950. Balconies That Extend Over Water

Eiruvin 4:24

Let’s say that two balconies extend over a body of water, one above the other. Even if each balcony’s residents make a partition ten handbreadths tall (about 30”) into the water, if the balconies are within ten handbreadths of one another, they may not draw water unless they make an eiruv together because they are considered like a single balcony. If the distance between the two balconies is greater than ten handbreadths and each has made its own eiruv, then the residents of both balconies are permitted to draw water.

Eiruvin 4:25

If the people who live on the upper balcony did not make a partition into the water but the residents of the lower balcony did, then not even those on the lower balcony may draw water because the buckets of the upper balcony – which are not permitted to draw water – have the right to pass through their air space. If the residents of the upper balcony made a partition into the water and those of the lower balcony did not, then the residents of the upper balcony may draw water while those of the lower balcony may not. If the residents of both balconies jointly erected the partition in the water, then neither may draw water until they make an eiruv together.