Our Gemara on Amud Aleph records a discussion where one sage mentions that the other was not within our “techum” so he was not able to join the discussion. The word “techum” in Hebrew, translates to the word boundary. 

Rashbam interprets this literally, explaining that in those times they would establish the Beis Midrash (study hall) on the border of the city, allowing others from nearby cities who are within the halachic techum or within the ability to make an Eiruv (which is the area one is permitted to travel on Shabbos and Yom Tov beyond the borders of the settlement, and the extension the Sages allowed one to make prior to the Shabbos or festival.) However, Rabbenu Gershom seems to understand the statement as metaphoric, as he eschews Rashbam’s lengthy explanation and offers a pithy statement, “Within our boundaries inside the Beis Midrash.”

According to Rabbenu Gershom’s interpretation, we may wonder why did the sages choose to describe the experience in such a manner? Why not just say, “In the Beis Midrash”? There is an implication that he is not referring only to a physical space, but an emotional, social and spiritual zone. 

Gemara Berachos (8a) teaches:

והיינו דאמר רבי חייא בר אמי משמיה דעולא: מיום שחרב בית המקדש אין לו להקדוש ברוך הוא בעולמו אלא ארבע אמות של הלכה בלבד.

And this concept, that halakha is the most sublime pursuit, is expressed in that which Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Ami said in the name of Ulla: 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.

Be’er Mayyim Chaim (Devarim 21:18) understands these four cubits to be metaphorical. Just as our sages rule that each person’s four cubits are considered his territory for acquisition (Bava Metzia 10a), so too if a person is mindfully directed toward Torah and God, he is bringing the Beis Midrash and Shekhina into his four cubits. As in any relationship, true presence is much more than physical, it is a state of mind. We can physically leave the Beis Midrash and go about our personal and professional dealings through the day, and still be inside the “techum” of the Beis Midrash.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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