T613K at aol.com wrote:
> In Avodah R' Zev Sero <zev at sero.name> wrote:
>> Another point: Grapes of kerem reva'i that are grown within a day's
>> journey of Yerushalayim can't be redeemed for money, and must be
>> physically transported there, "in order to decorate the markets of
>> Y'm with fruit".
> What will be the rule when the Third (or Eighth, according to a
> different recent thread) BHM'K is built, and all of Eretz Yisrael is an
> easy day's drive to Y-m? No grapes anywhere can be redeemed for money,
> they will /all/ have to be brought to Yerushalayim?
Maybe. This is a takana d'rabbanan, after all, so it will be up to
the rabbanan of that time to determine whether it's still needed, and
if so what its parameters should be. Maybe they will decide that the
markets will have sufficient fruit if the perimeter is set at only
half a day's journey, or an hour's.
OTOH the reason the Torah allows kerem reva'i to be redeemed in the
first place is because of the difficulty of shlepping it from the
distant reaches of EY. Now that transport is easy, that reason no
longer applies. Since we don't pasken like R Shimon, the Torah's
law remains in force even if the reason doesn't; but perhaps the
rabbanan will see fit to extend this old takanah, and abolish pidyon
kerem reva'i altogether. Perhaps they'll even do the same to neta
reva'i and maaser sheni, for the same reason.
> and another question I've been wondering about, will all of Iraq be
> part of E'Y -- will the Euphrates be the eastern border of E'Y?
The Biblical borders of EY touch the *upper* Euphrates, up in Syria.
They don't come anywhere near Iraq. But your question is still
applicable, because "EY will spread to all the lands". So America
may also be EY. Of course at the same time "Y'm will spread until
the gates of Damascus", which reduces the distance to be travelled.
> And how far a drive would it be from Baghdad to Yerushalayim, if
> there were a modern highway between the two cities?
As the (very thirsty) crow flies, the distance is about 875 km, or
about 545 miles, as near as I can tell from measuring on a map.
--
Zev Sero The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name eventually run out of other people’s money
- Margaret Thatcher