Chapter 95 : Laws of Eiruvei Techumin (Eiruv of Boundaries)

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§1

On Shabbos and Yom Tov it is forbidden to walk more than 2,000 amos from the place you were at the onset of Shabbos. This is [in addition] to the space a person occupies which his four amos. This is true only if you happen to be in the field at twilight, but if you stayed in a city [at the onset of Shabbos,] then the entire city is considered your place of residence. The outskirts of the city are also considered part of the city. What are the outskirts [of the city]? An area of seventy and two third amos. [This area] is considered part of the city, even though there are no buildings there. This is called the karpeif [enclosure] of the city. It is from the edge of this area that we begin to measure the techum Shabbos.

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§2

A city surrounded by a wall, even if it is a very large [city], may be traversed over its entire area, including its outskirts, and it is from there that the Shabbos boundary is measured. A city not surrounded by a wall, but whose houses are close to one another, so that the empty space between one house and another is not more than seventy and 2/3 amos, is considered as joined together and belonging to the city, even if it would take many days to walk [from one end to the other]. And it is from the last house that the karpeif [enclosure] and the Shabbos boundary is measured.

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§3

Karpeif-enclosures are added only to cities but not to a single house; but it is directly from the wall of the house that we begin to measure the Shabbos boundary.

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§4

If there are two cities close to each other, we add a karpeif-enclosure to each. Therefore, if the distance between [the two cities] is not greater than two karpeif-enclosures, the two [cities] are considered as one city.

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§5

There are many halachos concerning measuring a Shabbos boundary that are lenient, and it should be done only by someone well-versed in these laws.

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§6

On Shabbos or Yom Tov, if you need to walk farther than the Shabbos boundary, you must place an eiruvei techumim on erev Shabbos or on erev Yom Tov. You must place it within the Shabbos boundary lines of the city, in a place to which you would be permitted to walk [on Shabbos]. The place where you put down the eiruv is then considered as your place of residence. Therefore, you now have [the right to walk] from there two thousand amos in any direction. Of course, it is self-understood, that whatever you gain on the side where you put the eiruv, you lose on the other side. For example, if you place the eiruv at the end of two thousand amos on the eastern side, you are forbidden to walk any distance whatsoever on the western side, for you are already distant from your place of dwelling a techum Shabbos, [2,000 amos].

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§7

How do you make this eiruv? You take bread enough for two meals, or relish, like onions or radish, or something similar, enough to eat with bread for two meals, except for salt and water with which you cannot make an eiruv, and go to the place where you want to put the eiruv; and you should say: Baruch atah A-donoy Elokeinu melech ha'olam asher kiddeshanu bemitzvosav vetzivanu al mitzvas eiruv. [Blessed are You, Hashem, our God King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us concerning the mitzvah of eiruv.] Then you should say: "By means of this eiruv it shall be permissible for me to walk from this Place two thousand amos in each direction," and then return home. You may place one eiruv for many Shabbosos, but you should put it in a safe place, so that it will not be lost or spoiled.

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§8

You may send the eiruv with a messenger who will place it for you. The messenger should recite the berachah and then he should say: "By means of this eiruv it shall be permissible for so and so to walk etc..." The messenger must be bar mitzvah and of normal intelligence. But you may not send [an eiruv] through a minor. Even if the messenger does not return to the sender, you may rely on him [to have fulfilled your mission], for we take it for granted that a messenger fulfills his mission.

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§9

You may make one eiruv for many people, provided the eiruv consists of the prescribed quantity of food for each one. [If one person makes one eiruv for many people,] he must cause them to acquire a share in it through someone else, as is done with eiruvei chatzeiros [eiruv of the courtyards, see Chapter 94]. You should not make eiruvei techumin, [eiruv of the boundaries] [for anyone, without] his consent. One who makes [the eiruv for others], acting as the agent for all of them, should say, "It shall be permissible for so and so and for so and so [etc.]" [mentioning all names]. And if he includes himself also, he should say: "For myself and for so and so and so and so."

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§10

The eiruv must be deposited in a place where it can be eaten on Friday at twilight without violating a prohibition of the Torah. Therefore, if you placed it in a hole in the ground, and covered it with dirt, the eiruv is not valid. If you covered it with a stone, the eiruv is valid. If you put it in a tree, if the tree is strong, the eiruv is valid. If you put it on a soft tree or a reed the eiruv is not valid.

