We have learned that an eruv has to be established before Shabbat (עָרֵב מִבְּעוֹד יוֹם) in order to unite a courtyard so that the people in the houses that open up into it may carry from the courtyard to the house and vice a versa. We have also learned that if one doesn’t want to participate in the eruv, he may annul his “ownership” (מְבַטֵּל רְשׁוּת) even on Shabbat itself for the day. He may not carry from his home to the courtyard and vice a versa, but everybody else who participated in the eruv may. Today’s daf TB Eruvin 66 analyzes whether renting from a gentile his space so Jews may carry in the common area is like establishing and an eruv and forbidden to be done on Shabbat or is it comparable to annulling ownership and permitted on Shabbat. A ma’aseh shehaya, an actual true story, kicks off the discussion on yesterday’s daf TB Eruvin 65.
“Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yosef and Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Asi happened to come to a certain inn, and the gentile innkeeper, who was absent when Shabbat began, came on Shabbat. They said: What is the halakha with regard to renting from him now? The Gemara explains the two sides of the question: Is renting from a gentile like making an eiruv? If so, just as one who establishes an eiruv may do so only while it is still day, so too, one who rents a gentile’s property must do so while it is still day. Or perhaps one who rents from a gentile is like one who renounces rights to his domain; just as one who renounces rights to his domain may do so even on Shabbat itself, so too, one who rents a gentile’s property may do so even on Shabbat. In that case, they would be able to rent from the gentile in exchange for something of value, even on Shabbat itself.
“Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yosef said: Let us rent, while Rabbi Asi said: Let us not rent. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said to them: Let us rely now on the words of the Elder, Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yosef, and rent. Later they came and asked Rabbi Yoḥanan about the matter, and he said to them: You acted well when you rented.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Something didn’t smell right (according to Rashi see ד"ה תָּהֵי בַּהּ רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר) and needs further investigation for Rabbi Elazar because he knew that Shmuel holds that in the above story one may not rent a gentile’s property on Shabbat itself. “Rather, is it not referring to a case where the gentile arrived on Shabbat, and Shmuel is teaching: In a place where they render each other prohibited from carrying but they may not establish an eiruv together, in such a situation they may not renounce their rights for each other. Therefore, you can learn from this that if the gentile arrived on Shabbat, they cannot rent his property and then renounce their rights to one of them. This explains Rabbi Elazar’s surprise at Rabbi Yoḥanan’s ruling, as it appears to contradict this teaching of Shmuel, his first teacher.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Besides the disagreement between Rabbi Yoḥanan and Shmuel, two other points in the story need to pass the smell test. When I was studying the laws of koshruth, with Dr. Zucker z”l, he taught that your lack of knowledge doesn’t make something permissible. For example, if I don’t know whether kosher or nonkosher meat was used in the chollent, I can’t eat it. In our story Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yosef and Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Asi didn’t know the correct halakha. One would have thought that they shouldn’t have rented the gentile’s property on Shabbat until they got an authoritative answer from Rabbi Yoḥanan. Perhaps the difference koshruth and eruvin can be explained easily by their origin. The laws of koshruth are from the Torah (דאורייתא) and in a case of doubt we rule stringently. On the other hand, the laws of eruvin are from the rabbis (דרבנן) and in a case of doubt we may rule leniently.
Secondly, we know we are forbidden to conduct business (מקח וממכר) on Shabbat. How could Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yosef and Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Asi rent that gentile’s property on Shabbat? Tosefot explains away this difficulty by saying that this is not really conducting business because the Jews only intention is to carry in the common area and not renting in the most legal and common sense. Whatever money is given to the gentile after Shabbat is more like a thank you gift.
In case you’re wondering the halakha is according to Rabbi Yoḥanan and that smells alright to me. (Shulkan Arukh, Orekh Hayyim, 383)
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