Bava Batra 55

מתני׳ <big><strong>חזקת</strong></big> הבתים והבורות והשיחין והמערות והשובכות והמרחצאות ובית הבדין ובית השלחין והעבדים וכל שהוא עושה פירות תדיר חזקתן שלש שנים מיום ליום

<b><i>MISHNAH</i></b>. A PRESUMPTIVE TITLE<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Heb. hazakah, [H], which combines the meanings of 'holding' or 'occupation', and 'presumed ownership'. What is meant is a title not supported by documents or witnesses, but based on the mere fact of possession. The English legal term Is usucaption'. ');">¹</span> TO HOUSES, PITS, DITCHES AND CAVES, DOVECOTES, BATHS, OLIVE PRESSES, IRRIGATED FIELDS, SLAVES, AND ANYTHING WHICH IS CONTINUALLY PRODUCING<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'yielding fruits'. ');">²</span> IS CONFERRED BY THREE YEARS [UNCHALLENGED POSSESSION]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As will be seen later, such possession creates a presumption of ownership only if the possessor pleads at the same time that he came by the object in a lawful manner, e.g., by purchase or gift. If he does not advance this plea, the fact of his years' possession has no legal value. ');">³</span>

שדה הבעל חזקתה שלש שנים ואינן מיום ליום

FROM DAY TO DAY.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., from any date in one year to a corresponding date three years later. The reason for this regulation is discussed in the Gemara. ');">⁴</span> A PRESUMPTIVE TITLE TO A NON-IRRIGATED FIELD IS CONFERRED BY THREE YEARS' POSSESSION NOT RECKONED FROM DAY TO DAY.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As explained in what follows. ');">⁵</span> R. ISHMAEL SAYS: IT IS SUFFICIENT TO HAVE THREE MONTHS IN THE FIRST YEAR, THREE MONTHS IN THE LAST AND TWELVE IN THE MIDDLE,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because some crops are sown in the last three months of the year and some in the first three, and to crop the field at these times is equivalent to possessing it for a year. ');">⁶</span>

ר' ישמעאל אומר ג' חדשים בראשונה ג' באחרונה ושנים עשר חדש באמצע הרי י"ח חדש

MAKING EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN ALL. R. AKIBA SAYS: ALL THAT IS REQUIRED IS A MONTH IN THE FIRST, A MONTH IN THE LAST, AND TWELVE MONTHS IN THE MIDDLE, MAKING FOURTEEN MONTHS IN ALL.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For R. Akiba's reason, v. infra 362. ');">⁷</span> R. ISHMAEL SAYS: THIS REFERS ONLY TO A CORNFIELD,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'field of white', so called because the corn casts no shade. (Jast.) ');">⁸</span> BUT IN A FIELD PLANTED WITH TREES,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is also a kind of non-irrigated field. ');">⁹</span>

ר"ע אומר חדש בראשונה וחדש באחרונה וי"ב חדש באמצע הרי י"ד חדש

IF A MAN HARVESTS HIS GRAPES, GATHERS IN HIS OLIVES, AND CULLS HIS FIGS, THIS COUNTS AS THREE YEARS.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Even though all three processes are carried out in one year, the idea being that the rightful owner would not permit another to take three crops off his field without protesting. ');">¹⁰</span> <b><i>GEMARA</i></b>. R. Johanan said: I have heard those who attended at Usha<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Usha was a town in Upper Galilee near Tiberias. Here, after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sanhedrin was established when it left Jabneh, and here too after the war of Bar Cochba a synod was held composed mainly of the pupils of Judah b. Baba. On the question who is meant here by 'those who attended at Usha,' v. infra, p. 141, n. 4. ');">¹¹</span> reasoning thus: Whence do we derive the rule that a presumptive title is acquired in three years?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., Why three precisely? ');">¹²</span>

א"ר ישמעאל בד"א בשדה לבן אבל בשדה אילן כנס את תבואתו ומסק את זיתיו כנס את קייצו הרי אלו ג' שנים:

— From the 'goring ox'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'Mu'ad ox' (v. Glos.). V. Ex. XXI, 29. ');">¹³</span> Just as in the case of the' goring ox', after goring three times<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' This is based on the words of the text, from yesterday and the day before,' which, with to-day, make three; v. B.K 23b. ');">¹⁴</span> it passes out of the denomination<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Here again. the Hebrew word is hazakah, which here has the meaning of 'presumed character'. ');">¹⁵</span>

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> אמר ר' יוחנן שמעתי מהולכי אושא שהיו אומרים מנין לחזקה ג' שנים משור המועד מה שור המועד כיון שנגח ג' נגיחות נפק לי' מחזקת תם וקם ליה בחזקת מועד ה"נ כיון דאכלה תלת שנין נפק לה מרשות מוכר וקיימא לה ברשות לוקח

of <i>Tam</i><span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'innocent', involving the payment of half the damage only. V. Glos. ');">¹⁶</span> into that of <i>Mu'ad</i>,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'testified against' and liable to pay for the damage in full. ');">¹⁷</span> so after a man has cropped<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'eaten'. ');">¹⁸</span>

אי מה שור המועד עד נגיחה רביעית לא מיחייב ה"נ עד שנה רביעית לא קיימא ברשותיה הכי השתא התם מכי נגח שלש נגיחות הוי מועד

a field for three years it passes [entirely] out of the possession of the seller and is established in the possession of the buyer.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., so completely that he need no longer retain his title-deeds. ');">¹⁹</span> It may be objected to this that just as in the case of the goring ox its master does not become liable<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To pay the full damage. ');">²⁰</span> till the fourth goring, so here the property should not become the fixed possession of the holder<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If be can bring no proof of ownership. ');">²¹</span> till the end of the fourth year? — How can you compare the two cases.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'so now' ');">²²</span> There, as soon as the ox has gored three times, it is regarded as <i>Mu'ad</i>,