Q. If I am in a small town for Shabbos that doesn't have an Eruv, can I walk around on Shabbos, as long as I don't wander into the country where there are no homes?
A. Shulchan Aruch (O.H.) rules that one may walk outside the last home of the town up to a ‘Mil’or about a thousand amos from the last house in town.
Rashi Yoma 67 and Tosafos Shabbos 34b mention that a mil is 2000 amos. Shulchan Aruch (O.H. 261: 2) writes that 3/4 of a mil is equal to 1500 amos, implying a mil is 2000 amos.
An ama is about 48 to 60 cm. long. (18.9 to 23.6 inch.).
One should be careful with the above measurements, since there are different opinions from where exactly they begin to be counted.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit'a
Important Numbers
