Bava Batra 52

Chapter 52

א עד דאמרי ליה הא דאמר רב יהודה מצר שהחזיקו בו רבים אסור לקלקלו לבתר דנפק אמר אמאי לא אמרי ליה כאן בתוך שש עשרה אמה כאן חוץ לשש עשרה אמה:
1 till I adduced the dictum of Rab Judah: 'A strip of land over which the public has established a right of way must not be obstructed.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the public has acquired a prescriptive right of way over it. I also have a prescriptive right to let my tree stand where it is. ');"><sup>1</sup></span>
ב היה חופר בור שיח ומערה קוצץ ויורד והעצים שלו (וכו'): בעא מיניה יעקב הדייבא מרב חסדא עצים של מי
2 After he [R. Papa] had left him, he [R. Huna] said: Why did I not answer him, '[The prescriptive right of a tree is only]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'here.' ');"><sup>2</sup></span>
ג אמר ליה תניתוה שרשי אילן של הדיוט הבאין בשל הקדש לא נהנין ולא מועלין
3 within sixteen cubits [from the trunk].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because up to that distance the roots suck from the soil, though they actually spread 25 cubits. V. infra. ');"><sup>3</sup></span>
ד אי אמרת בשלמא בתר אילן אזלינן משום הכי לא מועלין אלא אי אמרת בתר קרקע אזלינן אמאי לא מועלין
4 [but I am cutting at a distance of]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'here'. ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
ה אלא מאי בתר אילן אזלינן אימא סיפא של הקדש הבאים בשל הדיוט לא נהנין ולא מועלין ואי בתר אילן אזלינן אמאי לא מועלין
5 more than sixteen cubits'?
ו מידי איריא בגידולין הבאין לאחר מכאן עסקינן וקא סבר אין מעילה בגידולין
6 IF HE DIGS A PIT, DITCH OR CAVE HE CAN CUT RIGHT DOWN [TO ANY DEPTH] AND THE WOOD BELONGS TO HIM. Jacob of Hadayab<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Adiabene. ');"><sup>5</sup></span>
ז רבינא אמר לא קשיא כאן בתוך שש עשרה אמה כאן חוץ לשש עשרה אמה:
7 put the question to R. Hisda: To whom does the wood belong? — He replied: We [can] learn the answer [from the following Mishnah]: If the roots of a tree belonging to a layman spread into a field belonging to the Sanctuary, they may not be used [by a layman], but their use does not involve a trespass.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' (Me'i. 13b). Heb. me'ilah, [H] the technical name for the improper use of holy things by laymen (as distinct from the Sanctuary). V. Lev. V. 15. ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
ח אמר עולא אילן הסמוך למצר בתוך שש עשרה אמה גזלן הוא ואין מביאין ממנו בכורים
8 If now you say that the roots follow the tree, then there is a good reason why the use of them does not involve a trespass. But if you say that they take their character from the soil in which they are found, why is a trespass not involved? — What then [will you conclude] — that the tree is the decisive factor?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the wood in this case belongs to the owner of the tree. ');"><sup>7</sup></span>
ט מנא ליה לעולא הא אילימא מדתנן עשר נטיעות המפוזרות בתוך בית סאה חורשין כל בית סאה בשבילן עד ראש השנה
9 [If so], let us see what follows:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'read the end (clause)' in the Mishnah just quoted. ');"><sup>8</sup></span>
י כמה הוו להו תרי אלפין וחמש מאה גרמידי לכל חד וחד כמה מטי ליה מאתן וחמשין הא לא הוי דעולא
10 If the roots of a tree belonging to the Sanctuary spread into the field of a layman, they must not be used, but their use does not involve a trespass. Now if the tree is the decisive factor, why is no trespass involved? In fact, [this Mishnah, I should say,] tells us nothing about the question in hand, because it is concerned with 'a subsequent growth',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' E.g.. the roots, which spread after the tree was consecrated. ');"><sup>9</sup></span>
יא ואלא מדתנן שלשה אילנות של ג' בני אדם הרי אלו מצטרפין וחורשין כל
11 and it holds that the law of trespass does not apply to 'subsequent growth'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Pes. 66b. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> Rabina replied that there is no contradiction [although in the first case the tree is the decisive factor and not in the second]. [In the first case we suppose]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit. 'here'. ');"><sup>11</sup></span> the roots to be within sixteen cubits of the tree, [and in the second case]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit. 'here'. ');"><sup>11</sup></span> beyond sixteen cubits from it. 'Ulla said: A tree which is nearer than sixteen cubits to the boundary of a neighbour's field is a robber, and the offering of first fruits should not be brought from it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because it says, thou shalt take the first of all the fruit of the ground which thou bringest from thy land (Deut. XXVI, 2.) ');"><sup>12</sup></span> From whence does 'Ulla derive this idea? Shall we say from [the following Mishnah] which we learnt: 'If ten shoots are planted at [equal] intervals in a beth <i>se'ah</i>,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An area of fifty cubits by fifty. ');"><sup>13</sup></span> then the whole of the beth seah may be ploughed up to New Year [of the Sabbatical year]'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' (Sheb. I, 6). Because the whole of the area is required for the nourishment of the trees and the ploughing is therefore purely for their benefit, and not for the purpose of sowing. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> [This cannot be.] For what is the total area occupied? — Two thousand five hundred cubits. How much is that for each tree? — Two hundred and fifty cubits. Now, this is less than the space mentioned by 'Ulla.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who says that the tree sucks from an area with a radius of 26 cubits, which would be much more than 250 cubits. ');"><sup>15</sup></span> Can it be then from [the following Mishnah] which we learnt: 'If there are in a field three trees belonging to three different men, they can be combined [to place the field in the category of a plantation field],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A 'plantation field' was allowed to be ploughed up to the Feast of Weeks preceding the Sabbatical year, but a cornfield only up to the Passover. If the three trees are not combined, only the space required for each one can be ploughed up to the Feast of Weeks. ');"><sup>16</sup></span> and the whole