Beitzah 16 b.

 

1- The Gemara mentions various Rabbonim that made an Eiruv Tavshilin for their entire city – Avuah D’Shmuel for Nardahea, Rav Ami and Rav Assi for Tverya.

avuah dshmuel seferid_36092_page_143

2- It then relates that a blind man was learning before Shmuel on Yom Tov. Shmuel saw that he was sad and asked him why.

The blind man answered that he forgot to make an Eiruv Tavshilin.

So Shmuel tells him that when he made his Eruv Tavshilin, he had in mind that it should serve for anyone in the city who forgot to make his own, and therefore the blind man may rely on Shmuel’s Eiruv.

The following year, Shmuel again saw that the blind man was sad, and again the blind man told him that he did not make an Eiruv Tavshilin.

Shmuel responded that since the blind man forgot to make an Eiruv Tavshilin again, he was “Poshei’a” and may not rely on Shmuel’s Eiruv, while everyone else may rely on it.

3- Rashi explains that the second incident, when the blind said again that he make  to make an Eiruv Tavshilin, occurred on Rosh Hashanah.

For that reason, the blind man could not make an Eiruv Tavshilin with a condition (Tenai) by saying on the first day of Yom Tov, “If today is not really Yom Tov and tomorrow is, then I am making the Eiruv today, and if today is Yom Tov and tomorrow is not, then I do not need an Eiruv to cook tomorrow for Shabbos”.  His error was that such a condition cannot be made on Rosh Hashanah, because the two days of Rosh Hashanah are considered to have one long Kedushah, and not two separate Kedushos).

We discussed at length as to why Rashi needs to say that the second time the blind man did not make an Eiruv tavshilin was on Rosh Hashanah.

4- We had a heated argument about the popular saying that ‘one who forgets to make an Eiruv Tavshilin is allowed to rely on the Rov’s only once in his life time!’

That is indeed what the Mishne Brura writes. See here #22.

http://beta.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14165&st=&pgnum=298

But is that the opinion of the Alter Rebbe?

It seems that he posits two types of ‘forgetting’:

A- Total forgetting: Meaning that one knows the Halocho of Eiruv Tavshilin but this particular Erev Yom Tov it simply slipped out of his mind.

In such a case one can rely on the Rov.

B- Forgetting due to procrastination: He was aware on Erev Yom Tov that he needs to make an Eiruv Tavshilin but pushed it off until ‘a bit later’… and later… until he ultimately forgot to do it.

In such a case one cannot rely on the Rov.

[In the words of the Shulchan Aruch: But someone who had to the time to make an Eiruv Tavshilin, but due to his laziness because he is not in awe about G-d’s instructions he forgot, since he was not an ‘oines’ in this forgetting but rather his laziness caused him to forget he is a ‘poshea’ and thus cannot be ‘yotze’ with the Eiruv of the Rav…

So, if one totally forgot (not due to procrastination) to do it more that once, can he rely on the Rav?

Good question.

5- We concluded by learning the next paragraph concerning a Talmid Chacham that either forgot the entire Halachah of Eiruv Tavshilin or never learnt it to begin with is also called a ‘poshea‘.

Story with the Rav that wasn’t aware of a Pruzbal!