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györgy spiró
The reason the yards had
become a single, capricious,
erratic space was because,
on holy days, Jews were not
allowed to wander more
than two thousand cubits
from their home. A cubit
measured roughly forty-five
centimeters, but it might be
somewhat longer or shorter
depending on the size of the
forearm, since a cubit was the
measure from the elbow to
the fingertips. In other words,
on holy days Jews were not
supposed to go more than a
meager half-mile from their
home.
And the Jews had lots of holy
days, starting with the four
main festivals every year,
each of which lasted for quite
a few days. Then there was
the Sabbath, each week from
sundown Friday to sundown
Saturday. Even then, people
wanted to go more than two
thousand cubits, which is only
a few hundred paces. They
wanted to visit neighbors, to
chat and gossip, none of which
is prohibited on a holy day as
long as no work is being done.
Chitchat is hardly working,
as the Creator himself is
well aware, and he no doubt
jabbers with his archangels,
since everyone knows he
got his own work done in six
days. So people joined their
yards together, which meant
that they were able to cover
not two thousand but ten
thousand cubits, festival or
not, without leaving their own
yard, or at least that was what
they told their Creator, who
had to accept the perfection
of their reasoning. This is how
the Law was outwitted by
the Jews of Rome, much like
the other approximately five
million Jews in the world at
the time; that is to say, they