Talmud - Eruvin 29a עירובין כ״ט א׳

The Gemara answers: That is referring to a beet that was only partially cooked, which is dangerous.

There are some who say that Rav Hamnuna said: One may not establish an eiruv with raw beets, as Rav Ḥisda said: Raw beet kills a healthy person. The Gemara asks: Don’t we see people eating it and they do not die? The Gemara answers: There, it is referring to a beet that was only partially cooked, which is dangerous.

Rav Ḥisda said: A cooked dish of beets is beneficial for the heart, good for the eyes, and all the more so beneficial for the intestines. Abaye said: That is specifically when the dish sits on the stove and makes a tukh tukh sound, i.e., it is cooked thoroughly enough to produce a boiling sound.

Rava once said when he was in an especially good mood: Behold, I am like the intellectually sharp ben Azzai, who would regularly expound in the markets of Tiberias. I, too, am ready to answer any question posed to me. One of the Sages said to Rava: How many apples are needed to establish an eiruv? Rava said to him: Does one establish an eiruv with apples?

The other Sage responded: And is it not permissible to establish an eiruv with them? Didn’t we learn in a mishna: All foods combine to disqualify the body of a priest who eats half of a half-loaf of ritually impure food, and to complete the measure of food required for two meals for the purpose of an eiruv, and to complete the measure of an egg-bulk required for a food to be able to contract the ritual impurity of foods? An apple is a kind of food, so it should be included in the items that may be used to establish an eiruv.

The Gemara asks: And what is the refutation? If you say it is because it was taught using the term all foods, and these apples are fit for eating, how can an objection be raised from such a general term? Didn’t Rabbi Yoḥanan already say: One may not learn from general statements using the word all, even in a place where it says except, since no rule exhausts all cases?

Rather, it is because it taught: And all foods combine to complete the measure of food required for two meals for the purpose of an eiruv, and to complete the measure of an egg-bulk to contract the ritual impurity of foods; and these apples are also susceptible to the ritual impurity of foods. Therefore, there is clear proof that the mishna is referring to apples as well.

Having established that an eiruv may be established with apples, the Gemara returns to the question raised above: How many apples are needed to establish an eiruv? Rav Naḥman said: The minimum measure of apples that must be used for an eiruv is a kav.

The Gemara raises an objection from a baraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: When distributing poor man’s tithe, one must give each individual poor person at least an ukla, an eighth of a log, of spices, a liter of vegetables, ten nuts, five peaches, two pomegranates, or one citron, as these are worthy amounts for distribution. And Gursak bar Darei said in the name of Rav Menashya bar Sheguvlei, who said in the name of Rav: And similarly, this is the halakha with regard to an eiruv. Now, it can be asked: These apples should also be like peaches, as they are similar in size, and it should be enough to use five apples for an eiruv.

The Gemara answers that there is a distinction between them: These peaches are important, and therefore five of them are a significant amount, but these apples are not important, and therefore one must use the larger measure of a kav.

Rav Yosef said: May his Master, God, forgive Rav Menashya bar Sheguvlei, for he erred and caused others to err. I stated before him a ruling in the name of Rav concerning a mishna, and he stated it concerning the baraita, which led to the error. As we learned in a mishna: One may not give a pauper receiving poor man’s tithe at the threshing floor less than half a kav of wheat or less than a kav of barley. Rabbi Meir says: He must be given at least half a kav of barley. Similarly, he must be given no less than a kav and a half of spelt, a kav of dried figs, or a maneh of pressed figs. Rabbi Akiva says: Not a maneh, but half a maneh. He must be given at least half a log of wine. Rabbi Akiva says: Half that amount, a quarter log. And similarly, he must be given a quarter log of oil. Rabbi Akiva says: Half that amount, an eighth of a log. And with regard to all other fruit, Abba Shaul said: He must be given enough to sell them and buy food that suffices for two meals with the proceeds of their sale. And with regard to this mishna, Rav said: And similarly, this is the halakha with regard to an eiruv.

