Definition of a Karmelit

Definition of a Karmelit

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In this article we will define what a karmelit is. This is a basic concept for anyone studying the laws of carrying on Shabbat. The article is intended to give the student the full set of tools needed to define a karmelit. A karmelit is essentially the intermediate state between a private domain, reshut ha-yachid, and a public domain, reshut ha-rabim, and it constitutes a very significant part of the public space familiar to us. In this article we will learn to distinguish between a street that is a karmelit and a street that is a reshut ha-rabim, or between a courtyard that is a reshut ha-yachid and a courtyard that is a karmelit. In separate but related articles we will define reshut ha-yachid, reshut ha-rabim, and makom patur.

What is a karmelit?

A karmelit consists of the lower 10 tefachim of a place that is at least 4 X 4 tefachim — 4 tefachim long and 4 tefachim wide — and is not surrounded by partitions defined as partitions for dwelling [see their definition below]. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:18).

A place that meets all the definitions of reshut ha-rabim in terms of width and absence of partitions, but has one of the following four conditions, is a karmelit (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:14):

1. The place does not serve as a passageway for the public — see details below.
2. A reshut ha-rabim that has a roof over it.
3. When part of a street has a projection in the reshut ha-rabim that is 4 X 4 tefachim wide, but is not 10 tefachim high. [If it is exactly 9 tefachim high and is used by the public to arrange their loads, its status is reshut ha-rabim].
4. When there is a pit in reshut ha-rabim that is 4 X 4 tefachim wide but not 10 tefachim deep.

Places that do not serve as a passageway for the public

A place that fulfills all the conditions of reshut ha-rabim but does not serve as a passageway for the public is a karmelit. Various examples follow.

1. A sea or river, and even a puddle 10 tefachim deep and 4 tefachim wide. [See the expanded discussion below]. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:14; Mishnah Berurah 48).
2. A field, or an empty open area that is not used as a passageway. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:14; Mishnah Berurah 49).
3. Places in reshut ha-rabim adjacent to a store, designated for the shopkeeper to place merchandise, where the public does not pass at all, if they are 4 tefachim wide and higher than 3 tefachim but lower than 10 tefachim. The Gemara’s example reflects the reality of their times: along the reshut ha-rabim, by the shops, there was an elevated place intended for the shopkeepers to sit; similarly, there were pillars along the reshut ha-rabim [as may be seen, for example, in the Cardo in Jerusalem], and in front of a pillar there was an elevated stone on which the merchant would place his wares. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:14; Mishnah Berurah 50).

If they are lower than 3 tefachim, they are reshut ha-rabim, though the Rashba was uncertain regarding the stone in front of the pillar, perhaps it is a karmelit. (Mishnah Berurah 345:52; Shaar HaTziyun 58).

If they are exactly 9 tefachim high but are designated only for merchants, and therefore the public does not use them to arrange their loads, they are a karmelit. But if they are also designated for passersby, and they arrange their loads on them, they are reshut ha-rabim. If the height is above 9 tefachim and less than 10 tefachim, according to the “yesh omrim” (345:10) its status is reshut ha-rabim, but in practice its status is karmelit. (Mishnah Berurah 345:53, based on 345:10).

If the width is not 4 tefachim, even if the length is very long, it is a makom patur.

1. Places in reshut ha-rabim where it is not convenient to pass, but when there is crowding because of many passersby in the public domain, people pass there as well. The Gemara gives two examples: a corner, regarding which all agree that it is a karmelit; and the area between pillars, which was used more by people, though still only when crowded — this is disputed. In practical halacha, the Shulchan Aruch rules that it is reshut ha-rabim, while the Mishnah Berurah rules that it is a karmelit. See below for further description of the cases. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:14; Mishnah Berurah 50).

Sea and River

A sea and a river are considered a karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch 345:14; Mishnah Berurah 48).

The question arises: since a river and the sea are deeper than 10 tefachim and wider than 4 tefachim, why are they not reshut ha-yachid? Two answers are given:

1. Because usually the descent into the sea or river is not steep, and there are more than 4 amot before a height of 10 tefachim is formed; therefore it is not considered a partition.
2. The view of the Ritva in the name of the Ramban and the Meiri is that since the partitions are very far from one another, even if they are complete partitions they do not combine to render it reshut ha-yachid. And although in a river the distance between the two banks is not so great, the distance from the beginning of the river to its end is very great, many kilometers, and therefore the river has only two halachic partitions.

The difference between the explanations is a case where we checked and there are cliffs around the river or sea, and within the first 4 amot from the shore the slope is more than 10 tefachim. According to the first answer, the river or sea would be considered reshut ha-yachid and not a karmelit; according to the second answer, it would still be considered a karmelit.

