Go out and see TB Eiruvin 14

If you are a Sage, what can you do when the halakha is not clear?  Today’s daf TB Eiruvin 14 offers a suggestion. Go out and see what the custom, (minhag- מנהג), is that the people are observing. We are given two examples when the rabbis of the Talmud did just that.

There is a disagreement between the Tanna Kamma and Rabbi Yosei. “and their (side posts’) width and thickness may be any amount. Rabbi Yosei says: Their width must be at least three handbreadths.” (Sefaria.org translation) “Rava bar Rav Ḥanan said to Abaye: What is the accepted halakha with regard to the width of a side post? He said to him: Go out and observe what the people are doing; it is common practice to rely on a side post of minimal width. (Sefaria.org translation)

 “The Gemara notes that there are those who taught that this answer was given with regard to this discussion: One who drinks water to quench his thirst recites the following blessing prior to drinking: By Whose word all things came to be. Rabbi Tarfon disagrees and says he recites the blessing: Who creates the many forms of life and their needs, for all that You have created. Rav Ḥanan said to Abaye: What is the halakha? He said to him: Go out and observe what the people are doing; the customary practice is to say: By Whose word all things came to be.”

“Puk Hezi Mai Amma Devar is a Talmudic expression, which means that in questions about which there is no clear halakhic ruling - one can learn how to behave from the custom of the people, assuming that the custom of the people is an established tradition unknown to us, or some metaphysical reason the general public will do. . From Wikipedia” (https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=iw&u=https://milog.co.il/%25D7%25A4%25D7%2595%25D7%25A7_%25D7%2597%25D7%2596%25D7%2599_%25D7%259E%25D7%2590%25D7%2599_%25D7%25A2%25D7%259E%25D7%2590_%25D7%2593%25D7%2591%25D7%25A8&prev=search&pto=aue)

 I find this concept “Go out and observe what the people are doing” extremely interesting. Rabbi Elisha Aviner explains why it is appropriate to rely upon the masses in matters of halakhah.  “This is taught in the Jerusalem Talmud: ‘Every halakhah that is loose in a court of law and you do not know what its nature is, go out and see what the public does, and practice,’ and in the Babylonian wording: "Pook Hezi mai amma dvar" While it may be explained that relying on public custom as a halakhic source is not because of the credibility of the wisdom of the masses but because we assume the public preserves tradition more than individuals, whereas if the public held a "mistake" the great men of the generations would protest and remove the obstacle. It can be assumed that an accepted custom has won the consent of the greats of the generations, therefore "Pook Hezi Mai Amma Davar". But, some commentators have interpreted that they trust the public because God does not let the public make a mistake, as the Mahari Hagiz (Responsa Halachot Katanot) says: ‘And this is a great rule that was an institution in our hands: For it is simply he who in the love of God is his people Israel, He will remove an obstacle from their ways, and the whole world will not be inclined to the one, if his reasoning is rejected.’ The rule is not wrong !!!” (http://www.meirtv.co.il/site/alon.asp?id=1187)

We have to remember though as Rabbi Aviner says that not every minhag is kosher. If you read the Hebrew word for custom, מנהג, backwards you discover it creates the Hebrew word גהנם (Gaihenom) or hell. A lot depends on what community you are observing. So be careful when you go out and see what people are actually doing in order to inform your own practice. Remember what Billy Joel sang, “You may be wrong for all I know. But you may be right.” You probably should consult a rabbi first.

 If you love math problems (Rachel Braun I’m thinking of you), you’ll love this daf. When King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem, he also built an elevated round tank, the Solomon’s Sea, to provide water under pressure so that the priests could wash conveniently without having to draw water from the Temple cisterns. According tradition the Sea of Solomon contained the volume 150 mikvahs. Knowing that a mikvah contains 40 se’a of water, “The Gemara now calculates how many ritual baths should have been contained in Solomon’s Sea. The volume of the sea was five hundred cubic cubits, as it was ten cubits in length, ten cubits in width, and five cubits in height. The minimum volume of a ritual bath is three cubic cubits. Therefore, three hundred cubic cubits is the volume of a hundred ritual baths, and one hundred and fifty cubic cubits is the volume of another fifty ritual baths. Consequently, four hundred and fifty cubic cubits are enough to contain a hundred and fifty ritual baths; but the volume of the sea was five hundred.’” Go to the daf to see how mathematically the rabbis solved this problem. (https://www.sefaria.org/Eruvin.14b.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)