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Shabbos 99

1) THE WALLS OF A PIT

OPINIONS: According to Rebbi Yochanan, the Mishnah teaches that the height of the walls above and surrounding a pit join with the height of the pit itself to make a ten Tefachim height (so that the pit has a status of Reshus ha'Yachid).

Does the *thickness* of the walls join with the internal diameter of the pit to make a combined width of four Tefachim so that the pit will be a Reshus ha'Yachid if the internal diameter of the pit itself is less than four Tefachim?

(a) RASHI here (DH Mitztarfin) says that the walls join to make a height of ten Tefachim, so that if someone took an object *from within* the pit and placed it outside the pit, he would be Chayav for Hotza'ah. This implies that if someone would take an object from atop the walls of the pit, he would *not* be Chayav. It seems, then, that Rashi maintains that the thickness of the walls does not join the width of the pit. However, RASHI in Eruvin (78a, DH Mitztarefes) says that just like the height of the walls joins to make ten Tefachim, so, too, the width joins to make four Tefachim.

Perhaps Rashi learns like TOSFOS (DH Mesayei'a) in our Sugya, who says that a pit joins with its walls to make a width of four Tefachim only if the wall itself is ten Tefachim high without the pit.

(b) The RITVA says that the walls join to make a width of four Tefachim no matter how tall the walls are. (See also Rosh in Eruvin.)

(c) The RAMBAM says that the walls of a pit do not join at all to make a width of four Tefachim. (See RAV CHAIM HA'LEVI, Hilchos Shabbos 14, who explains that the Rambam accepts the Yerushalmi's ruling that the walls join only if they are *wider than* the diameter of the pit. In such a case, the width of walls join to make the area on top into a Reshus ha'Yachid, because it is a usable area. The area between the walls themselves, though, is not considered to be Reshus ha'Yachid.)

99b

OPINIONS: The Gemara poses a question. When one throws an object from Reshus ha'Rabim to the top of a pillar which is ten Tefachim high and four Tefachim wide (thus defined as a Reshus ha'Yachid), in order to land on the top surface of the pillar the object must travel through a Makom Patur. Is one Chayav for such a Hotza'ah or not?

At which point is the object in a Makom Petur?

(a) RASHI explains that it travels through a Makom Patur because it goes above ten Tefachim in Reshus ha'Rabim before it reaches the top of the pillar, and ten Tefachim above Reshus ha'Rabim is a Makom Patur. On top of the pillar itself, though, is considered Reshus ha'Yachid up until the sky.

(b) The RASHBA and RITVA explain that on top of the pillar itself is a Makom Patur. They explain that a pillar is a weaker type of Reshus ha'Yachid than other types because it does not have Mechitzos around its surface to make it distinguished as a Reshus ha'Yachid.

RAV CHAIM HA'LEVI (Hilchos Sukah) points out that with regard to a Sukah, Rashi explains that "Mechitzos sh'Einan Nikaros" (walls that are not visible; i.e. they exist only theoretically, as a result of a Halachic concept such as "Gud Achis") are not sufficient as walls for a Sukah. A Sukah needs actual walls, and not just theoretical ones. The Ritva and Rashba perhaps maintained that even with regard to the laws of domains on *Shabbos*, theoretical walls are not sufficient and Gud Achis does not work to make the top surface of the pillar considered to be surrounded by four walls. Although the thickness of the pillar is four Tefachim, only the top of the pillar itself is considered a Reshus ha'Yachid, and not the air above it, unless there are walls which can be viewed as extending up until the sky so that the area between them is considered Reshus ha'Rabim.

QUESTION: RASHI (DH Mukaf l'Karmelis) implies that a Karpaf (open valley) which is larger than Beis Sasayim and was fenced in for the purpose of residential occupation becomes a Reshus ha'Yachid, and if the Karpaf is smaller than Beis Sasayim, it becomes a Reshus ha'Yachid by being fenced in, even not for any residential purpose. This implies that a Karpaf larger than Beis Sasayim that was not fenced in for residential purposes is considered a *Karmelis*. This seems to contradict what the Gemara says earlier (7a), that it is a *Reshus ha'Yachid* with the stringencies of a Karmelis. Rashi reiterates his opinion that it is a Karmelis on 7a and 80a. (GILYON HA'SHAS)

ANSWER: The Acharonim (see CHASAM SOFER) explain that RASHI (7a, DH Kegon) stresses that a Karpaf that was not fenced in for residential occupation is a Reshus ha'Yachid *if it did not have any houses in it before the wall was built around it*. That implies that *after* the wall was built, a house *was erected* inside the Karpaf. Perhaps, then, Rashi holds that a fenced-in Karpaf is only considered a Reshus ha'Yachid if a house was later built inside the walls. But if a house was never built inside the walls, the Karpaf remains a full-fledged, genuine Karmelis.