Monday, June 3, 2013

Eruvin 87 – A water channel

If a water channel passes through a courtyard, one cannot draw water from on it on Shabbat. This is because the channel comes from a river, and river is a special area, called “karmelit,” which we discussed earlier, and carrying from which is not allowed.

The only solution that they have is to put up a separation ten hand-breadths high at the channel's entrance into the courtyard and at its exit. However, Rabbi Yehudah says that the wall of the courtyard itself can be considered such separation. Rabbi Yehudah brings a proof: “There was a channel in the city of Avel which flowed through multiple coutyards of the city, and the Sages allowed drawing water to every courtyard!” However, Rabbi Yehudah’s opponents replied that this incident is no proof, because the channel was not high and wide enough to represent a significant separate area.

Art: Canal In Amsterdam by Claude Oscar Monet

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