Nechemyah, the son of Rabbi Chanilai, became so engrossed in the contemplation of his learning that he walked out of his residence area (techum). Now all he could walk was four steps around him, and he was not permitted to go back to his town or to his home. When Rav Chisda heard of this, he was talking to Rav Nachman, and said, “Nechemyah, your student, is in suffering.” Rav Nachman replied, “Make a human fence – that is, line up people to create a corridor, and he will be able to enter back into his techum through it.
Rav Chisda did so, and Nechemyah came back. But how were they allowed to create a human fence? After all, they are creating a partition and a private area on Shabbat!? – Rav Chisda called them, but he did not tell them why he called them, so they were not consciously doing it. But how were they allowed to walk beyond the techum? – They all have made an eruv in a different place, so they were allowed to walk farther than Nechemya. But still, people might misunderstand this law and do it voluntarily next time? – That is true, and such a ruse is only allowed for a scholar like Nechemyah.
To illustrate, later there was a story when Rava was returning from a lecture he had delivered on Shabbat, surrounded by throngs of people, and his attendant used this live partition to bring back some flasks that were left in the public square. However, when on the next Shabbat the attendant wanted to do the same, Rava forbade it, because now people were aware that they were used as a human partition.
Art: Adriaen Frans Boudewijns - A Crowded Village Scene
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