Eiruvin 59a, b

We begin with the Gemara that follows the Mishna in our previous daf: 

1) The measurements of an expert surveyor are followed and if two measurements do not accord, the extended measurement is accepted;

2) Shabbat limits are so lenient that the memory of a gentile slave or maidservant regarding the placement of an eiruv in the past is relied upon.

In daf 59a, the rabbis discuss this Mishna. They decide that stringencies relate to Torah law but because Shabbat limits are rabbinic law, they are lenient.

Perhaps I am wrong in my assumptions, but I take this to mean that the rabbis wanted to make life easier for people enjoying Shabbat. 

Following this discussion is a new Mishna regarding courtyards; halacha regarding public and private domains.  Steinsaltz notes that this is a jump backward in topic.  Tosafot Chadashim suggest that we are on the topic of "memory": this new Mishna relates a city that was once public and becomes private, or vice versa.  Memory of previous halachot are significant in both of these two adjacent Mishnaot.

This second Mishna tells us that we can create an eiruv that combines the courtyards within an entire city in certain circumstances.  The Gemara that follows focuses on how one might create eiruvin in different circumstances -- for example, when one can establish an eiruv for half of a city, or when a ladder might be considered an 'entrance' to a public domain between two courtyards.

The conversation is alternately light and quite dense.  Koren's version of the Talmud provides pictures to illustrate some of the concepts discussed by our Sages.  I find those pictures helpful; however, often I wish there were a picture to help me understand the intricacies of the rabbis' conversations.  Diagrams, pictures, maps, anything at all to help me visualize these very challenging concepts.

I wonder about yeshiva bochers who were not particularly academically gifted.  How did they survive Talmud study in their early years?  Later, of course, they could choose other career paths - probably based upon familial traditions. But early on, children were expected to sit and learn.  What if the teachers were not that good?  In fact, what if the teachers were anything less than exceptional?  It is hard to imagine how someone might find the strength to focus on these difficult passages, even in chevrutah, for long periods of time.