The Lived Mishnah·A Zeman Nakat Project
Tisha B'Av Series
Mishnah 31 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
Audio · Listen with Ephraim Diamond
Listen with Ephraim Diamond · 9:59 0:00 / 9:59
0:00
9:59
Speed
Click any Hebrew phrase above to jump to where Ephraim reads it · Highlight holds while he discusses each phrase
MoedSederסדרמוֹעֵד
EiruvinMasechtaמסכתעירובין
10Perekפרקי׳
15Mishnahמשנהט״ו
נושא · Topicאֵין שְׁבוּת בַּמִּקְדָּשׁRabbinic leniencies in the Mikdash
Mishnah עירובין י׳:ט״ו · Eiruvin 10:15
שֶׁרֶץ שֶׁנִּמְצָא בַמִּקְדָּשׁ,
כֹּהֵן מוֹצִיאוֹ בְהֶמְיָנוֹ,
שֶׁלֹּא לְשַׁהוֹת אֶת הַטֻּמְאָה,
דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בֶּן בְּרוֹקָה.
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר,
בִּצְבָת שֶׁל עֵץ,
שֶׁלֹּא לְרַבּוֹת אֶת הַטֻּמְאָה.
מֵהֵיכָן מוֹצִיאִין אוֹתוֹ,
מִן הַהֵיכָל וּמִן הָאוּלָם וּמִבֵּין הָאוּלָם וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ,
דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן נַנָּס.
רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר,
מְקוֹם שֶׁחַיָּבִין עַל זְדוֹנוֹ כָּרֵת וְעַל שִׁגְגָתוֹ חַטָּאת,
מִשָּׁם מוֹצִיאִין אוֹתוֹ,
וּשְׁאָר כָּל הַמְּקוֹמוֹת כּוֹפִין עָלָיו פְּסַכְתֵּר.
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר,
מְקוֹם שֶׁהִתִּירוּ לְךָ חֲכָמִים, מִשֶּׁלְּךָ נָתְנוּ לְךָ, שֶׁלֹּא הִתִּירוּ לְךָ אֶלָּא מִשּׁוּם שְׁבוּת.
A sheretz found in the Mikdash —
a kohein carries it out in his belt,
so as not to prolong the tumah;
these are the words of Rabbi Yochanan ben Beroka.
Rabbi Yehuda says:
with wooden tongs,
so as not to increase the tumah.
From where do they remove it?
From the Heichal, the Ulam, and between the Ulam and the altar —
these are the words of Rabbi Shimon ben Nannas.
Rabbi Akiva says:
any place where intentional entry incurs kareis and unwitting entry a chatas —
from there they remove it,
and in all other places one covers it with a bowl (psachter).
Rabbi Shimon says:
wherever the Sages permitted something to you, they gave it to you from your own — they permitted it only because of shvus.
case/objectrestrictive rulingpermissive rulingTannareasongeneral rule
Transcript
Summary Chart
Rabbinic leniencies in the Mikdash▾
CaseRulingReason
How does one remove a sheretz from the Mikdash?Rabbi Yochanan ben Beroka: In his beltNot to prolong the tumah
Rabbi Yehuda: With wooden tongsNot to increase the tumah
From where must it be removed?Rabbi Shimon ben Nannas: Heichal, Ulam, and between them and the altar—
Rabbi Akiva: Anywhere kareis-liable; elsewhere cover with a bowl—
What is the governing principle?Rabbi Shimon: The Sages permitted only what is forbidden by shvus—
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
The sheretz in the Mikdash — and what Shabbos does to carrying it out▾
עֲשֵׂה לְךָ רַב
R' Akiva · Dor 3 · Bnei Brak — רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא

R’ Akiva began as an unlettered shepherd and did not open a sefer until he was forty — and rose to be the greatest of his generation, the master from whom much of the Mishnah descends. His twenty-four thousand students died in a plague between Pesach and Shavuos for failing to honor one another, and he rebuilt Torah from five disciples — R’ Meir, R’ Yehuda, R’ Yose, R’ Shimon, and R’ Elazar ben Shammua — the Sages this series keeps meeting. He gave his life in the Hadrianic persecutions, drawing out the word Echad of Shema as his soul left him (Berachos 61b).

Get the tumah out — but how?

A dead sheretz, a severe source of tumah, is found in the Azarah, and it cannot be left to sit among the kedushah. R’ Yochanan ben Beroka rules that the kohein sweeps it out in his avnet — his own holy belt — even though the belt is defiled, rather than lose time hunting for tongs; carrying it in cloth also keeps his hands off it, so he himself stays tahor (Bartenura). R’ Yehuda would use wooden tongs instead, to spread as little tumah as possible. Speed against care, with the honor of the Mikdash on both sides.

‘From where’ is a Shabbos question

On a weekday you could just carry the sheretz out anywhere, so Bartenura reads the mishnah’s ‘from where do you remove it’ as a question about Shabbos: carrying it out is a shvus, and they permitted it only where the tumah could not be left sitting. From the Heichal, the Ulam, and between the Ulam and the mizbeach, you carry it out even on Shabbos; anywhere else in the Azarah, you cover it with a pot and leave it until dark. That is R’ Shimon ben Nannas’s view; R’ Akiva, and the halacha is like him (Rambam), lets you carry it from the whole Azarah — anywhere a tamei person who walked in would be chayav kareis.

Why it waits for dark — the same move as the Korban Pesach

That ‘cover it and wait until dark’ is the same move as the Korban Pesach when Erev Pesach fell on Shabbos. There, once the korbanos were slaughtered, the groups stayed put (on the Har HaBayis, in the Cheil, in the Azarah) and only after dark went out to roast them (Pesachim 5:10). Bartenura explains why they couldn’t just carry them home: the slaughter overrides Shabbos, but carrying and roasting do not. The sheretz works the same way: carried out of the holiest places even on Shabbos, but everywhere else left until Shabbos is over, just like the Pesach.

Series Insights
Series context▾
← Previous
Eiruvin 10:14
Binding a wound where the avodah can't wait
Mishnah 31 of 41
Eiruvin 10:15
Ein shvus b'Mikdash — carrying out the sheretz on Shabbos
Next →
Maaser Sheini 1:5
Maaser sheni with nowhere to go

Where this sits

This closes the Ein Shvus run at its sharpest, and the shvus set aside is the Shabbos prohibition on carrying. A sheretz found in the Mikdash may be carried out on Shabbos — but only from the holiest places, where its tumah cannot be borne; from the rest of the Azarah it is covered and left until nightfall. The leniency the whole perek has traced reaches its limit here, keyed to the kedushah of a standing Bais and ending with it.

‹PreviousEruvin 10:14 ›NextMaaser Sheini 1:5