HOCHMA: YESHIVAT HAVERIM – BABYLONIAN TALMUD p59

Does not the text contradict itself? It states: “One must say three things, etc., when it is getting
dark.” This implies that if he is in doubt whether it is getting dark or whether darkness has
already set in, he cannot say it any longer. In the latter part, however, it says “if he is in doubt,
etc., he may put up an Erubh.”
Said R. Aba in the name of R. Hyya b. Ashi, quoting Rabh: “It presents no difficulty. In the first
part it speaks of an Erubh of Techum (that marks the boundary of two thousand ells around the
city, where it is allowed for one to walk on Sabbath); in the latter part it speaks of an Erubh by
which the neighbors of adjoining courts make common cause.”
Rabba said: The rabbis have prohibited putting victuals among things (that preserve but) that do
not increase the heat after dark, for fear lest one find them too cold and be tempted to make
them boil. Said Abayi to him: “If such is the case, why did they not enact the same prohibition
for (the time) when it is twilight also?” Answered Rabba: “At that time the pots are generally
boiling hot.”
Rabba said again: “Why was it said that one must not put victuals among things that increase the
heat, when it is yet day, for fear lest one put them in cinders where there are yet live coals?”
Said Abayi to him: “What harm is there? let him do so.” And he answered: “It may be feared lest
he be tempted to stir the burning coals.” The rabbis taught: “Which is the time of twilight?”
When the sun sets and the eastern sky is red; when the lower (edge of a cloud) is dark, while the
upper part is not yet dark; but when the upper edge (of such a cloud) is as dark as the lower,
night has set in. So says R. Jehudah. R. Nehemiah says: (The duration of twilight) is the time
one takes to walk half a mile from the moment the sun sets. R. Jose says: Twilight is like the
twinkling of an eye; the one (day) goes out, the other (night) comes in, and it is impossible to
determine it. And each of them is in accordance with his theory elsewhere; as it was taught:
What is the duration of twilight? Rabba in the name of R. Jehudah, quoting Samuel, said: (The
time it takes to walk) three-quarters of a mile; and R. Joseph said in the name of the same
authority: Two-thirds of a mile. The difference between them is half a danka. (The contrary is
the case when a bee-hive is concerned;
in that case Rabba said: A bee-hive of two kurs 1 one may move on the Sabbath; of three, one
shall not. R. Joseph, however, said that one may move even a hive of three kurs, but one of four
is forbidden. Said Abayi: I have inquired of the master at the time of the deed, and he did not
even permit me to move one of two kurs.)