Yerushalmi Eruvin 9:1 ירושלמי עירובין ט׳:א׳

MISHNAH: All rooftops of a town form one domain on condition that no roof be ten [hand-breadths] higher or ten lower, the words of Rebbi Meïr¹All vessels which were on any rooftop at nightfall Friday evening may be transported from one roof to any other without an eruv and even if the inhabitants of the different houses made eruvin for themselves. But if the level of roofs differs by at least 10 hand-breadths, each level constitutes a domain by itself and one may not carry from one to the other without an appropriate eruv., but the Sages say that each roof is a domain by itself. Rebbi Simeon says, not only rooftops but also courtyards and corrals²Cf. Chapter 2, Note 6. are single domains for vessels which started the Sabbath in them but not for vessels which started the Sabbath in the house³Without an eruv one may carry any vessel of the courtyard from one place to any other in the yard; only moving vessels from a house to the yard or vice versa is forbidden..

HALAKHAH: “All rooftops of a town form one domain,” etc. Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, Rav and Samuel disagree¹²Since rooftops are not built as dwellings, their status is comparable to that of corrals, subject to the same restrictions; Chapter 5, Note 167; Babli 89a.. Samuel said, up to two bet se’ah. Rav said, one carries there even a kor, even two kor. They wanted to say, where do Rebbi Meïr and the rabbis disagree? If they made an eruv¹³If the houses belonged to different owners and they made an eruv for the whole walled town, in the majority opinion the eruv does not extend to the rooftops which are not intended as dwellings.. But if they did not have to make an eruv, he explains it if all [houses] were the property of one person¹⁴Since in a corral one may carry only if it is not more than 2 bet se’ah, the same applies to rooftops. The rabbis may hold that roofs of different houses are different domains even if all belong to one and the same person.. Our Mishnah if all of them were climbing up either on a Tyrian or an Egyptian ladder¹⁵An Egyptian ladder is small and movable; a Tyrian is large and fixed.. But if all were climbing up using an Egyptian ladder except for one using a Tyrian, the Tyrian becomes a door¹⁶Using a Tyrian ladder really is using a staircase; using an Egyptian is inconvenient exercising. Since the owner of the Tyrian ladder has easy access, he is the legitimate user of all rooftops, to the exclusion of the others who may walk there but not carry (Chapter 8, Note 46). and the remaining ones are as if climbing up and climbing down.

May one carry in all of it¹⁷This question is asked for the rabbis who oppose R. Meïr. Since each rooftop is a separate domain it is a question whether it has the status of a backyard of a single house where one may carry without restriction. A backyard, or a multiple dwelling courtyard, is bounded by walls but the borders between flat roofs of contiguous houses may not be easily seen. Does one say that the walls between houses may ideally be extended over the roofs?? Samuel said, he carries in all of it. Rav said, he only carries within four cubits¹⁸The Babli, 90a, interchanges the names.. Our Mishnah disagrees with Rav: “If a large roof is adjacent to a small one, the large one is permitted but the small forbidden.” One understands that of the large one four cubits are permitted. But of the small one is forbidden four cubits? Is anything forbidden in four cubits? Do not Rav and Samuel say that one allows him four cubits in front of his door¹⁹Not only may one carry distances less than 4 cubits in the public domain, one even may carry in a multi-family courtyard without eruv within 4 cubits of one’s door. There is absolutely no situation where one is not permitted to carry up to a distance of 4 cubits.? Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said in Samuel’s name: If there was a door open to the roof²⁰In the opinion of S. Liebermann, if the house was built on a slope and the roof opened on a courtyard, the large roof forms one domain with the courtyard since on both sides where it is joined to the small one there is railing which counts as a wall, whereas the smaller roof is forbidden without an eruv since no wall indicates that it is separated from the large roof., even then the large one is permitted since it is not completely open, and the small one is forbidden because it is completely open.

