וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: רַבִּי, שָׁנִיתָה לָנוּ: סַנְדָּל שֶׁנִּפְסְקָה אַחַת מֵאׇזְנָיו וְתִיקְּנָהּ — טָמֵא מִדְרָס.

Rabbi Yoḥanan his student said to him: Master, you taught us that with regard to a sandal that became ritually impure by impurity imparted by the treading of a zav, and one of its ears, i.e., straps, broke and he repaired it, it remains ritually impure with impurity imparted by treading [midras] and can still render people and utensils ritually impure. If one of a sandal’s straps is torn, it can still be used as a sandal, and therefore it does not lose its status as a utensil.

נִפְסְקָה שְׁנִיָּה וְתִיקְּנָהּ — טָהוֹר בָּהּ מִן הַמִּדְרָס, אֲבָל טָמֵא מַגַּע מִדְרָס.

If the second ear broke and he repaired it, it is ritually pure in the sense that it no longer renders other objects ritually impure as would a vessel that became a primary source of ritual impurity by means of impurity imparted by treading. However, the sandal itself is ritually impure due to contact with an object that became ritually impure with impurity imparted by treading, i.e., the sandal before its second strap ripped. Therefore, it can transmit ritual impurity to food and liquids.

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Eruvin 24

וַאֲמַרְתְּ עֲלַהּ: מַאי שְׁנָא רִאשׁוֹנָה — דְּהָא קָיְימָא שְׁנִיָּה? שְׁנִיָּה נָמֵי — הָא קָיְימָא רִאשׁוֹנָה?!

And you said about this halakha: What is different in a case where the first ear breaks, that the sandal remains impure? It is because the second one is intact. However, when the second ear breaks, the first ear is intact; so how does the sandal lose its utensil status?

וַאֲמַרְתְּ לַן עֲלַהּ: פָּנִים חֲדָשׁוֹת בָּאוּ לְכָאן. הָכָא נָמֵי, פָּנִים חֲדָשׁוֹת בָּאוּ לְכָאן.

And then you said to us with regard to this that the reason it is no longer a utensil is because a new entity has arrived here. The legal status of the sandal with the two repaired ears is not that of the original sandal; it is a new sandal. Here, too, with regard to a utensil that was perforated several times, where the sum of all the holes adds up to the size of a pomegranate, let us say that a new entity has arrived here, as the entire area of the hole is completely new, and the utensil is no longer the same utensil that had been ritually impure.

קָרֵי עֲלֵיהּ: לֵית דֵּין בַּר אִינָשׁ. אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי: כְּגוֹן דֵּין בַּר נַשׁ.

Ḥizkiya was so impressed by Rabbi Yoḥanan’s comment that he exclaimed about him: This is not a human being; rather, he is an angel, as he is capable of resolving a problem that I struggle with, from something that I myself taught. Some say that he said: This is an ideal human being. This parallel analysis teaches that if one breached one cubit and fenced it off, breached another cubit and fenced it off, and continued this way until he breached and fenced off more than ten cubits, then this is effective, and he need not breach more than ten meters at once.

Rabbenu Channanel Shabbos 113b

ואמר חזקיה על ר' יוחנן לית לן בר אינש אלא מלאך הוא אימא דאמר כגון דין בר אינש ומאן דליתיה הכי כבהמה הוא כנגד זה:

Two questions: (1) What is so spectacular about Rabbi Yochanan’s peshat, that Chizkiya declares him to be supernatural?  (2) What is the difference in the first loshon and the second loshon?

We can understand the discussion in this sugya to be about what makes identity.  Consider this object, a sandal from day one of its existence to day 365.  Now, over time, it wears down and changes.  So, Sandal-Day-One is NOT the same sandal as Sandal-Day-365?  But, then again, that is absurd.  The owner knows that it is his same sandal.  So, let us then say, it is the basic form of a sandal.  But, that too is absurd since there are thousands of sandals out there that fit the basic form and description, so why is THIS sandal the same one?  And, if it is not, then how does he possess it?

Taking this further into the human realm, according to researchers, the body replaces itself with a largely new set of cells every seven years to 10 years, and some of our most important parts are revamped even more rapidly SOURCE: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/science/your-body-is-younger-than-you-think.html].

If this is so, what makes us into US?  We are not even the same person physically moment to moment, and within 10 years we have been completely replaced.   Clearly, then, identity is not contained within the body.  The body is merely a vessel for something else.  Call it your identity, your self or the soul, if you would like.  This soul must, in some way, be eternal, immortal and unchanging, otherwise, we will have the same problem as the Sandal and the cells, what was yesterday is not what is today, and certainly over time, what was a decade ago is not today.

Hinting at this paradox, Chizkaya declared, “This is not a human being….this is Truly a human being.”  Meaning, that the nature of man’s identity, and in actuality, all physical and temporal matter both exists and doesn’t exist.  Without a deeper constant beyond the physicality, there is nothing to say that it exists from moment to moment as the same object, since it is constantly changing.  In Tanya, Shaar Hayichud (chs. 6-8), the Baal HaTanya takes this idea to the extreme explaining that in truth nothing exists at all aside from G-d. Even the Lurianic concept of Tzimtzum is not an actual withdrawal of G-d, but an illusion that He allows us to experience. It is as if we are all simulations running in the “G-d Mainframe “. We do not exist except as software running on G-d’s CPU.

What is all of this in terms of practical relevance?  Well, first of all if your toast gets burned in the morning, in may not be worthwhile to get too upset about it considering that nothing really exists.  And, joking aside, understanding that there exists logical arguments for the existence of, and the eternality of the soul, may help us get along a bit better in this world and the next.

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Eruvin 24

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria