Study Eruvin folio 16A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
בעביטין, בשליפין, בקנים, בקולחות — מטלטלין בתוכה, ובלבד שלא יהא בין גמל לגמל כמלא גמל, ובין אוכף לאוכף כמלא אוכף, ובין עביט לעביט כמלא עביט!
or with saddle cushions [avitin], or with wheat sheaves, or with boards, or with stalks [kolaḥot], one may carry within the enclosed area, provided that there is no camel-length gap between one camel and another, or a saddle-length gap between one saddle and another, or a cushion-length gap between one cushion and another. Apparently, from this baraita it can be understood that if the breach is equal to the standing segment, it is not a valid enclosure.
הכא נמי כשנכנס ויוצא.
The Talmud rejects this conclusion. Here, too, it is referring to gaps through which the various objects can easily be inserted and extracted, so that the breached segment is in fact slightly greater than that of the standing segment.
תא שמע: נמצאת אתה אומר, שלש מדות במחיצות: כל שהוא פחות משלשה, צריך שלא יהא בין זה לזה שלשה, כדי שלא יזדקר הגדי בבת ראש.
The Talmud cites yet another proof: Come and hear that which was taught in the Tosefta in tractate Kilayim: Ultimately, you say that there are 3 measures for partitions. These partitions form a barrier that demarcates between vines and seeds. They are needed to render permitted the sowing of a field with diverse kinds of seeds. In the case of any partition consisting of boards that are each less than 3 handbreadths wide, it is necessary that there will not be a gap of 3 handbreadths between this board and that, so that a goat would not be able to leap headlong through it unimpeded. If the gap is wider than 3 handbreadths, i.e., wide enough that a goat can leap through it, the boards are not considered joined and it is not considered a partition.