Musar for Bava Metzia 214:16

התם אבא דבי פרזק רופילא הוה ואמר אי קייצו קייצנא ואי לא קייצו אמאי איקוץ דאי ממתחי להו אשלייהו מסתגי להו

'And ye shall serve the Lord your God' — this refers to the reading of the <i>shema'</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Glos. ');">¹⁴</span> and prayer; <i>'and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water'</i> — to bread and salt and a jug of water. Thenceforth: <i>And I will take sickness away front the midst of thee</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. ');">¹⁵</span> Rab Judah said to R. Adda the surveyor: Do not treat surveying lightly. because every bit [of ground] is fit for garden saffron.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A particularly choice quality of saffron. As a surveyor, he measured out land in business transactions, divided inheritances, etc. ');">¹⁶</span> Rab Judah [also] said to R. Adda the surveyor: The four cubits on the canal banks you may treat lightly, but those on the river banks do not measure at all.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' No sowing was permitted within four cubits of the border of a canal so as not to damage its banks. These four cubits were marked off, and Rab Judah told R. Adda that he was not to be particular to measure them exactly. The four cubits on river banks were similarly treated, and Rab Judah observed that these need not be measured at all, but simply guessed. ');">¹⁷</span> Rab Judah is in harmony with his views, for Rab' Judah said: Four cubits on the banks of a canal belong to the estate owners it serves; but those on the banks of a river are common property.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Therefore they must be given very liberally, hence he told him merely to guess the measurement. ');">¹⁸</span> R. Ammi announced: Cut down [all vegetation] in the shoulderbreadth of bargees on both sides of the river.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The bargees pulled the laden boats whilst they walked on the river bank. They naturally walked in a slanting fashion, bearing away from the river, and the full breadth that they might need had to be kept clear. ');">¹⁹</span> R. Nathan b. Hoshia had sixteen cubits thus cut down. Thereupon the people of Mashrunia<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To whom the forest belonged. ');">²⁰</span> came and smote him. He thought that it is as a public thoroughfare.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For which sixteen cubits are given; B.B. 99b. ');">²¹</span> But that is incorrect; only there [for a public road] is so much necessary, but here it [the clear space] is required for hauling the ropes; therefore the full shoulderwidth of the bargees is enough. Rabbah son of R. Huna possessed a forest by the river bank. Being requested to make a clearing [by the water's edge], he replied, 'Let the owners above and below me first clear [their portion], and then I will cut down mine.' But how might he act so? Is it not written, <i>Gather yourselves together, yea, gather</i>:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Zeph. II, I. ');">²²</span> which Resh Lakish translated, First adorn yourself, and then adorn others?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By connecting [H], the root of [H], with [H], 'to adorn.' Be just yourself, before demanding it of others. ');">²³</span> — In that Instance the [neighbouring] forests belonged to Parzak, the Field-marshal.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra p. 295, n. 8. ');">²⁴</span> Therefore he [Rabbah] said: 'If they cut down [their forests], I will do so likewise; but if not, why should I? For if they can still haul their ropes,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Notwithstanding that the noble's forests are not cleared. ');">²⁵</span> they have room for walking;

Explore musar for Bava Metzia 214:16. In-depth commentary and analysis from classical Jewish sources.