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Eruvin 4

ERUVIN 4 - dedicated to the memory of Sarah Dvosya bas Rav Mordechai (Feldman) of Milwaukee by her children.

1) [line 1] MECHUVANOS - equal to each other
2) [line 7] METZUMTAMOS - exact

3) [line 14] YESOD ... SOVEV ... KERANOS
(a) The Mizbach ha'Olah of the Beis ha'Mikdash consisted of three concrete and stone platforms poured one on top of the other. The Yesod (bottom platform) was 32 Amos long, 32 Amos wide, and 1 Amah high. The second platform was 30 Amos long, 30 Amos wide, and 5 Amos high. The third platform (which the Rambam calls "Mekom ha'Ma'arachah"), upon which the sacrifices were offered, was 28 Amos long, 28 Amos wide, and 3 Amos high. A Keren (horn), which was a one-Amah cube, was poured on each corner of the upper platform. (RAMBAM Hilchos Beis ha'Bechirah 2:5-8)

(b) The Yesod protruded outward one Amah further than the middle section on two complete sides, the northern and the western. It protruded on the eastern and southern sides only for the length of one Amah from the northern and western corners. The blood of many of the Korbanos was cast on the sides of the Mizbe'ach above the Yesod, and it ran down to the Yesod (Zevachim 37a, based upon Vayikra 5:9) and the remainder of the blood of some Korbanos was poured directly onto the Yesod, as it states in the Torah (Shemos 29:12; Vayikra 4:7; etc.)

(c) The Kohanim would walk upon the part of the middle platform that jutted out past the upper platform. This was called the "Sovev", because it encircled the Mizbe'ach.

(d) The Keranos were hollow. (RAMBAM ibid. 2:8)

4) [line 15] "V'ELEH MIDOS HA'MIZBE'ACH BA'AMOS, AMAH AMAH VA'TOFACH; V'CHEIK HA'AMAH, V'AMAH ROCHAV, U'GEVULAH AL SEFASAH SAVIV ZERES HA'ECHAD, V'ZEH GAV HA'MIZBE'ACH" - "And these are the measurements of the altar by Amos: the Amah is a Amah and a Tefach; the foundation (the Yesod) shall be a Amah, and the breadth (the Sovev) a Amah, and its border by its edge all around (the Keranos) shall be a Zeres (the span of a hand), and this shall be the higher part of the altar (this refers to the Golden Alter of Incense)." (Yechezkel 43:13)

5) [line 20] MIZBACH HA'ZAHAV - the Golden Altar that was one Amah square and two Amos high, upon which the Ketores (incense) was offered twice daily (Shmos 30:1)

6) [line 21] SHI'URIN - the Halachic measurements, sizes etc. required for performing or transgressing various Mitzvos, and for receiving Tum'ah

7) [line 21] CHATZITZIN - the laws pertaining to intervening substances that disqualify immersion in a Mikvah

8) [line 22] MECHITZIN - the laws pertaining to partitions
9) [line 24] L'SHI'URIN NE'EMAR - this verse praises Eretz Yisrael in that its fruits are used for Torah measurements

10) [line 25] BAYIS HA'MENUGA
(a) For a detailed description of how a house becomes a Bayis ha'Menuga (a house that has Tzara'as), see Background to Nidah 19:13. Regarding a person who enters a house that has Tzara'as, there are two Pesukim: * "veha'Ba El ha'Bayis Kol Yemei Hisgir Oso, Yitma Ad ha'Erev" (Vayikra 14:46)

* "veha'Shochev ba'Bayis Yechabes Es Begadav, veha'Ochel ba'Bayis Yechabes Es Begadav" (ibid. 14:47)

(b) From the first Pasuk we learn that any person (or thing) that comes into the house becomes Tamei. The clothes that he is wearing, however, do not become Tamei. From the second Pasuk we learn that if someone lingers in the house for the amount of time it takes to eat a Pras (half of a loaf of wheat bread) dipped in relish, while he is reclining, then even the clothes that he is wearing become Tamei.

(c) The RASH (Kelim 1:4) lists four differences between the Tum'ah of the Ohel of a Mes and the Tum'ah of a house that has Tzara'as or that has a Metzora in it.

  OHEL OF A MES BAYIT MENUGA'AS OR METZORA
(a) A person becomes Tamei even if only a bit of his body enters A person becomes Tamei only if most of his body enters
(b) Even when entering backwards, a person becomes Tamei when only a bit of his body enters When entering backwards, a person becomes Tamei only when he enters entirely
(c) A Mechitzah (partition) only prevents the spread of Tum'ah if it reaches the ceiling A Mechitzah of ten Tefachim is enough to prevent the spread of Tum'ah
(d) The house or room is Tamei whether the Mes is placed there or is just passing through The house or room is Metamei only if the Metzora stops there, and is not just passing through

11) [line 26] TAB'OSAV B'YADAV - his rings are in the palms of his hands
12) [line 31] MEISEV V'OCHEL B'LIFTAN - when he is reclining and eating it with a relish

13) [line 31] ETZEM K'SE'ORAH (TUM'AS MAGA, MASA, OHEL)
(a) The bones of a Mes are only Metamei through *Ohel* under one of three conditions: (1) they constitute a quarter of a Kav (Rova Ha'kav); (2) they consist of the majority of the body (whether they are the majority of the *build* (Rov Binyano) of the human body or the majority of the *number* (Rov Minyano) of 248 bones; (3) the bone is a complete skull or a complete spinal column.

