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captivity
adhered to the Law because
they respected it to the letter.
A special ordinance was laid
down on this crafty sanction,
a joint ruling, with various fine
sub-clauses, one pertaining to
Rome. It stipulated that the
one-time Far Side counted as
a single courtyard, and people
were allowed to do within it
anything they would do in
their own home, even on the
Sabbath or festivals. Therewas
fierce debate over whether
the ruling also applied to new
housing constructed outside
the walls of Far Side, with
some arguing that the whole
of Jerusalem counted as one
combined courtyard, and
it was permitted to deliver
certain things within it, even
on the Sabbath, whereas
others opposed, saying that
Rome was not a Jewish city,
nor was Transtiberim (or
Traseteberin, as they generally
pronounced it in those days,
with the nasal before the “s”
disappearing and the word
clipped, the end result being
the “Trastevere,” the name by
which this district would still
be known two thousand years
later). The whole of Rome
was unclean, Far Side too,
according to those who sought
a return to the basic principles
of the faith, themselves being
impure, just like every Jew in
the Diaspora. But be that as it
may, the inhabitants of the old
Far Side continued to reap the
benefit of the blessed ruling.
In this labyrinth of a yard that
was Far Side, there was no
need to resort to that pious
deceit that almost every Jew in
Judaea committed, before the
holy day began, by setting out
a meal two thousand cubits
away to signal that this was the
boundary of a household, so
when the holy day was in force