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§11

If you put the eiruv in the middle of a city, then the whole city is considered as the place of your eiruv, and you may walk throughout the entire city even if it is a very large [city]. [You may also walk] outside the city, to the edge of its outskirts, as far as the Shabbos boundary, for it is considered as though you lived in that city.

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§12

If there is a town within the techum that is either surrounded by walls or equipped with an eiruv, that town is not measured [in the 2,000 amos], and is counted only as four amos. This is true only when the techum Shabbos reaches the town limits. For example, if [the distance] from the eiruv to the town is 500 amos and the length of the town is 1,000 amos, then the town is figured at only four amos; and you [may walk] an additional 1,496 amos from the town limits. [In this regard] we make no distinction between the side [of the town] nearer the eiruv and the side that is farther from the eiruv. But if the techum Shabbos ends in the middle of the town, you are forbidden to walk farther than that, since you [would be walking] outside the techum, for in this case, the entire town is not considered as four amos.

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§13

The same halachah applies when you put the eiruv in a place that is close to 2,000 amos outside the city. When you return to the city, and the 2,000 amos from the place of the eiruv end at the beginning of the city before [you reach] your house, you are forbidden even to return to your house. (This is the opinion of most authorities and it is the accepted halachah, see Eliyahu Rabba.)

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§14

An eiruvei techumm should be made only in order to do a mitzvah such as to pray with a minyan, or to meet your Rebbe, or a friend who arrived from a journey, or to (attend) a banquet in honor of a mitzvah, or to take care of communal affairs, or if you had returned from a journey and wanted to go home, or similar things.

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§15

An eiruvei techumin should not be placed on Shabbos or Yom Tov. Therefore, if Yom Tov occurs on erev Shabbos and you want to walk [beyond the techum] on Shabbos, you have to put the eiruv in place on erev Yom Tov [Thursday]. Similarly, if Yom Tov occurs on Sunday and you want to walk [beyond the techum] on Yom Tov, you must place the eiruv on erev Shabbos. (The halachah of one who makes an eiruv "with his feet" [is found] in Shulchan Aruch 409:7. The halachos of a Yom Tov [that occurs] near Shabbos, or the two days of Yom Tov of the Diaspora, on which you want to make an eiruv, for one day in one direction and for the second day in the opposite direction, are found in Shulchan Aruch 416.)

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§16

The property and livestock of a person are subject to the same laws that limit this person. Thus, to a place where he is not allowed to walk no one else is allowed to take them either. If he loaned them to someone or rented them or delivered them to someone for safekeeping, they are subject to the laws applying to the one in whose custody they are. Even if this is a non-Jew, the cattle and the vessels acquired shevisah40 at the [non-Jew's] place. Moreover, even the property of a non-Jew acquires shevisah wherever they are [on erev Shabbos] at twilight.

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§17

If a non-Jew brought fruit and there is no reason to be afraid that it was picked on Shabbos (or any other article about which there is no reason to fear that labor was performed on it), it is only forbidden because it has been brought from beyond the techum. If [the non-Jew] brought [the fruit] for himself or for another non-Jew, then a Jew is permitted [to make use of it] at once, even to eat it. It is forbidden to carry it more than four amos, unless [the non-Jew] brought [the fruit] into the house, or if the city is equipped with an eiruv. Then you may carry it in the entire city. For every place where you are allowed to carry is considered as [your] four amos. But if he brought it for a Jew, it is forbidden for this Jew and for his entire family until the "kedei sheyei'asu" has passed after nightfall, which is the time it would take to bring it [fom its point of origin]. Nevertheless, he is allowed to carry it within four amos or in a place where carrying is permitted. And when there is doubt if [the fruit] was brought from outside the techum, it is also forbidden, unless it is likely that it was not brought from outside the techum.

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§18

We have an accepted rule that the prohibition of techumin does not apply above ten tefachim [above the ground]. Therefore, if you boarded a ship on erev Shabbos, before the beginning of Shabbos and the ship sailed, even on a long voyage, nevertheless, when it reaches port on Shabbos and you go ashore; you are permitted to walk from there 2,000 amos in any direction. Because, there is no doubt, that during the entire voyage of the ship you were always above ten tefachim from the ground, and did not acquire shevisah until you landed. However, if during the Shabbos you went ashore and returned to board the ship again; since you were on land during Shabbos, you acquired shevisah there. If the ship sails afterwards beyond the techum, then you have on the ship only four amos within which you may walk, which is the halachah regarding someone who goes beyond the techum. If the ship reached a place that is less than ten tefachim above the ground, you have acquired shevisah there. If you are in doubt whether or not the ship was at such a place you may be lenient.