to know there are
full employment opportunities for elephants and apes! All the more so for human
carriers who might not be legal representatives. So longs as they are met by an acceptable agent.
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