The Rebbe's Discussion With Israel's Chief Rabbis About Yerushalayim and Reshus Harabim, 26 Adar II 5746

On 26 Adar II 5746, April 6, 1986, the Rebbe received Israel's Chief Rabbis, Rabbi Avraham Shapira and Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, for a lengthy yechidus. During the meeting they discussed the eruv in Yerushalayim, including the Old City, the newer parts of the city, shishim ribo, and the shape of Yerushalayim's streets.

The eruv discussion begins at approximately 1:28:12 in the complete recording and continues until about 1:34:15. The full meeting is available in the JEM audio collection on Chabad.org.

A careful reading of this exchange requires keeping the speakers straight. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is the sustained speaker throughout the main eruv discussion. The Rebbe listens, asks brief questions, and interjects at several points. Statements made at length by Rabbi Eliyahu should therefore not be quoted as statements of the Rebbe.

Yerushalayim and the Old City

Beginning at about 1:28, Rabbi Eliyahu discusses arrangements connected with the Yerushalayim eruv. He refers to an earlier kinyan, the Old City walls and gates, and the practical enclosure there. The conversation then turns from the Old City to the newer city.

This setting matters because the later discussion of straight and curved streets is specifically a discussion of Yerushalayim. The recording does not shift to Crown Heights.

The discussion of shishim ribo

At about 1:31:32, Rabbi Eliyahu turns to shishim ribo and states his own halachic position. Among the clearly audible phrases are:

"לא צריכים שישים ריבוא"

and shortly afterward:

"אנחנו פוסקים ... כמו רמ״א"

He then says:

"ובזמן הזה אין לנו רשות הרבים"

These statements belong to Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. They are part of the position he is explaining to the Rebbe. The recording does not support transferring these sentences to the Rebbe or presenting them as the Rebbe's own formulation of the shishim ribo requirement.

The conversation continues into the practical consequence of a place being a reshus harabim d'oraisa and the effect that would have on an ordinary eruv.

The curved streets of the new city

At about 1:32:54, Rabbi Eliyahu introduces what he calls a favorable feature of Yerushalayim, specifying the newer city. He says that its streets are not straight, but curved and rounded.

At approximately 1:33:07, the Rebbe supplies the concise halachic description:

"לא מפולש"

Rabbi Eliyahu immediately continues along that line, saying that the streets were caused not to be mefulash and that engineers repeatedly try to straighten them without succeeding. He then contrasts this with the Old City. At approximately 1:33:31 through 1:33:41, he describes Old City gates as aligned opposite one another and calls that arrangement directly mefulash.

The sequence is clear in the audio. Rabbi Eliyahu describes the physical fact of the curved streets. The Rebbe interjects "לא מפולש." Rabbi Eliyahu then develops the halachic implication he draws from that feature.

What the meeting says about Crown Heights

This portion of the meeting concerns Yerushalayim. A review of the complete recording does not locate a Crown Heights discussion in this exchange. In particular, the shishim ribo statement at approximately 1:31:32 is Rabbi Eliyahu's statement within his discussion of Yerushalayim, while the Rebbe's directly verifiable interjection concerning the shape of the streets is "לא מפולש."

The meeting is important for understanding that mefulash was an explicit concept in the Rebbe's conversation about the physical form of city streets. It is also important for speaker attribution. The recording should be used for what is actually heard: a detailed Yerushalayim discussion led by Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, with brief interventions by the Rebbe, rather than as a Crown Heights recording.