Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Eruvin/Chapter 1/8

Introduction

The mishnah will now digress slightly to talk about an more unusual and specific case - a caravan which has been travelling and stopped to camp in a remote area for shabbat.

Hebrew Text

שיירה שחנת בבקעה, והקיפוה כלי בהמה--מטלטלין בתוכה: ובלבד שיהא גדר גבוה עשרה טפחים, ולא יהו פרצות יתרות על הבניין.

כל פרצה שהיא כעשר אמות--מותרת, מפני שהיא כפתח; יתר מכן, אסור.

English Translation

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A caravan that is camped in a valley and is surrounded by animal related objects can carry within [that perimeter] only if the fence is 10 tefachim high and the gaps aren't larger than the walls.

Any gap that is 10 amot is permitted because it is like a door; larger than that is forbidden.

Explanation

This mishnah explains that a camped caravan can create an eruv by surrounding themselves with a wall of equipment and utensils. The only caveats are that the walls must be 10 tefachim high, and the gaps must be 10 amot or less. Also the total length of the gaps in the wall cannot be more than the total length of the walls themselves.