(b) In order to be Metamei through *Maga* and *Masa*, it is enough for the bone to be the size of a Se'orah (grain of barley)

14) [last line] KEDEI REVI'IS YAYIN L'NAZIR
(a) a Nazir (see next entry) receives lashes for drinking a Revi'is of wine. (RASHI in our Sugya - According to this explanation, wine is the prohibited object, rather than the method of *measuring* the prohibited object)

(b) RASHI and TOSFOS to Berachos 41a and the TOSFOS on our Daf explain that a Nazir receives lashes if he eats the amount of grape leaves, stems, peels or pits that will displace a Revi'is of wine, not water. TOSFOS explains that wine is more viscous than water, and as a result, the Nazir can eat more of these grape products before he is liable to punishment.

15) [last line] NAZIR
(a) If a person makes a vow to become a Nazir without stipulating a time period, his Nezirus lasts for a period of thirty days. During this period, the Nazir is not allowed to: (1) cut his hair; (2) become Tamei by touching or being in the same room as a corpse; or (3) consume any products of the grapevine.

(b) If a Nazir becomes Tamei through contact with or being in the same room as a corpse, on the third and seventh days he must be sprinkled with water that has the ashes of the Parah Adumah in it to become Tahor. On the seventh day of his purification he shaves off the hair of his head. On the eighth day, he brings his sacrifices and begins counting his Nazirite days anew. The sacrifices he brings are two turtle doves (Tor) or two young common doves (Yonah), one as a Chatas and one as an Olah. He must also bring a yearling sheep as an Asham. He may then start counting his Nazirite days anew. These Korbanos and this shaving are in addition to the Korbanos and shaving of every Nazir upon the completion of his Nezirus. (Sefer ha'Chinuch #368)

4b---------------------------------------4b

16) [line 1] HOTZA'AS SHABBOS
The last of the thirty-nine categories of forbidden Melachos (creative acts) of Shabbos is ha'Motzi me'Reshus l'Reshus. A person is not allowed to transfer objects from one Reshus (domain) to another on Shabbos. It is a capital offense to transfer objects from a Reshus ha'Rabim (public domain) to a Reshus ha'Yachid (private domain) or vice versa. (Mishnah Shabbos 73a). If the object transferred is food, one is only liable to punishment if the food is the size of a dried fig (k'Grogeres).

17) [line 2] KELEI BA'ALEI BATIM
Since home owners try to make the most out of their utensils, a bowl that cracks is still useful (and therefore is still Mekabel Tum'ah) until the hole becomes so large that pomegranates may fall through. At that point the utensil will no longer be Mekabel Tum'ah.

18) [line 6] K'CHOSEVES HA'GASAH L'YOM HA'KIPURIM
The amount of food that makes a person liable for eating on Yom Kippur is food that is the size of a fat date.

19) [line 11] MEI MIKVAH - water that has gathered together in a cavity. Immersion in rainwater (Notfin) is Metaher if the water is collected in a cavity, or "b'Ashboren." This is learned from Vayikra 11:36, where the verse states that a *Mikveh* Mayim (an *accumulation* of water) purifies.

20) [line 15] NIMA - a hair

21) [line 34] GUD
(a) Gud Achis or (Gud Asik) is a Halachic device by which Mechitzos which are ten Tefachim tall and enclose an area of four by four Tefachim are considered to extend downward to the ground (or upward to the ship).

22) [line 34] LAVUD
(a) The Torah requires Mechitzos (partitions) for various Halachos (e.g. for Reshus ha'Yachid of Shabbos and for Sukah). A Mechitzah must be ten Tefachim high and enclose an area of four by four Tefachim.

(b) A Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai states that even though the Mechitzah is not complete, there are times when we may consider it complete for Halachic purposes (Sukah 5b).

(c) One of these cases is Lavud (lit. a branch or connection). This Halachah states that when there are not three full Tefachim between the Mechitzah and the surface (or object) next to, above or below it, we consider it to be a complete Mechitzah in which the surfaces or objects are connected without any gaps. (The space that is provided by the Halachah l'Moshe mi'Sinai of Lavud is measured along with and as a part of the existing segment of the partition.)

23) [line 34] DOFEN AKUMAH (The Bending Wall)
If invalid Sechach lies around the perimeter of Kosher Sechach, we view the invalid Sechach as though it is a horizontal extension of the vertical wall at its side. As long as the invalid Sechach is not wider than four Amos, and the Kosher Sechach measures seven by seven Tefachim, the wall may be considered to bend over to the Kosher Sechach and the Sukah is Kosher.

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