Study Eruvin folio 100A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
משום דהוי דירה שתשמישה לאויר, וכל דירה שתשמישה לאויר — אין מטלטלין בה יתר מבית סאתים.
This was prohibited because it is a residence that serves only the air, i.e., it is used only by someone guarding the fields or the like. It is not used as permanent living quarters, despite its partitions. And the rule with respect to any residence that serves only the air is that it is not permitted to carry in it if its area is more than two beit se’a. As it is not a proper place of residence, the rabbis treated it as an enclosure.
שרשיו גבוהין מן הארץ וכו׳. איתמר: שרשי אילן הבאין מלמעלה משלשה לתוך שלשה, רבה אמר: מותר להשתמש בהן, רב ששת אמר: אסור להשתמש בהן.
The Mishnah states: If the roots of the tree are 3 handbreadths above the ground, one may not sit on them on Shabbat. It was stated that amora’im disagreed with regard to the roots of a tree that rise up and then bend and come down from above, from a height of 3 handbreadths to within 3 handbreadths of the ground. Rabba said: It is permitted to use them, and Rav Sheshet said: It is prohibited to use them.
רבה אמר: מותר להשתמש בהן, דכל פחות משלשה דארעא — ארעא היא. רב ששת אמר: אסור להשתמש בהן, דכיון דמכח איסור קאתי — אסורין.
The Talmud clarifies the rationale of each opinion. Rabba said that it is permitted to use them, as anything less than 3 handbreadths from the ground is considered as the ground. Rav Sheshet said: It is prohibited to use them; since they come from a prohibited source, they are prohibited. The section of the tree from which they grow is prohibited. Therefore, these roots should likewise be prohibited.
The Talmud proceeds to qualify the dispute: With regard to ascending and descending roots that resemble a rocky crag, those that rise upward are certainly prohibited according to all opinions; those that fall downward are permitted according to everyone. It is the roots that branch out to the sides that are the subject of the dispute between Rabba and Rav Sheshet. Rav Sheshet prohibits using them, while Rabba is lenient.