Introducing ben Bag Bag TB Eruvin 27

With Saturday’s daf TB Eruvin 27 we begin the third chapter of our massekhet. This chapter discusses the laws of eruv hatzerot (ערוב חצרות) and eruv tekhumim (ערוב תחומים). An eruv hatzerot will allow people in a shared courtyard to carry in the courtyard. An eruv tekhumim will allow a person to walk 2000 amot beyond the city limits. A meal is an intricate part of creating these eruvs.  More about these eruvs will be discussed the deeper we go into this chapter.

The Mishnah on TB Eruvin 26 teaches that there are similarities between the meal for an eruv and ma’aser sheni which must be eaten in Jerusalem the third and sixth year of a seven-year cycle. If bringing to Jerusalem the second type was too difficult, one may turn the actual tithe into the monetary equivalent. “(Just like the eruv-gg) All types of food may be bought with second-tithe money, which must be taken to Jerusalem and used to purchase food (Deuteronomy 14:26), except for water and salt.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 Ben Bag answers the Gemara’s question by explicating why each word in a verse is necessary. “The Gemara asks: But if something may not be bought with second-tithe money, is one permitted to buy it by including it in the payment for something which may be bought with second-tithe money? The Gemara answers: Yes, and so it was taught in the following baraita: Ben Bag says in exposition of the verse: “And you shall bestow that money on all that your heart desires, on oxen, on sheep, on wine, on strong drink, on whatever your soul requests” (Deuteronomy 14:26): “On oxen” teaches that one may buy an ox and include in its price payment for its hide. Although the hide cannot be eaten, it may be bought together with the ox, and it does not acquire the sanctity of the second tithe. “On sheep” teaches that one may buy a sheep and include in its price payment for its fleece, which is used for purposes other than eating. “On wine” teaches that one may buy wine and include in its price payment for its jug. “On strong drink” teaches that one is permitted to buy not only actual wine, but one may buy even mead, water in which grape seeds are soaked, once it has fermented and acquired the flavor of wine.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 Ben Bag Bag was such a respected scholar that “Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Whoever interprets the words “on oxen” for me in accordance with the opinion of ben Bag Bag, I will carry his clothes after him into the bathhouse, i.e., I will honor him to such an extent that I will be prepared to treat him as a servant treats his master.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 We don’t know too much about ben Bag Bag for he is rarely quoted in the Talmud. His most famous saying is found in the Pirke Avot. “Turn it (the Torah) over and over, for everything is in it. Reflect on it, grow old and gray in it and do not store from it, for there’s no better portion for you than this.” (5:26) Scholars believe that he was the person who approached Hillel and wanted to convert while only accepting the written Torah and not the oral Torah. Hillel took him on as a student and while teaching him the aleph bet, he taught him that the oral Torah indispensable even for alphabet’s complete understanding. Hillel convinced him and he became a Jew by choice to use modern nomenclature. Some identify him as the tanna Yoḥanan ben Bag.   Either way, we can see in today’s daf, he became a respected scholar.