Mishneh Torah, Sabbath 27

Sugya Map

• Issue: The source and measurement of Tchum Shabbat (Sabbath limits).
• Nafka Mina: Is violating the 2,000-cubit limit a Torah prohibition (requiring malkot) or a Rabbinic enactment (asmachta)?
• Primary Sources: Exodus 16:29, Eruvin 17a, Mishneh Torah, Sabbath 27:1.

Text Snapshot

"A person who goes beyond his city's Sabbath limit should be punished by lashes... [The term] 'place' refers to the city's Sabbath limits... The Torah did not [explicitly] state the measure... the Sages transmitted the tradition that this measure was twelve mil."

Nuance: Rambam (Hil. Shabbat 27:1) posits the 12-mil limit as de-oraita, while the standard 2,000-cubit limit is de-rabbanan—a safeguard.

Readings

• Ramban (Milchamot, Eruvin 17a): Argues that Tchumin are entirely Rabbinic. He views the verse in Exodus as a mere asmachta. His chiddush is that if it were Torah-level, the Sages could not have "uprooted" the prohibition via eruv.
• Ohr Sameach (27:1): Defends Rambam’s stance that 12 mil is Torah-level. He suggests that the Torah limited movement to a distance equivalent to the camp of the desert (12 mil), and the 2,000-cubit limit is a Rabbinic fence designed to keep one far from the "danger zone" of the Torah prohibition.

Friction

Kushya: If Tchum is de-oraita, how can an eruv (like eruv t’chumim) "permit" what the Torah forbids? Terutz: Rambam maintains that an eruv works by defining one's "place" (makom). By designating a location as your base via food or intent, you shift the "center" of your permitted 12-mil radius. You aren't violating the law; you are legally relocating your residency.

Intertext

• Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 404:1: Generally follows the view that Tchumin are Rabbinic, yet notes the stringency of the Rambam.
• Numbers 35:5: The source for the 2,000-cubit "pasture land" (migrash) which serves as the Rabbinic model for the Tchum.

Psak/Practice

In contemporary practice, we treat the 2,000-cubit Tchum as a binding Rabbinic prohibition. However, the Rema (Orach Chayim 404:1) emphasizes that one should be mindful of the Rambam’s view, especially when navigating boundary disputes, as Tchum laws are integral to the sanctity of the Sabbath rest.

Takeaway

Rambam teaches that "place" is not a fixed coordinate but a halachic status—your Sabbath base defines the reach of your world. Respect the Tchum as the perimeter of your sanctuary.