Siman - Eruvin Daf 100
- Making use of a root that protrudes upwards then bends downwards
It was stated in the Mishnah on the bottom of Daf 99b pertaining to a tree, שרשיו גבוהים מן הארץ שלשה טפחים לא ישב עליהן – If its roots protrude upwards out of the ground to a height of three tefachim above the ground one may not sit on them.
On this Daf there is a machlokes in a case of roots of a tree that protrude upwards and then bend downwards from above three to within tree tefachim of the ground, whether one can make use of the part of each root which drops to within three tefachim of the ground. Rabbah says, מותר להשתמש בהם – It is permitted to make use of them, דכל פחות משלשה דארעא ארעא היא – because anything less than three tefachim above the ground is halachically regarded as ground. Rav Sheishess says, אסור להשמתמש בהן – It is forbidden to make use of them, דכיון דמכח איסור קאתי אסורין – since they emanate from a prohibited section, meaning the part of the root which is above three tefachim, they too are prohibited.
- Chava was cursed with ten curses
As part of a larger discussion whether it is meritorious for a woman to petition her husband and request marital relations, the Gemara brings a statement from Rav Yitzchak bar Avdimi who said, עשר קללות נתקללה חוה – Chava was cursed with ten curses, but he only mentions seven. When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisroel to Bavel he said that the other three curses were, עטופה כאבל – she is wrapped up like a mourner, which Rashi explains that she is embarrassed to go out with her head exposed. מנודה מכל אדם – She is cut off from all people, which the Gemara explains to mean that she is prohibited from marrying two men, whereas a man is permitted to marry two women. וחבושה בבית האסורין – and she is confined to a prison. Rashi cites the passuk, כל כבודה בת מלך פנימה – The entire honor of a king’s daughter is inside. A princess does not go out and mingle with the common folk. Even though this is her dignity, it still constitutes a limitation on her freedom.
- What we learn from cats, ants, doves and roosters
Rebbe Yochanan said, אילמלא לא ניתנה תורה היינו למידין צניעות מחתול – Had the Torah not been given we would have learned modesty from a cat, וגזל מנמלה – and not to commit theft from an ant, ועריות מיונה – not to commit adultery from a dove, דרך ארץ מתרנגול שמפייס ואחר כך בועל – and the proper conduct for marital relations from a rooster, which first appeases its mate and then has relations with it. Rashi explains that a cat does not defecate in the presence of people and it covers its excrement, ants store in the summer what they will require in the winter and no ant steals the food of another, and a dove has relations only with its partner.