“²¹Tosephta 7:14. Rebbi Meïr says, do you not agree with me that vessels which started the Sabbath in a courtyard may be moved in the courtyard²²This is stated as commonly accepted rule in Tosephta 5:19,23.? What is the difference between a roof and a courtyard? They told him, no. If you say about a courtyard, which has no dwellers under it, what can you say about a roof, which has dwellers under it? He asked them, what if the courtyard was higher than the roof²³The house was built into a hillside and the courtyard is the extrension of the roof.? They told him, no. If you say about a courtyard where nobody knows his place, what can you say about a roof where everybody knows his place? He asked them, what if the courtyard was split by pebbles²⁴With the Tosephta read פסיפס Greek ψήφος, ὁ.? Up to this point there was an answer²⁵Cf. Mishnah Makhširin 8. One would have expected the name of a Tanna stating the objections of R. Meïr’s students..” Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun said, from here on they were answering him in person; they told him, no. If you say about a courtyard whose dividers rise about it, what can you say about a roof whose dividers do not rise about it? He was telling them, in fact I am equating depth and height.

It was stated²⁶Tosephta 5:24; Babli 91a.: “Rebbi Jehudah said, in times of persecution²⁷The Hadrianic persecutions when study of Torah was forbidden. we were taking the scroll²⁸A Torah scroll. and climbing from courtyard to roof, from a roof to another roof, and sitting down and reading. They told him, times of persecution are no proof²⁹Since the restrictions are rabbinic, not biblical, they may be overridden by biblical obligations; this does not diminish their validity..” “³⁰Tosephta 5:24; Babli 91a, Šabbat 147b, Menaḥot 72a. Rebbi said, when we were studying with Rebbi Simeon (in a valley) [in Tekoa]³¹The text in parentheses is the scribe’s; the text in brackets is the corrector’s following the consensus of the Babli texts. It is difficult to locate R. Simeon in Judea., we were taking oil and a bath towel³²Latin linteum, -i, n.. and going from a courtyard to a roof, and from the roof to a corral, and from one corral to another corral, until we came to the corral adjacent to the spring, and descending and immersing ourselves in it.”

You may say that there are four disagreements. “All rooftops of a town form one domain.³³R. Meïr’s opinion in the Mishnah.” Rebbi Jehudah says, courtyard and rooftops form one domain. “Rebbi Simeon says, courtyards, rooftops, and corrals are single domains for vessels which started the Sabbath in them but not for vessels which started the Sabbath in the house”³⁴The fourth opinion is that of the rabbis for whom each rooftop is a separate domain..

Rebbi Joḥanan said, if they did not make an eruv. But if they made an eruv the courtyard becomes like the houses³⁵R. Jehudah and R. Simeon cannot refer to the cases where each courtyard made an eruv for itself since they permit carrying from one to the other by way of the roofs. Since with an eruv one may bring vessels from the houses into the courtyard, they also would allow bringing vessels from one house to another in another courtyard via the roof. Cf. Babli 91a.. Rebbi Zeˋira said, it is the same whether they made an eruv or they did not make an eruv³⁶Since vessels from the house are explicitly excluded by R. Simeon, the situation considered by R. Joḥanan cannot occur.. Our Mishnah disagrees with Rebbi Zeˋira: “not for vessels which started the Sabbath in the house.” If they did not make an eruv, is this necessary? It is forbidden to remove from the roof, not so much to the roof³⁷Since the vessels cannot be removed from house to courtyard, for RR. Jehudah and Simeon certainly they cannot be brought to any roof.? Rebbi Abun bar Cahana said before Rebbi La: When each one made an eruv by itself; even then not for the vessels which started the Sabbath in the house³⁸Even with an eruv and it is possible to bring vessels into the courtyard and onto the roof, they cannot be moved to any other roof nor to another courtyard. R. Zeˋira is not contradicted by the Mishnah..

Paragraph. ³⁹A slightly garbled restatement of the first paragraph in this Chapter. The spelling תרויהו is Babylonian Aramaic in place of Yerushalmi תריהון. The rabbis of Caesarea in the name of Rebbi Yose ben Rebbi Abun: It follows that Samuel and Rav both disagree with the opinion of Rebbi Joḥanan, as we have stated: “All rooftops of a town form one domain.” Samuel said, up to two bet se’ah. Rav said, one carries there even a kor, even two kor.