Siman - Eruvin Daf 101
- Closing irregular doors
The next Mishnah states, הדלת שבמוקצה – The door to a backyard, וחדקים שבפרצה – and a bundle of thorns that is placed in a gap in the wall, ומחצלות – and reed mats, even if these irregular doors are tied to the doorway, אין נועלין בהן – one may not close the entranceway with them on Shabbos, אלא אם כן גבוהים מן הארץ – unless they are suspended above the ground. Rashi explains that it is prohibited to place them in position because of the melocho of boneh and adds that even if they are hanging, if they are touching the floor it is still forbidden mid’Rabbanon because of מחזי כבונה – it appears like boneh.
- The din of Yerushalayim before and after the walls were breached
In the next Mishnah, Rebbe Meir prohibited a person standing in reshus harabim from picking up a key in a reshus hayachid to unlock a door in a reshus hayachid, unless he made a mechitzah ten tefachim high to convert the area in which he stands to a reshus hayachid. The Chochomim challenged Rebbe Meir with an incident in the butcher’s market in Yerushalayim where people would lock their stores while they were standing in the street and leave the key on a windowsill above the door, and the windowsill had the dimensions of a reshus hayachid. This proves that it is permissible to handle a key in a reshus hayachid while standing in the reshus harabim.
The Gemara asks on the question that the Chochomim asked Rebbe Eliezer, that their proof is irrelevant to Rebbe Meir’s position since Yerushalayim has the din of a karmelis, as Rabbah bar bar Chanah said in the name of Rebbe Yochanan, ירושלים אלמלא דלתותיה ננעלות בלילה חייבין עליה משום רשות הרבים – Yerushalayim, if it were not that its doors were closed at night one would be liable for carrying in a reshus harabim. Rav Pappa answered and explained, כאן קודם שנפרצו בה פרצות כאן לאחר שנפרצו בה פרצות – Rebbe Yochanan’s statement was referring to the status of Yerushalayim before breaches were made in its walls, whereas the Mishnah was referring to an incident that took place after breaches were made in its walls, giving Yerushalayim the status of a reshus harabim.
- A bolt with a knob at its end
The next Mishnah states, נגר שיש בראשו גלוסטרא – A bolt that is pushed into a hole on the bottom of a doorway in order to be able to close the door, that has a knob on its end, and can now be used as an instrument to crush pepper, Rebbe Eliezer prohibits its use, and Rebbe Yose permits it. The Gemara explains, בניטל באגדו – If the bolt is attached and hanging by a cord, everyone agrees that it is permitted to use it because it is clear that it is being used as a bolt and does not give the appearance of boneh. If it cannot be lifted by its cord because the cord will break, Rebbe Yose holds that it can still be used because since there is a knob on the end of it, it has, תורת כלי עליו – the status of a kli and will not be misconstrued as an act of boneh. Rebbe Eliezer holds that since the bolt cannot be picked up by the cord, it is viewed as unattached and therefore can be construed as an act of boneh.
