Eiruvin 71a, b

The rabbis continue their conversation regarding courtyards and alleyways.  They debate about how to determine at what time/who has the right to renounce ownership of his (sic) courtyard in order to facilitate the creation of an eiruv.  A new mishna introduces the notion of partnerships.  It states that an eiruv is not necessary when families are demonstrating a new partnership by sharing wine (this means pouring their wine into a shared barrel/container).  If they share oil with some families and wine with others, however, the rabbis of the mishna argue about whether or not an equal partnership exists and thus whether or not an eiruv is necessary.

The idea of mixing oil and wine is developed further.  Because oil and wine will not mix even when put together in a container, can they be thought of as one unit?

Finally, today's daf ends with a conversation regarding stringencies.  When it comes to rules of eruvin, the rabbis hold different opinions about stringencies -- are two rabbis required to validate a more stringent position?  Or is one rabbi's opinion enough?

As much as today's daf was perfectly in line with the challenging dapim of late, I enjoyed a number of the ideas shared.  I again assert that I am missing much of the background required to truly grapple with this material.  Regardless, today I was fascinated by the rabbis' insistence on splitting each hair more and more carefully. In fact, they often split hairs so finely that it is difficult to recognize what is left of the hair at all.  It almost feels like the rabbis are participating in an exercise of the extension of logic as much as they are attempting to clarify halacha.  But perhaps I am thinking this because I am missing so much of the larger halachic context.