A Person Who Exceeds the 2000 Amah Limit, But is Permitted to do so — Eruvin 45a

A Person Who Exceeds the 2000 Amah Limit, But is Permitted to do so — Eruvin 45a

(part 2)

תלמוד בבלי מסכת עירובין דף מה/א

בראשונה לא היו זזין משם כל היום כולו התקין רבן גמליאל הזקן שיש להן אלפים אמה לכל רוח ולא אלו בלבד אמרו אלא אפילו חכמה הבאה לילד והבא להציל מן הגייס ומן הנהר ומן המפולת ומן הדליקה הרי הן כאנשי העיר ויש להן אלפים אמה לכל רוח

In our discussion yesterday, we saw that although it would seem that a person who had to travel for one of the permitted reasons and traversed 11.5 mil to get to his destination, could only walk the additional 500 amos to the 12 mil limit, and no more, Nishmas Avraham, (Orach Chaim 507:1) writes that in the end R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach is inclined to give even the person in this situation 2000 amos from his destination.

Divrei Yechezkel (7:26) deals with this very question. He suggests that according to the Bavli, a person who violates the Torah prohibition of exceeding 12 mil is not violating a prohibition to leave a certain domain or area. Rather, the prohibition is the travel itself.

Hence, it stands to reason that the entire trip must be prohibited. Thus, if one started the trip under one of the permissible circumstances, the initial permitted segment does not combine with the subsequent prohibited segment. In this respect, the person who walked 11.5 mil for a permitted purpose is like a person who ate half a kzayis of permitted fats and half a kzayis of forbidden fats.

(Divrei Yechezkel (ad loc.) posits that Yerushalmi follows the other logic.)