The Gemara poses a question with regard to Rav Yosef’s harsh reaction to Rav Menashya bar Sheguvlei’s statement: What is the strength of this over that? The mishna and baraita seem to share the same content, so why should Rav’s ruling be more applicable to one than the other? If you say it is because the halakha with regard to spices was also taught in this baraita, and spices are not fit for eating on their own but only when added as a flavoring to other foods, and therefore Rav could not have been referring to the baraita when he said that the same law applies to an eiruv; wasn’t the halakha with regard to wheat and barley taught here in the mishna, and they too are not immediately fit for eating until they are processed further.

Rather, it is because it was taught in the mishna that one must give half a log of wine. And Rav said: One may establish an eiruv with two-quarters of a log of wine, which is equal to half a log. Since we require so much wine, learn from here that when Rav said: And similarly, this is the halakha with regard to an eiruv, he said it about this mishna and the measures mentioned therein. The Gemara concludes: Indeed, conclude from this that this is the proper understanding of Rav’s statement.

The Gemara further examines the mishna cited earlier. The Master said: And all foods combine to complete the measure of food required for two meals for the purpose of an eiruv. Rav Yosef thought to say that an eiruv may not be established unless there is a complete meal of this kind of food and a complete meal of that kind of food, meaning that an eiruv may only be established if each meal consists of a single type of food. Rabba said to him: An eiruv may be established with the amount of food required for two meals even if each type of food made up only half, a third, or a quarter of a meal.

The Gemara now examines Rav’s statement itself, which was cited in the course of the previous discussion. Rav said: One may establish an eiruv with two-quarters of a log of wine. The following question may be raised: Do we really need so much? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: The minimal amount of wine required for an eiruv is enough to eat bread with it, i.e., enough to soak the bread in to enable one to eat it? Additionally, the minimal amount of vinegar that may be used to establish an eiruv is enough to dip the food in it, and the minimal amount of olives and onions is enough to eat them together with the bread. All of these quantities are calculated on the basis of two meals. This baraita clearly indicates that an eiruv may be established with much less than two-quarters of a log of wine.

The Gemara answers: There, the baraita is referring to cooked wine, which is very strong, and therefore even a small amount suffices.

The Master said in the baraita that the minimal amount of vinegar that may be used for an eiruv is enough to dip food in it. Rav Giddel said that Rav said: Enough to dip in it the food of two meals consisting of vegetables. Some say that Rav Giddel said that Rav said: Enough to dip in it the vegetables that are eaten in two ordinary meals, which is less than the amount consumed in two meals consisting entirely of vegetables.

The Master also said that the minimum measure of olives and onions that may be used for an eiruv is enough to eat them with the food of two meals. The Gemara asks: May one establish an eiruv with onions? Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said: Rabbi Meir once spent Shabbat in the town of Ardiska, and a certain person came before him and said to him: Rabbi, I made an eiruv of Shabbat borders [eiruv teḥumin] with onions, so that I might walk to the town of Tiv’in. Ardiska was located between the man’s eiruv and his destination of Tiv’in, which was beyond his Shabbat limit as measured from his hometown. And Rabbi Meir made him remain within his four cubits. He forbade him to leave his four cubits, as he held that an eiruv made with onions is not an eiruv, and therefore the person had left his Shabbat limit without an eiruv teḥumin.

The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. This ruling, which states that onions may not be used for an eiruv, is referring to onion leaves, which are harmful; whereas that ruling, which states that onions may be used for an eiruv, is referring to onion bulbs, which are edible. As it was taught in a baraita: If one ate an onion and died early the next morning, we need not ask from what he died, as his death was certainly caused by the onion. And Shmuel said: They only taught this with regard to the leaves; but with regard to onion bulbs, we have no problem with it. And even with regard to the leaves, we only stated this concern

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Eruvin 29a examines whether raw or undercooked beets pose health risks, and debates using apples to establish an eiruv boundary.