Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Responsa for Shabbat 68:3

ואיזהו בין השמשות משתשקע החמה כ"ז שפני מזרח מאדימין הכסיף התחתון ולא הכסיף העליון בין השמשות הכסיף העליון והשוה לתחתון זהו לילה דברי רבי יהודה ר' נחמיה אומר כדי שיהלך אדם משתשקע החמה חצי מיל רבי יוסי אומר בין השמשות כהרף עין זה נכנס וזה יוצא ואי אפשר לעמוד עליו

but not the upper, it is twilight; [but] when the upper [horizon] is pale and the same as the lower, it is night: this is the opinion of R. Judah. R. Nehemiah said: For as long as it takes a man to walk half a <i>mil</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' = Two thousand cubits = 112,037.316 cm, i.e., about three fourths of an English mile; v. J.E. XII, 487, ');"><sup>5</sup></span> from sunset. R. Jose said: Twilight is as the twilight of an eye, one entering and the other departing,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Night enters and day departs in the twinkling of an eye. ');"><sup>6</sup></span>

Shut min haShamayim

They responded: "It shall be neither yours nor mine; cut it in two!" (I Kings 3:26), and within the vision they explained that it shall follow neither the stringent ones nor the lenient. Rather, the time between the setting of the sun and the appearance of the stars should be divided in two, and this point is the midpoint of twilight referred to by Rabbi Yehuda5cf. Shabbat 34b:3.
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