Nedarim 56: Vows About Houses; Vows about Cities

A new Mishna questions whether a house includes both the upper storey and the ground floor.  The rabbis discuss what should happen if a person vows that s/he is forbidden entry into a house.  Does that refer to the entire house or only one storey?  The word "aliyya" is used to describe the second storey.  However, the rabbis wonder if "aliyya" might refer to whatever is the best part of the house. And a house within a house might refer to the upper storey of the house, but a note teaches us that the halacha disagrees.  Instead, a "house within a house" refers to any house - even the smallest - that one owns.   

Part of what we learn from this Mishna is that valuables were kept on the upper floors of a house, perhaps because they would be hidden more effectively.

A second Mishna teaches us Rabbi Meir's opinion: that one is permitted to sleep in a dargash when one vows that s/he cannot sleep in a bed.  The rabbis disagree - a dargash is included in the vow.  The rabbis are not clear about what a dargash is.   They suggest possible meanings, including a stretcher, a good luck 'charm', and the seat where the king reclines during meals.  They also refute all of these possibilities with counter-arguments.  Ultimately the rabbis decide that a dargash or a bed with two posts need not be turned over in times of mourning.

Some of their conversation focuses on mourning practices, including overturning one's beds.  The rabbis describe how bed frames were fastened together with straps that either were tied around the bed frames or through the bed frames.  Ultimately the rabbis decide that a dargash or a bed with two posts need not be turned over in times of mourning but instead should rest on their sides, demonstrating a significant difference from ordinary times.  We also learn that wooden beds and cribs were finished when rubbed with the "skin of a fish" which was used like sandpaper.  Our note teach that the cowtail stingray might have been used for this purpose.

Our last MIshna of today's daf states that one who vows that an entire city is forbidden to him/her is permitted to enter the Shabbat boundary of the city (the 2000 cubit area around the city) and is forbidden from entering the outskirts, which are 70 cubits beyond that city limit.  In contrast, a person who vows not to enter a house cannot be on the doorstep or inward of that house.  

The Gemara considers Joshua's view of Jericho, Numbers 35:5 where we are taught about the 2000 cubit measure, and Torah teachings regarding the quarantine of a house due to leprosy.  After learning Masechet Eiruvin years ago when my study of daf yomi began, I was not eager to re-encounter these very particular and sometimes tedious conversations.  However, I realized how much simpler it was to learn these concepts for the second time.