Shabbat Boundaries

 

Shabbat was given to the Jewish people even before the giving of the Torah.  Shabbat became a special day a few weeks prior to Matan Torah, when God gave manna to the people.  A double portion of manna fell on the sixth day, and the extra portion didn't spoil as usual but rather kept until the seventh day.

 

The double portion of manna taught the importance of "oneg Shabbat," Shabbat indulgence.  Afterwards, the Torah admonishes, "See that God has given you the Shabbat - that is why He gave you on the sixth day bread for two days.  Sit each man with himself; no man shall go out of his place on the seventh day.  And the people rested on the seventh day" (Shemot 16:29-30).

 

Here we learn the importance of Shabbat rest - "and the people rested."  The principal element of this rest, before the giving of the Torah when we were commanded about the forbidden Shabbat labors, was "no man shall go out of his place."  This verse is the basis for the establishment of Shabbat boundaries, the subject of this chapter.

 

According to the Talmud Yerushalmi (Eiruvin 3:4), this source teaches a Torah prohibition for any Jew to go beyond a twelve-mile distance from the place of his Shabbat station.  (A Hebrew mile is about a kilometer.)  However, the Sages imposed a more stringent boundary of two thousand amot, which is one Hebrew mile - about a kilometer.

 

The more authoritative Babylonian Talmud does not mention any specific distance forbidden by the Torah to walk on Shabbat.  However, the Rabbinical commandment not to go more than two thousand amot is still based on the same verse commanding us not to leave our place.

 

Let us examine the meaning of both the Torah-mandated distance and the one imposed by the Rabbis.

 

TWELVE MILES

 

The basis for the twelve-mile distance mentioned in the Yerushalmi is that the encampment of the Jewish people in the desert was twelve miles across.  This seems strange, since the Shabbat boundary defines how far we may proceed BEYOND the borders of settlement, not within them.  How is this learned from an area of settlement that was itself twelve miles across?

 

Evidently the entire camp was not considered a single community.  Perhaps each tribe was considered a separate community, or perhaps each wing of the four-sided Jewish camp was considered separate.  So on the one hand this twelve-mile rule carries a message of separation - each tribe or wing is a distinct settlement.

 

Yet it was unthinkable that one Jew could not visit another on Shabbat.  "No man shall go out of his place" still allows each person to go beyond the borders of his own community as far as needed in the desert to visit someone in another tribe at the far opposite end of the encampment.  The dwelling of our fellow Jew, in our identical camp, is not considered "out of our place."

 

One authority suggests that the entire encampment WAS considered a single settlement - but only from the time the Miskan (Tabernacle) was erected (Zikhron Yosef, cited in Beit Yitzchak Shmelkes OC 42).  Recall that the mitzva of staying in place on Shabbat was given before the building of the Mishkan, and even before the giving of the Torah.  This approach indicates that the Jewish people are most closely united through joining together in God's service, as we did in the Mishkan.  That is when the entire camp became a single community.

 

Yet it simultaneously shows that there is an important foundation of brotherhood which exists even prior to our unification in worship.  Even when each camp was a separate community, it was permissible to walk on Shabbat beyond the borders of each community as far as was necessary to visit Jews in any other community in the camp.  We Jews are united by our worship, but we are first of all a family.

 

This helps clarify the paradox of the Shabbat boundary.  The idea of the Shabbat boundary is that we may not go beyond our station: "No man shall go out of his place."  Yet the halakha is that we MAY go beyond our place.  The resolution is that "our place" is expanded.  Each person's own space is expanded through his brotherhood with others.

 

TWO THOUSAND AMOT

 

The Talmud explains the source of the two-thousand amot "city limit" based on an inference which reads like a riddle:

 

"We learn place from place, and place from fleeing; fleeing from fleeing, and fleeing from border; border from border, and border from beyond; and beyond from beyond."  (Eiruvin 51a)

 

Rashi explains: The word "place" in the verse "No man shall go beyond his place" (Shemot 16:29) is clarified by the word "place" in the verse "And I have established a place whither he may flee" (Shemot 21:13), referring to the cities of refuge which provide sanctuary for a murderer who has killed unintentionally.  And the key to the significance of the word "place" is the word "fleeing" - it is a place to flee to, a place of refuge.

 

In turn, the word "fleeing" in this verse is clarified by the word "fleeing" in the verse "from the border of his city of refuge, whither he may flee" (Bamidbar 35:26), which also refers to a city of refuge.  And the key to the meaning of "fleeing" is the word "border" - there is a specific boundary within which the inadvertent killer is protected.

 

And the word "border" in this verse is clarified by the word "border" in the next verse, "And the blood avenger will find him beyond the border."  The key to the meaning of "border" is the word " beyond" - a border demarcates an area within and an area without.

