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Eruvin 49

1) A MAN WITHOUT A "MAKOM SHEVISAH"

QUESTION: The Gemara says that when a person attempts to make his Makom Shevisah underneath a tree and it does not work for whatever reason (for example, the area underneath the tree is large and he did not specify exactly where he wanted his Makom Shevisah to be), he has *no* place of Shevisah anywhere, not under the tree nor where he is standing.

However, the Mishnah earlier (35a) seems to contradict this assertion. The Mishnah says that if a person tries to make an Eruv Techumin at the end of 2000 Amos from his present location and the food rolls beyond the 2000 Amos before Shabbos enters, the Eruv is not valid but the person making the Eruv retains the Techum of his city. According to our Gemara, he should not have *any* Techum!

ANSWER: TOSFOS (DH v'Afilu) and Rashi (60a DH v'Asur) answer that when he is standing inside the city, then he always has in mind that if his Eruv does not work for some reason, he will remain with the Techum of the city (that is his "default Techum"). However, if he is standing outside of a city in an uninhabited area, there is no place of Shevisah that he has in mind other than the place he designated. If, for whatever reason, he is not Koneh the Makom Shevisah that he had in mind, he has no Makom Shevisah at all.

49b