Similarly, in the case of a small lake or a short river ending in a pool, where there is no great distance between the partitions: according to the first answer we assume there are no partitions of the required measure unless we have checked, and therefore it is a karmelit; according to the second answer it would be considered reshut ha-yachid. (Mishnah Berurah 345:48).

The Biur Halacha (345:14, s.v. kegon) was uncertain in a case where within the sea there is a deep depression with a straight partition 10 tefachim deep, and the depression is wider than 4 tefachim: whether the area above this depression is considered reshut ha-yachid.

It should be noted that this depends on the doubt of the Pri Megadim (cited in Mishnah Berurah 345:48): whether a puddle 10 tefachim deep and 4 tefachim wide in the middle of reshut ha-rabim is, by Torah law, reshut ha-yachid, and the Sages merely ruled stringently to regard it as a karmelit, or perhaps it is a karmelit even leniently. According to the Meiri (cited in Shaar HaTziyun 53), since the partitions are not recognizable because of the water, it is always a karmelit and not reshut ha-yachid. Therefore, even absent the reasons mentioned above, a river and the sea are considered a karmelit and not reshut ha-yachid.

A deep puddle

A street with a puddle in its middle:

If the puddle is not 4 tefachim wide and not 10 tefachim deep, so that people jump over it, or a wooden plank has been placed and people pass over it, it is reshut ha-rabim. Rashi somewhat implies that by Torah law it is reshut ha-rabim only if most people jump over it or pass over the plank; but if most people go around the puddle, it is not reshut ha-rabim by Torah law. (Mishnah Berurah 345:48).

If the puddle is not 4 tefachim wide, or not 10 tefachim deep, but all who pass there go around it and do not pass through it, it is not reshut ha-rabim [provided it is at least 3 tefachim deep]. (Mishnah Berurah 345:48). If it is 4 tefachim wide, it is a karmelit; if it is not 4 tefachim wide, it is a makom patur.

If the puddle is wider than 4 tefachim and deeper than 10 tefachim, the Rambam rules (Shabbat 14:24) that it is a karmelit in any case. But the Pri Megadim was uncertain whether even by Torah law it is considered a karmelit, or perhaps by Torah law it is reshut ha-yachid and the Sages merely ruled stringently. The Meiri wrote that since the partitions of the puddle are not recognizable because of the water, it is a karmelit. (Mishnah Berurah 345:48; Shaar HaTziyun 53).

Places in reshut ha-rabim where it is not convenient to pass

As stated above, a place in reshut ha-rabim where it is not convenient to pass is considered a karmelit, and the public uses that place only when the street is crowded and congested. However, there is a dispute as to the definition of a place where it is not convenient to pass. The Gemara states that a corner adjacent to reshut ha-rabim is a karmelit according to all opinions, while the area between pillars is disputed. We shall explain these concepts.

A corner adjacent to reshut ha-rabim — meaning a corner or recess at the side of the street, used by the public but inconvenient for passage — is in any case a karmelit. Several examples are given:

1. If there is a turn from the street into a dead-end street surrounded by 3 partitions, but the street has no eruv permitting carrying in it [a lechi or korah, or a tzurat ha-petach], or the eruv intended to validate the side street is not at the end of the street, so part of the street is adjacent to the reshut ha-rabim before the eruv, and when the main street is crowded people enter this street. This example is brought by a commentator on the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 345:14), but the Mishnah Berurah (55) notes that this example is correct only according to the Rambam, who holds that a street with 3 partitions is not, by Torah law, reshut ha-yachid. According to the other poskim, a dead-end street surrounded by partitions on 3 sides is, by Torah law, a full reshut ha-yachid, and therefore is not a karmelit, even if the public uses this part of the street.
2. If one of the houses along the street is built set back from the other houses, creating a recess in the street, and naturally the public walks straight along the street and does not enter this recess, but when the street is crowded people use this section as well. (Mishnah Berurah 345:54).
3. Conversely, if one of the houses is built diagonally, and a triangular part of the house enters the reshut ha-rabim, so the public does not enter the corner created in the street unless there is great crowding. (Mishnah Berurah 345:54).

“Between the pillars” means that the pillars at the sides of the reshut ha-rabim were not placed in a straight line, and therefore people would walk along the street a little away from the edge, where they would not encounter a pillar when walking straight. But when the street was full, they would also walk at the edge, and when encountering a pillar they would go around it. This is disputed in the Gemara: whether this too is not considered reshut ha-rabim.

According to the Rambam, the halacha follows the view that it is reshut ha-rabim, and so the Shulchan Aruch rules (345:14). However, the Mishnah Berurah (50) disagrees and writes that most poskim (Rif, Rashba, Rosh, and others) rule like the view that it is a karmelit.

Above a height of 10 tefachim in a karmelit

A place that is above 10 tefachim from a karmelit is not subject to the prohibitions of a karmelit, and it is permitted to carry there 4 amot, and also to transfer from there to reshut ha-yachid or from there to reshut ha-rabim. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:18).

