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Daf Ditty Eruvin 105: HADRAN 1 2 The Sages taught in a baraita: It is permitted for everyone to enter the Sanctuary to build, to repair, or to remove impurity from inside. However, wherever possible, the mitzva is for these tasks to be performed by priests. If no priests are available, Levites enter; if no Levites are available, Israelites enter. In both cases, if they are ritually pure, yes, they may enter, but if they are impure, no, they may not enter the holy place. 3 Therefore, the verse teaches “only” as an expression of exclusion, which means that there is a distinction here: Although the mitzva should be performed with unblemished priests ab initio, if no unblemished priests are available, blemished ones may enter. Likewise, it is the duty of ritually pure priests; if no pure priests are available, impure ones may enter. In both cases, if they are priests, yes, they may enter, but if they are Israelites, no, they may not enter the holy place. According to Rav Kahana, ritually impure priests take precedence over ritually pure Israelites. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: If one priest is ritually impure and another has a blemish, which of them should enter to perform repairs? Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi said that Rav said: The impure one should enter, as he is permitted to participate in communal service. If the entire community is ritually impure, even impure priests may perform the service, whereas blemished priests may not serve under any circumstances. Rabbi Elazar says: The one with the blemish should enter, as he is permitted to eat consecrated foods, which indicates that he retains the sanctity of the priesthood despite his blemish. The Gemara leaves this question unresolved. 4 5 Mishnah (104b) Rabbi Shimon says that this is the principle: Wherever the Sages permitted something to you, they granted you only from your own, as they permitted to you only activities that are prohibited due to rabbinic decree, not labors prohibited by Torah law. We learned in the mishna that Rabbi Shimon says: Wherever the Sages permitted an action to you, they granted you only from your own. The Gemara asks: With regard to Rabbi Shimon, on the basis of what mishna did he formulate this principle? The Gemara answers: He taught this principle on the basis of the mishna there, as we learned: With regard to one for whom it grew dark while he was outside the Shabbat limit, even if he was only one cubit outside the limit, he may not enter the town. Rabbi Shimon says: Even if he was fifteen cubits outside the limit, he may enter the town, because when the surveyors mark the Shabbat limit, they do not measure precisely. Rather they position the boundary mark within the two-thousand-cubit limit, because of those who err. 6 With regard to that which the first tanna said, i.e., that he may not enter, Rabbi Shimon said to the tanna: He may enter. His reason, as stated, is that the limit does in fact extend that far, as any area the Sages granted to a person was actually permitted to him by Torah law. Rabbi Shimon further said: As they permitted to you only activities prohibited due to rabbinic decree, but not actions prohibited by Torah law. The Gemara asks: On the basis of what teaching did he formulate this principle? The Gemara answers: He taught it on the basis of the mishna there, where the first tanna said with regard to a harp string in the Temple that broke on Shabbat, that one may tie it with a knot, and Rabbi Shimon said: He may form only a bow. 7 The reason why only forming a bow is permitted, is that it cannot lead to liability for a sin- offering, as forming a bow cannot constitute a violation of the category of the prohibited labor of tying. Consequently, the Sages permitted it. However, with regard to tying a knot, which can lead to liability for a sin-offering when performed outside the Temple, the Sages did not permit it, as Rabbi Shimon maintains that the Sages permitted only activities whose prohibition involves a rabbinic decree. TOSAFOS תופסות ה"ד רמא 'ר ועמש ן סנכי ן ועמש 'ר רמא ה"ד תופסות Tosfos explains R. Shimon' words. יהוכ רמאק היל יבר ועמש ן אנתל אמק 'עא פ' לקימש נא י ךישחמב ץוח םוחתל רימחמ נא י נב תמי נכה רו םתהד םתהד רו נכה תמי נב אל ו ק ו אל ה ו א אלא ךלשמ נתנ ו ךל ו נתנ ךלשמ אלא א ו ה אל ו ק ו אל R. Shimon says as follows to the first Tana. Even though I am lenient about one who was outside the Techum when it became dark [on Shabbos night], I am