Definition of Reshut HaRabim
Definition of Reshut HaRabim
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In this article we will define what reshut harabim is. This concept is a basic one for anyone studying the laws of carrying on Shabbat. This article is intended to give the learner the full set of tools needed to define what constitutes a reshut harabim. In separate but related articles, we will define what reshut hayachid is, what a karmelit is, and what a makom patur is.
What is reshut harabim?
Reshut harabim requires several conditions:
- The street must be mefulash, meaning open from one side to the other, and not a dead-end street.
- The street must be 16 amot wide. [8–9.2 meters]. It is interesting to note that the streets of the Shaarei Chessed neighborhood and Meah Shearim Street in Jerusalem were deliberately made less than 8 meters wide, so that they would not be a reshut harabim.
- There is an opinion that 600,000 people must also pass through the street. Later we will expand on this condition, the various approaches to it, and whether this condition applies nowadays in different places.
In light of the above, if we accept the opinion that the first two conditions are sufficient, most streets nowadays are a reshut harabim according to Torah law, making a regular eruv is not effective for them, and carrying in them is prohibited by Torah law. On the other hand, according to the opinion
A street narrower than 16 amot
Even on a street that is narrower than 16 amot, there are three situations in which it is still considered a reshut harabim:
A. A street whose entire width is 13 amot and one-third of an amah [6.4–7.73 meters], but which serves as a passageway between two reshut harabim areas; that is, the beginning of the street is a turn from a reshut harabim, and its end is likewise a turn from a reshut harabim. (Shulchan Aruch, siman 345, se’if 9).
B. A street that is 16 amot wide, but in part of the street it narrows, is still considered a reshut harabim. According to the Rosh, the street may narrow only to 13 amot and one-third of an amah. According to the Rashba, even if the street narrowed to less than 10 amot, it is considered a reshut harabim (Shaar HaTziyun, siman 345, se’if katan 29). The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’ifim 8–9) cites both opinions. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 28 — according to his understanding that se’if 8 and se’if 9 disagree with one another).
C. A street parallel to a reshut harabim, which has an entrance and an exit from that same reshut harabim. This law is common when there is a divider in the middle of the road, and each side is less than 16 amot wide. In this case as well, according to the Rosh the parallel street must also be 13 amot and one-third wide, whereas according to the Rashba, even 10 amot suffice (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 8, according to the Vilna Gaon’s version; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 28).
A post in reshut harabim
When there is a wide post, even if the space between its partitions cannot be used, since there is a roof above the partitions, the top of the post is considered a reshut hayachid. Moreover, even where there is a sloping mass of earth or the sloping side of a mountain, if the slope accumulates a height of 10 tefachim over a distance of 4 amot, the slope is considered a partition. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 5).
Anything located in reshut harabim, whether it is something natural such as a rock, bush, or tree, or something man-made attached to the ground such as a post, divider fence, and the like, and even a temporary object placed on the ground such as a utensil or some refuse, or even cardboard and the like — and there is no difference whether the public steps over it or goes around it — is considered a domain in its own right according to the following definitions:
If it does not have a height of 3 tefachim, it is an ordinary reshut harabim. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10).
If it has a height between 3 and 9 tefachim and a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, it is a karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10).
If it has a height between 3 and 9 tefachim but does not have a width of 4 tefachim, even if it is very long, such as a divider fence, it is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 30).
If it has a height of exactly 9 tefachim, and the people of reshut harabim use it to place an object on it in order to arrange the load they are carrying on their shoulders, it is an ordinary reshut harabim, even if it is not 4 tefachim wide. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10).
If it is more than 9 tefachim but less than 10 tefachim high, and it is used as described above, there is an opinion that it is a reshut harabim; however, as a matter of halacha, if it is 4 tefachim wide its status is that of a karmelit, and if not, it is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 36).
A post that is 9 tefachim high but is not actually used to arrange a load, even though it could conveniently be used for that purpose: if it is 4 tefachim wide, it is a karmelit, and if not, it is a makom patur. (Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 33; Shaar HaTziyun, se’if katan 36).
If it has a height of 10 tefachim or more, and a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, it is a reshut hayachid. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10).
If it has a height of 10 tefachim or more, but does not have a width of 4 tefachim, even if it is very long, such as a divider fence, it is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 10; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 30).
A pit in reshut harabim
A pit or any empty depression, even if filled with water or another transparent substance, has the following status according to these definitions:
A pit or any depression in reshut harabim that is not 3 tefachim deep is an ordinary reshut harabim, even if it is very wide. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 11).
A pit or any other depression in reshut harabim that is 3 tefachim or more deep but less than 10 tefachim, and has a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, is a karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 11).
A pit or any other depression in reshut harabim that is 3 tefachim or more deep but less than 10 tefachim, and does not have a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, even if it is very long, is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 11).
In the case of a pit, even if it is exactly 9 tefachim deep and people actually use it to arrange packages and the like, since such use is not convenient, it does not have the status of reshut harabim. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 40; Shaar HaTziyun, se’if katan 41).
A pit or any other depression in reshut harabim that is 10 tefachim or more deep, and has a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, is a reshut hayachid. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 11).
A pit or any other depression in reshut harabim that is 10 tefachim or more deep, but does not have a width of 4 by 4 tefachim, is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 11; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 42).
A pit filled with fruit or objects, even if one intends to remove them, is not considered a reshut hayachid; however, rabbinically it is forbidden to transfer an object from reshut harabim to this place. The Mishnah Berurah (siman 345, Shaar HaTziyun, se’if katan 45) is uncertain whether the place is a karmelit or a reshut harabim. However, the Rashba’s view is that this applies only if the pit is filled with a prohibited item that may not be removed on Shabbat, such as fruit from which tithes have not been separated (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 41).
A hole in the wall of reshut harabim
A hole in the wall of reshut harabim at a height of more than 3 tefachim from the ground is not a reshut harabim (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 13; Mishnah Berurah, se’if katan 11; 47), and its status is as follows:
If the hole is not 4 tefachim wide, it is a makom patur.
A hole in the wall of reshut harabim at a height of more than 3 tefachim and less than 10 tefachim from the ground, if the hole is 4 tefachim wide, is a karmelit.
A hole in the wall of reshut harabim at a height of more than 10 tefachim from the ground, if the hole is 4 tefachim wide, is a reshut hayachid.
A hole lower than 3 tefachim from the ground is a reshut harabim. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 46). However, the Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim, siman 96, se’if katan 13) maintains that this applies only to a hole that does not have three partitions, for example when the hole opens through to the other side and has only two partitions, or when the wall stands on pillars, or when there is a protrusion from the wall that begins below 3 tefachim but extends along the entire wall. But if there is a hole in the wall surrounded by three partitions, it is a karmelit.
Places that are not reshut harabim
The laws of reshut harabim apply only to the 10 tefachim adjacent to the ground; above 10 tefachim, the place does not have the status of reshut harabim, but rather of makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, siman 345, se’if 12). Therefore, many halachot derive from this rule:
A thin beam placed above reshut harabim: a person walking on it may carry his belongings in his hand. (Mishnah Berurah, Shaar HaTziyun, se’if katan 48).
A person who throws a sticky object at the height of reshut harabim, and the object sticks to the street fence above 10 tefachim: this does not involve the prohibition of performing a melacha, but it is rabbinically forbidden out of concern that the object may fall into reshut harabim. (Mishnah Berurah, siman 345, se’if katan 43; Shaar HaTziyun, se’if katan 47).
A utensil placed in reshut harabim, even if it is resting on a thin post that does not have 4 tefachim.
Source
Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, siman 345).