Therefore, if there is a thin high pole in a karmelit, or a hook attached to the wall of a karmelit, it is permitted to transfer from there to reshut ha-yachid or reshut ha-rabim, and it is also permitted to throw an object from there to another place higher than 10 tefachim in the karmelit, provided the object remains the entire time above 10 tefachim from the floor of the karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:18).

If the floor of the karmelit is full of water, such as a sea, river, or water-filled pit, the 10 tefachim are measured from the surface of the water; therefore it is forbidden to carry in the sea even if the person is above 10 tefachim from the seabed. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:18).

A storage shed, kennel, and the like lower than 10 tefachim

A structure that is 10 tefachim high, or whose interior does not contain a space of 10 tefachim, as is common for example in a low shed or kennel, or even a utensil such as a barrel, but the structure or utensil is 4 X 4 tefachim wide: the roof of the structure or utensil is reshut ha-yachid, while the interior space of the structure or utensil is a karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:15).

The Mishnah Berurah (Biur Halacha 345:15, s.v. tokho; see Shaar HaTziyun 627:3) was uncertain whether by Torah law it is reshut ha-yachid, but the Sages ruled stringently that it be considered a karmelit with regard to the prohibition of taking from reshut ha-yachid into this structure, or from this structure into reshut ha-yachid, and even from this structure to its roof; yet one who transfers from reshut ha-rabim into this structure violates a Torah prohibition and is liable to bring a chatat. Or perhaps even by Torah law it is considered a karmelit, and one who transfers from reshut ha-rabim into this structure violates only a rabbinic prohibition. However, Melo HaRo’im (novellae on the Rosh, Shabbat 1:11) and the Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim 65:67) held that by Torah law it is certainly reshut ha-yachid, and only the Sages ruled stringently that it be considered a karmelit regarding the prohibition of carrying from this structure to reshut ha-yachid.

A utensil or small structure, such as a mailbox placed in the street near the house, whose interior does not have a width of 4 tefachim, is a makom patur inside. However, if its roof has a width of 4 tefachim together with the thickness of the structure’s wall, the roof is reshut ha-yachid and the inside is makom patur. (Mishnah Berurah 345:59; Shaar HaTziyun 63–64).

A very wide structure or utensil, whose interior height is less than 10 tefachim, but in the center of the structure or utensil there is a depression 4 X 4 tefachim wide where the height is 10 tefachim: even if the depression is very far from the walls of the structure, the entire structure is considered reshut ha-yachid and not a karmelit. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:15).

If the structure is also lower than 10 tefachim on the outside [not only the interior space excluding the thickness of the roof], opinions differ as to whether the depression in the center of the structure helps. The Magen Avraham writes that this is disputed: the Rosh maintains that only if the depression is within 3 tefachim of the wall is the place considered reshut ha-yachid; the Ran maintains that in any case the place is considered reshut ha-yachid; and the Eliyah Rabbah was uncertain. (Mishnah Berurah 345:63). The Chazon Ish (Orach Chaim 65:69) holds that according to all opinions the place is considered reshut ha-yachid.

Makom patur in a karmelit

When in the middle of a karmelit there is a pit 10 tefachim deep but not 4 tefachim wide, the pit has the status of a karmelit and not a makom patur, because there is no makom patur in the middle of a karmelit [the reasoning is “a kind has found its own kind”: a makom patur exists when, within reshut ha-yachid or reshut ha-rabim, there is a place that does not meet those definitions; but in a karmelit, which is a place lacking the definitions of reshut ha-yachid or reshut ha-rabim, makom patur is not a reason for a different definition]. (Rema, Orach Chaim 345:18). However, when the makom patur is at the edge of the karmelit and not in its center, this reasoning is not applied, as will be explained in the laws of holes in the wall of a karmelit. (Biur Halacha 345:17, s.v. churei).

However, if there is a pillar 10 tefachim high and not 4 tefachim wide, the place is considered makom patur, because there is no status of karmelit above 10 tefachim.

If there is a hole in the wall of a karmelit at a height above 3 tefachim — whether it is below 10 tefachim or above 10 tefachim — and the hole is 4 X 4 tefachim wide, it is a karmelit. (Mishnah Berurah 345:71).

If there is a hole in the wall of a karmelit, and the hole is less than 4 tefachim wide, even if the hole is lower than 10 tefachim, it is a makom patur. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 345:17).

A hole in the wall of a karmelit lower than 3 tefachim from the ground has the status of a karmelit in any case. (Mishnah Berurah 345:71).

A hole in a wall separating a karmelit from reshut ha-yachid, if the hole passes through the entire wall, has the status of a hole in reshut ha-yachid.

Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 345).