 

Finally, the word "beyond" is clarified by the word "beyond" in the verse "And you shall measure beyond the city" two thousand amot in each direction (Bamidbar 35:5).  This measurement refers to the environs of the special Levite cities, which may not be built up for two thousand amot around.

 

We conclude that the Shabbat boundary is two thousand amot.

 

SHABBAT AS A CITY OF REFUGE

 

This passage in the gemara suggests that our Shabbat location can be likened to a city of refuge (in Hebrew, "ir miklat").  While an intentional murderer can be sentenced to capital punishment, unintentional manslaughter is not punished by the Jewish court.  However, the relative of the slaughtered person, the "blood avenger," is permitted to pursue the killer.  In order to prevent bloodshed, the Torah then provides for special cities of refuge where such killers are protected from reprisal.  The end result is that inadvertent manslaughter is effectively punished by exile to a city of refuge for a designated amount of time.

 

We learn "place" from "place," and "place" from "fleeing" - Shabbat is a place of refuge for the Jewish people, a time when we are safe from the worries and concerns which pursue us relentlessly during the week.

 

Like the unintentional killer, most of the worries that stalk us are of our own making, the results of our own careless actions.  Even so, the Torah provides us a refuge in the form of the Shabbat.  Ultimately, the killer is released from his time of exile, and the avenger may no longer pursue him; after Shabbat, we start our week anew, with an inner peace that protects us from the weekday worries that seemed so daunting on Friday afternoon.

 

We further learn "fleeing" from "border."  The inadvertent killer is not automatically granted protection from reprisal; he must flee to the specific boundary of the city of refuge.  Outside of this boundary he may be accosted.

 

In terms of Shabbat, this teaches that Shabbat itself has a border.  Like the case of the cities of refuge which don't protect us until we enter their boundaries, Shabbat doesn't protect us unless we keep it.  The arrival of sunset on Friday doesn't automatically free us of worries, it merely provides a city of refuge.  We then have to hie ourselves to this sanctuary, by keeping the Shabbat.  (In chapter 76 also we pointed out that the special protection of Shabbat is dependent on keeping its laws.)

 

SHABBAT AS A CITY OF THE LEVITES

 

As we just explained, the Talmud goes on to learn "border from beyond, and beyond from beyond."  Shabbat is likened to the limits of the city of the Levites.  What was unique about this tribe?

 

The Jews in the desert did not need to do any work.  They were fed by the miraculous manna which fell each morning on the ground, and which they needed only to gather.  However, this was not considered an ideal existence.  On the contrary, the sojourn in the desert was only preparation for entering the land of Israel, where each household would inherit a plot of land and eke out a living through natural means, thus giving us the opportunity to sanctify mundane work.  (Explained in more detail in chapter 35:9.)

 

However, one tribe was an exception to this rule.  The tribe of Levi did not receive an inheritance of fields in the land of Israel.  The Levites are a tribe set aside to serve God; they serve in the Temple and are expected to learn and teach Torah.  In order to provide for their sustenance, God commanded that a tenth of all the produce grown in the land of Israel, the first tithe, be designated for the Levites.  "For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they will raise up to God, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have told them that they will not receive an inheritance among the children of Israel" (Bamidbar 18:24).

 

Even though the Levites did not receive a region of the land of Israel, an inheritance of fields, they still needed a place to live!  The Torah provides for forty-eight cities within the boundaries of other tribes that served as dwellings for the Levites.  Each Levite city had an expanse of land around it, two thousand amot in each direction, which served as a place for animals and other possessions that don't belong within a city (Bamidbar chapter 35).

 

By learning "border" from "beyond," we learn that some of the area beyond the city is still considered part of the city.  Each city has a radiance that illuminates the area surrounding it.  In particular, two thousand amot outside the city walls still has the status of the city itself for many purposes.

 

The Talmudic passage we cited likens Shabbat to a city of the Levites.  The Torah DOES want us to work, to involve ourselves in workaday affairs.  The twelve tribes each received an inheritance of fields, and when we entered the land of Israel the manna stopped falling and we had to start working the land.  Yet one tribe was set aside to be dedicated exclusively to God's service, and to receive its material sustenance from other tribes – the first tithe given to the Levites.  Likewise, six days are dedicated to working and making a living, sanctifying the mundane, but one day is set aside exclusively for God's service, receiving its material sustenance from the other six days. 

 

In turn, our mundane affairs are blessed with success when we devote them to providing sustenance for sanctity.  Regarding the tithes given the Levites, our Sages say, "Tithe in order to grow in wealth" (Shabbat 119a), and we already explained in chapter 77:8 that the weekdays are blessed with plenty by virtue of the fact that we enjoy their bounty in our Shabbat meals.