Our Gemara on Amud Aleph discusses the status of stones near the pile of stones that make up the deity Markulis. If they are within four cubits, they are close enough that they are assumed to be part of the deity and just became detached.
The area of four cubits manifests itself with regularity in Halacha. Whether for commerce, mitzvos, or even idolatry, this space around an object has a particular significance of meaning and attachment.
The Gemara (Nedarim 34) discusses a situation where one declares a loaf as Hekdesh (dedicated to the Beis Hamikdash). According to many commentaries, the scenario involves a case where he has not yet picked up the loaf, but since it is within four cubits, he has a certain power over it.
Here too we find this idea that four cubits represents a domain belonging to a presence or object.
In Gemara Bava Metzi’a (10a), we find a rabbinic enactment to allow for acquisition and reduce quarrels about ownership:
“A person’s area of four square cubits effects acquisition of property for him everywhere.”
Likkutei Halakhos (Choshen Mishpat, Laws of Divisions of Partnerships, Chapter 1:8) explains the mystical meaning of these dimensions. A person’s four cubits speak of the person’s foray into the outer world beyond his home. The hustle and bustle of the marketplace and its wares represent the smorgasbord of potential benefit from the material and ideas of this world. As he engages with the world, he must acquire good spiritual emanations by doing good, and of course refrain from evil.
The four cubits are the person’s spiritual penumbra that can protect him and allow him to bring the Godly into this world and his actions.
As the Gemara (Berachos 8a) declares:
“Since the day the Temple, where the Divine Presence rested in this world, was destroyed, the Holy One, Blessed be He, has only one place in His world where He reveals His presence exclusively: only the four cubits where the study of halakha is undertaken.”
That is, by engaging in commerce while being mindful of what is moral and correct (the four cubits of halacha), we then elevate the physical world and bring holiness to it. We are creating a portable Temple and sanctified space by mindfully bringing God and morality into our transactions.
Similarly, the Gemara (Bava Basra 11b) speaks of four cubits reserved in front of the entrance to the courtyard for unburdening one’s beasts as he comes in from the marketplace. The “unburdening of the beast” is a metaphor for a filtration process before you enter your home. After spending the day outside, before you enter the sanctuary of your home, pause and consider what you should leave behind and what you should take in.
A healthy organism, human being, family, community, or country must have healthy boundaries and borders. There must be a zone of influence where the inside and the outside encounter each other and go through a process of filtration, selection, exchange, integration, or rejection.
This is the four cubits that hold the Halacha, which provide guidance for healthy personal and relational boundaries. When we hold that space properly, the Shekhina is present. A vessel must have walls and a bottom to receive and hold material. Although God is omnipresent as far as He is concerned, humans will not be able to perceive or commune with His presence without having their own healthy boundaries.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com