Siman 401

One who was sleeping on the way and it became dark for him—he has acquired a shevitah in his place, and he has two thousand amot in every direction, for we do not require a verbal declaration or intent for shevitah. Furthermore, even if he was near his city within the techum, and his intent was to enter the city—he has the techum of the city, as was written in the previous siman. But if it was not his intent before he slept to enter the city, even though afterward upon awakening after it became dark he decided to enter the city—he does not have the shevitah of the city but rather the shevitah of his place, since at the time of acquiring shevitah his mind was not so.

We hold that ownerless objects do not acquire a shevitah; that is to say, ownerless objects do not have an acquisition of shevitah in their place since they have no owners, but rather the first one to acquire them may carry them to any place that he is permitted to go. And seemingly, the reason they do not have a shevitah is because they have no intention for shevitah; and if so, why does a sleeping person acquire a shevitah, for at the time of sleep he has no intention? However, it is not comparable, for since a person acquires a shevitah when awake, he also acquires it when asleep, which is not the case with objects. (Gemara 45b) And if one acquired it on behalf of another, it is like the feet of the other, as written in siman 397.

The objects of a non-Jew—according to the law, shevitah does not apply to them, since shevitah does not apply to their owners; however, nevertheless, they decreed shevitah for them because of the objects of an Israelite. For if they were to say that shevitah does not apply to them, they would also say so regarding the objects of an Israelite. And this is not like a decree upon a decree, for it is all one decree, that the objects shall acquire shevitah, for without this, that would not stand. Therefore, they have the shevitah of their place, two thousand cubits in every direction. Therefore, if the non-Jew brought them on Shabbat or on Yom Tov to a city from outside their techum, if the city is surrounded by a wall and surrounded for habitation, meaning it was settled and subsequently surrounded—they may move them throughout the entire city. But if it was surrounded and subsequently settled—they may not move them except within four cubits. And if he brought them into a courtyard—he may move them throughout the entire courtyard. And most cities are surrounded for habitation, as they build the houses and afterwards surround them, and most fortresses are not surrounded for habitation, as I wrote in siman 398. And if the city is joined by means of a tzurat hapetach—they may move them throughout all of it, and likewise in an alleyway. Therefore, one must be careful regarding an Israelite who lent his vessels to a non-Jew before Shabbat and he returned them on Shabbat, that he should not move them outside of four cubits if the city is not surrounded, or is not surrounded for habitation, for behold the vessel is in the domain of the borrower regarding the matter of shevitah, as I wrote in siman 397. (See Taz, subsection 1, and his words are astonishing as the Eliyah Rabbah and the Tosefot Shabbat wrote, and the words of the Shulchan Aruch are the truth in halachah, and examine this carefully.)