Zedekiah’s Cave TB Eruvin 61

With today’s daf TB Eruvin 61 we finish the fifth chapter of our massekhet. One of the discussions details the impact a cave has on an eruv tekhum. Several factors determine the 2000 amot Shabbat limitation. If the person place his eruv tekhum in the cave and the cave is suitable for habitation, he could walk the entire length of the cave no matter how large it is and 2000 amot outside the cave. If a person placed his eruv tekhum outside of the cave, whenever he reached the total of 2000 amot from his eruv tekhum to inside the cave, he has to stop. In the course of this topic Zedekiah’s cave is mentioned several times.

 “Come and hear another difficulty from the following baraita: If one established his Shabbat residence through his physical presence in a city, even if it is as large as Antioch, or in a cave, even if it is particularly large, like the Cave of Zedekiah, king of Judah, he may walk through all of it and another two thousand cubits beyond it. The baraita teaches the case of a city that is similar to that of a cave: Just as a cave is presumably desolate, i.e., uninhabited, so too the city must be one that is desolate. And only in the case where he established his Shabbat residence through his physical presence would yes, this halakha apply; but if he merely placed his eiruv there, no, he may not measure his two thousand cubits from the edge of the city… Rather, say that it is referring to a cave that is similar to a city: Just as the city is presumably inhabited, so too the cave must be one that is inhabited… The Gemara asks: Doesn’t the baraita teach that this halakha applies even to a cave like the Cave of Zedekiah, which was uninhabited? The Gemara answers: The baraita is referring to a cave that is like the Cave of Zedekiah in one respect and not like the Cave of Zedekiah in other respects. It is like the Cave of Zedekiah in that the cave is as large as that one. And it is not exactly like the Cave of Zedekiah, as there, with regard to Zedekiah’s cave, it was desolate, and here the baraita is referring to a cave that is inhabited.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Who was Zedekiah and what do we know about his cave? Zedekiah was the last Davidic king who ruled Judea for 10 years before the Babylonians conquered Judea and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in the year 586 BCE. He tried to escape by fleeing Jerusalem, but was caught, blinded, and brought to Babylonia. “But the Chaldean troops pursued the king, and they overtook him in the steppes of Jericho as his entire force left him and scattered. They captured the king and brought him before the king of Babylon at Riblah; and they put him on trial. They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes; then Zedekiah’s eyes were put out. He was chained in bronze fetters and he was brought to Babylon.”  

(II Kings 25:5-7) (Sefaria.org translation)

The cave of Zedekiah also known as Solomon’s quarries “is a 5-acre (20,000 m²) underground meleke limestone quarry that runs the length of five city blocks under the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It was carved over a period of several thousand years and is a remnant of the largest quarry in Jerusalem, stretching from Jeremiah's Grotto and the Garden Tomb to the walls of the Old City.^[1] The cave has great historical importance in Freemasonry.

“The entrance to Zedekiah's Cave is just beneath the Old City wall, between the Damascus and Herod Gates, about 500 feet (150 m) east of the former. Beyond the narrow entrance, the cave slopes down into a vast 300-foot-long auditorium-like chamber. Drops of water, known as "Zedekiah's tears", trickle through the ceiling.

“Only the mouth of Zedekiah's Cave is a natural phenomenon. The interior of the cavern was carved over a period of several thousand years.

 “Herod the Great used the main quarry at Zedekiah's Cave for building blocks in the renovation of the Temple and its retaining walls, including what is known today as the Western Wall. Stone from the quarry may also have been used for the building projects of Herod Agrippa I. The subterranean quarry would have been usable in all seasons and any weather.^[1] The Roman Jewish historian Flavius Josephus writes about the "Royal Caverns" of the Old City,^[3] which may have been a reference to Zedekiah's Cave. The midrash Numbers Rabbah mentions the cave: "One who observed the Sabbath in a cave, even though it be like the cave of Zedekiah, which was eighteen miles long, may walk through the whole of it".^[4]

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“Suleiman the Magnificent (1494–1566), the Ottoman sultan who built the present walls around the Old City, also apparently mined the quarry, ultimately sealing it up around 1540 because of security concerns. In 1854 the American missionary James Turner Barclay followed rumors of a cavern near the Damascus Gate, and, apparently with the help of his dog, discovered the entrance.^[5] Barclay and his two sons returned secretly at night and explored the cave.^[5]

 “The legend that the cave was a hiding place of King Zedekiah (Tzidkiyahu; a Judean king of the 6th century BC^[10]) dates back to at least the 11th century AD. At that time, Biblical commentator Rashi wrote that Zedekiah tried to escape from the troops sent by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to besiege Jerusalem. (The story was also repeated in the next century by the commentator Radak.) According to Rashi: “There was a cave from the palace of Zedekiah to the plain of Jericho and he fled through the cave." He added that God sent a buck running along the surface on top of the cave as Zedekiah was walking down below. The soldiers chased the buck and arrived at the exit of the cave just as Zedekiah was coming out, enabling them to capture and blind him. Thus was born the legend and name of "Zedekiah's Cave".^[1]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zedekiah%27s_Cave

Zedkekiah’s cave is open to the public (once the government lifts the closure ban due to the pandemic). Winter hours-Sunday-Thursday: 9:00 AM-4:00 PM; Summer hours: Sunday-Thursday: 9:00 AM-5:00 PM; Closed on Friday

Special events are held in the cave so when visiting Jerusalem check out what may be happening there.