stringent about a harp string, for there (outside the Techum) it is not a leniency, rather, they gave to you what is yours (the Techum is really 15 Amos past where it is marked); גום ןאכ אל ונתנ ךל אלא ךלמש ונייהד הבינע הוהד רבד רתומה רבד הוהד הבינע ונייהד ךלמש אלא ךל ונתנ אל ןאכ גום Also, here, they gave to you only what is yours, i.e., a bow, which is [totally] permitted. הוא רטנד דע אכה דע רטנד הוא Why did he wait until now [to argue with the first Tana? He should have argued in the Mishnah on 102b. There are four Mishnayos in between!] שמ ו ם ד ב ע י אלס יקו ילימ שדקמבד לבא אל ידמב :הנ דבא ב דמד למ ק ל [Rebbi, who codified the Mishnayos,] wanted to teach all of the [Heterim] in the Mikdash, but not outside the Mikdash [before R. Shimon's opinion. We learn that all these Heterim are only for Shevus]. "THEY GAVE YOU WHAT IS ALREADY YOURS..." Rav Mordechai KornFeld writes:1 The Mishnah at the end of Maseches Eruvin records a cryptic statement in the name of Rebbi Shimon: "When the Chachamim permitted something, they merely gave you what was already 1 https://www.dafyomi.co.il/eruvin/insites/ev-dt-105.htm 8 yours (i.e., what was permitted by the Torah), for they permitted only what was prohibited by a Rabbinic injunction." Our Daf explains that Rebbi Shimon's statement is addressed to the Tana of the Mishnah (102b) who permits one to tie a torn harp-string in the Beis ha'Mikdash on Shabbos. Rebbi Shimon argues that one is not allowed to tie a string, even in preparation for the Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash, since a Melachah d'Oraisa is involved. Rebbi Shimon's words should have been included in the Mishnah earlier (102b) that discusses one who ties a harp-string. Why does the Mishnah wait until the end of the Maseches to record his statement? TOSFOS (DH Amar) above, explains that the Tana of the Mishnah first wanted to list all of the actions, without interruption, that are permitted in the Beis ha'Mikdash and prohibited outside of the Beis ha'Mikdash. Afterwards, the Tana returned to the subject of the harp-string and recorded Rebbi Shimon's dissenting opinion. MAHARSHA suggests another approach. Rebbi Shimon does not mean to address the specific Halachah of tying a harp-string. Rather, he makes a general statement that applies to many of the laws of Eruvin. Throughout Maseches Eruvin, the Rabanan were lenient with regard to the laws of Eruvin and Reshuyos (for example, an army camp is exempt from certain types of Eruvin, 17b; Pasei Bira'os permit the use of a well in a Reshus ha'Rabim for travelers on their way to Yerushalayim for the festival, ibid.; Mechitzos of horizontal and vertical ropes are acceptable partitions during travel, 16b). Why were the Rabanan lenient with regard to these Halachos? Rebbi Shimon explains that they were lenient because the Eruvin and Mechitzos in these cases satisfy the Torah's regulations. It was the Rabanan who added extra requirements. Since the Rabanan created the additional rules, they have the authority to waive them when circumstances warrant. When the Gemara explains that Rebbi Shimon addresses the specific case of tying a harp-string, this is only because the Gemara understands from his words that he also has a specific case in mind. The Gemara knows, however, that Rebbi Shimon's statement is a general one, and that he means to encompass the entire Maseches in a broader sense. This is why his words make an appropriate ending for Maseches Eruvin. 9 Steinzaltz (OBM) writes:2 The last few Mishnayot in Massekhet Eiruvin deal with halakhot unique to the mikdash. The final Mishna (104b) discusses the best way to remove a ritually unclean animal from the Beit HaMikdash. Rabbi Yohanan in the Gemara quotes a passage in II Divrei Hayamim 29:16, which relates the story about King Hizkiyahu’s refurbishing of the Temple. According to the passage, the kohanim removed all of the impure things that they found in the Temple and passed them to the levi’im in the Temple court, who carried them out to the Kidron Valley. Although it appears that entering the Mikdash to clean it is limited to kohanim and levi’im, a baraita is brought to the contrary. The Sages taught in a baraita: It is permitted for everyone to enter the Sanctuary to build, to repair, or to remove impurity from inside. However, wherever possible, the mitzva is for these tasks to be performed by priests. If no priests are available, Levites enter; if no Levites are available, Israelites enter.
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