Eruvin 93 – One-directional partition

Previously we learned that when two roofs or two courtyards, a large one and a small one, are adjoining, they are not equal: the small one is subordinate to the large one. The residents of the large one can carry in a small one, but not the other way around.

To emphasize this, Rabbah gave examples. If nine people are in the large courtyard and one is on the small one – they add up for prayer, but if nine are in the small courtyard and one is in the large one, he does not add up. If one planted grapevines in the large courtyard, then it is forbidden to plant wheat in the small one because one cannot plant the two together, and the small courtyard is considered to be part of the large one; however, if one planted grapevines in the small courtyard, then it is permitted to plant wheat in the large one because they are separate.

Abaye found the last rule very hard to understand: in fact, the separation between the two courtyards, in the form of an entrance, made planting forbidden! Had there not been a separation, it would have been enough to distance the plantings by four steps.

The Sages showed Abaye many cases where some form of separation actually created additional prohibitions, but Abaye dismissed them all by explaining that in each case they were not the same, and thus Abaye remained with his surprise at the Rabbah’s ruling.

Art: Still Life With Grapevine by Jean-Baptiste Robie 1821 - 1910