We need balance in life TB Eruvin 58

If you are a mathematician, you will love yesterday’s daf TB 57a because the Gemara tries to solve a math problem concerning the Levites cities. “It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosei, said: The boundary of the cities of the Levites extends two thousand cubits in each direction beyond the inhabited section of the city. Remove from them a thousand cubits of open space just beyond the inhabited area, which must be left vacant. Consequently, the open space is one quarter of the extended area, and the rest is fields and vineyards…The Gemara asks: Is it one quarter? It is one half. One thousand cubits is exactly half of the two thousand cubits incorporated into the boundary of the cities of the Levites.” (Sefaria.org translation) The Gemara presents three different solutions.

 If you are a land surveyor, you will today’s daf TB Eruvin 58 because it deals with measuring the 2000 amot Shabbat tekhum. “One may measure a Shabbat limit only with a rope fifty cubits long, no less and no more, as will be explained in the Gemara. And one may measure the limit only at the level of one’s heart, i.e., whoever comes to measure the limit must hold the rope next to his chest.

 “If one was measuring the limit and he reached a canyon or a fence, the height of the fence and the depth of the canyon are not counted toward the two thousand cubits; rather, he spans it (הבלעה) and then resumes his measurement. Two people hold the two ends of the rope straight across the canyon or the fence, and the distance is measured as though the area were completely flat. If one reached a hill, he does not measure its height; rather, he spans the hill as if it were not there and then resumes his measurement, provided he does not thereby go out beyond the city’s Shabbat limit, as those watching the surveyor might mistakenly think the limit extends to that point.

 “If, due to the width of the canyon or hill, he cannot span it, with regard to this situation Rabbi Dostai bar Yannai said in the name of Rabbi Meir: I heard that one may pierce hills (קידור). In other words, one measures the distance as if there were a hole from one side of the hill to the other, so that in effect, he measures only the horizontal distance and ignores the differences in elevation.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Describing what type of material is used to create that rope of 50 cubits, we learn a very important principle in life. “Rav Yosef taught that there are three kinds of rope, each required by halakha for a different purpose: A rope of magag, a kind of bulrush reed; a rope of netzer, made from fibrous palm vines; and a rope of flax. They are used for the following purposes: A rope of magag is utilized for the burning of the red heifer, as we learned in a mishna: They would bind the heifer with a rope of magag and place it on its woodpile, where it would be burned after it was slaughtered. A rope of netzer was required for a sota, a woman suspected of adultery, as we learned in a mishna: Before the sota is compelled to drink the bitter waters, her clothes are torn. And after that a priest brings a mitzri rope, i.e., a rope made of reeds [netzarim], and binds it above her breasts, so that her garments will not fall. A rope of flax is used for measuring.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 I want to focus in on the red heifer’s case. If a person became ritually unready (טמא) and needed to become ritually ready (טהור), the ashes of the red heifer (פרה אדומה) were sprinkled upon him. Numbers 19 as well as massekhet Parah describe the very intricate process of creating those ashes. There was a dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees concerning who may sprinkle the red heifer’s ashes. The Pharisees held the position that priest who had gone through all the necessary steps of becoming ritually ready during the daytime except immersing in the mikvah (טיבול יום) which had to be done at night may sprinkle the red heifer’s ashes. The Sadducees disagreed and held the position that only a priest who finished all the steps may sprinkle the ashes of the red heifer. To hammer home that their method was correct, the Pharisees would make a priest ritually unready and go through all the steps up to immersing in the mikvah and allow him to sprinkle the ashes of the red heifer.

 Since the Pharisees were lenient in one area of ritual purity they sought to balance their approach by being strict in another area. Even though both the netzer and the flax ropes were impervious to ritual impurity, they were made with strands woven together. The magag was never woven; consequently, the rabbis considered it at a higher level of ritual readiness and more appropriate for the binding of the red heifer. See Tosefot  ד"ה בחבל המגג

I think that this is a very important lesson in life. We need balance in all aspects or as Moses Maimonides describes it as “the golden mean- השביל הזהב” lest we go off kilter in life.

 The red heifer had very selective requirements and not even a mostly red heifer could fill the bill. By the way, according to tradition only nine red heifers’ ashes were created for little bit went a long way. When the Messiah comes will need to find the 10^th red heifer. According to news reports back in 2018, a red heifer was born in Israel. https://nypost.com/2018/09/09/prophecy-fulfilled-after-red-cow-is-born-at-temple-of-israel/ With the pandemic raging worldwide, racism and anti-Semitism on the rise again, as well as all the wars devastating humankind in various hotspots around the globe, I wouldn’t mind welcoming the Messiah or a messianic era of peace.