Bava Batra 13

'Then let me take it down and rebuild it,' said the first. He replied: 'Meanwhile I have nowhere to live.' Said the first: 'I will hire you a place.' 'I do not want the bother,' he replied. ['But,' said the first,] 'I cannot live in my place.' [To which he replied,] 'You can crawl on your belly<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to another rendering, 'You can bend yourself double'. ');">¹</span>

to get in, and crawl on your belly to get out. Said R. Hama: He had a full right to stop him [rebuilding]. This, however, is the case only if the beams [of the upper room] did not sink lower than ten handbreadths [from the ground], but if they came as low as this, the owner of the lower room can Say: Below ten handbreadths is my property and is not subject to you.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore I can demand to have the house pulled down and rebuilt. ');">²</span>

Further, [the one above was within his rights] only if they had not made an agreement with one another,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To rebuild the house if it sank. ');">³</span>

but if they had made an agreement with one another, then they must take down the house and rebuild it. And if they did make an agreement with one another, how low [must the upper chamber sink before the one below can demand rebuilding]? — The Rabbis stated in the presence of Rabbah in the name of Mar Zutra the son of R. Nahman, who said it in the name of R. Nahman: Till [the lower room fails to answer the requirement laid down for] that of which we have learnt,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If one undertakes to build a (one-roomed) house without specifying the size. Infra 98b. ');">⁴</span>

Its height must be equal to half its length and half its breadth [combined]. Said Rabbah to them: Have I not told you not to hang empty bottles<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., not to attribute absurd opinions to him. ');">⁵</span>

on R. Nahman? What R. Nahman said was, 'It must be fit for human habitation'. And how much is this? — R. Huna the son of R. Joshua said: Big enough for one to bring in a bundle [of reeds] of Mahuza<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which were exceptionally long. ');">⁶</span>

and turn round with them.

A certain man began to build a wall facing his neighbour's windows. The latter said to him, 'You are shutting out my light.' Said the first, 'Let me close up your windows here and I will make you others above the level of my wall.' He replied, 'You will damage my wall by so doing.' 'Let me then,' he said, 'take down your wall as far as the place of the windows and then rebuild it, fixing windows in the part above my wall.' He replied, 'A wall of which the lower part is old and the upper part new will not be firm.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the new cement does not stick well to the old. ');">⁷</span>

'Then,' he said, 'let me take it all down and build it up from the ground and put windows in it.' He replied, 'A single new wall in a house, the rest of which is old, would not be firm.' He then said, 'Let me take down the whole house and put windows in the new building.' He replied, 'Meanwhile I have no place wherein to live.' 'I will rent a place for you,' said the other. 'I don't want to bother,' said the first. Said R. Hama [on hearing of the case]: He had a perfect right to stop him. Is not this case the same as the other? Why, then, this repetition? — To tell us [that the owner of the house may exercise his veto] even though he only Uses it for storing straw and wood.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore he cannot say that he will have nowhere to live if it is pulled down. ');">⁸</span>

Two brothers divided [a house which they inherited], the one taking as part of his share a verandah open at one end<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [H] [G] a cave, a recess; hence, a sitting room in the shape of a hall; v. Tosaf. s.v. [H] ');">⁹</span>

and the other the front garden. The one who obtained the garden went and built a wall in front of the opening of the verandah. Said the other, 'You are taking away my light.' 'I am building on my own ground,' he replied. Said R. Hama: He was quite within his rights in saying so. Rabina asked R. Ashi: How does this case differ from what was taught: 'If two brothers divide an inheritance, one taking a vineyard and the other a cornfield [adjacent], the owner of the vineyard can claim four cubits in the cornfield,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To allow room for his oxen to turn when working the vineyard. ');">¹⁰</span>

since it was understood that on that condition they divided'? — He replied: There [the reason is] that they struck a balance with one another.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The one who received the more valuable portion giving compensation to the other. ');">¹¹</span>

What then [said Rabin] do we suppose here? That they did not compensate one another? Are we dealing with idiots, of whom one takes a verandah and the other a garden, and yet no question of compensation is raised? He replied: Granted that compensation was allowed for the bricks, beams, and planks, no allowance was made for the air space.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' By the owner of the verandah, so that he should have the right of keeping it empty. ');">¹²</span>

But cannot he say, 'At first you let me have a verandah as my share, now you are only letting me have a dark room'? — R. Shimi b. Ashi said: He let him have something which happened to be called so. Has it not been taught: 'If a man says, I sell you a beth <i>kor</i> of ground,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., a piece of ground large enough for the sowing of a kor of seed. A kor = 30 se'ah, and a beth kor (lit.. 'house of a kor') = 75,000 sq. cubits. ');">¹³</span> even if it subsequently prove to be only a lethek<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Half a kor. ');">¹⁴</span> the sale is valid, since he sold him only something designated a beth <i>kor</i>, provided always that the land in question is commonly called a beth <i>kor</i>. [If a man says], I sell you an orchard, even though there are no pomegranates in it, the sale is valid, since he only sold him something designated so, provided the place is commonly called an orchard. [If a man says], I sell you a vineyard, even if there are no vines in it the sale is valid, since he only sold him something designated so, provided always that the place is commonly called a vineyard'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' B.M. 104a. ');">¹⁵</span> — Are the cases parallel? There the vendor can say to the purchaser, I sold you [something called by] a certain name; here the one who obtains the verandah can say, I only took this as my share on condition that I should be able to live in it as our father lived.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And therefore it must not be interfered with, even at the cost of restricting the other's building rights. ');">¹⁶</span>