Bava Metzia 216:1

ואי לא איערומי קא מערים

otherwise it is mere evasion.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If A buys a small piece of land in the middle of B's estate, he immediately becomes a neighbour to the surrounding estate, just as C, the original neighbour on the outer side. Now, if the land bought by A is distinctly inferior or superior to the rest, it is natural that it should be sold separately, and the sale is genuine. But if it is just the same, it is obviously a mere fiction to make A the neighbour of B, and therefore C retains his rights of pre-emption. ');">¹</span>

מתנה לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא אמר אמימר אי כתב ליה אחריות אית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

A gift is not subject to the law of pre-emption. Said Amemar: But if he [the donor] promised<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'wrote'. ');">²</span>

מכר כל נכסיו לאחד לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא לבעלים הראשונים לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא זבן מעכו"ם וזבין לעכו"ם לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

security of tenure,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., in case it is seized for the donor's debt, another will be supplied. ');">³</span>

זבן מעכו"ם דאמר ליה ארי אברחי לך ממצרא זבין לעכו"ם עכו"ם ודאי לאו בר ועשית הישר והטוב הוא שמותי ודאי משמתינן ליה עד דמקבל עליה כל אונסי דאתי ליה מחמתיה

it is subject thereto.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because it must have been a disguised sale, no person promising security for a gift. ');">⁴</span>

משכנתא לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא דאמר רב אשי אמרו לי סבי דמתא מחסיא מאי משכנתא דשכונה גביה מאי נפקא מינה לדינא דבר מצרא

When one sells <i>all</i> his property to one person, the law of pre-emption does not apply.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the purchaser might refuse to buy the rest if he must give up any portion thereof. ');">⁵</span>

למכור ברחוק ולגאול בקרוב ברע ולגאול ביפה לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

[Likewise, if it is sold] to its original owner, it is not subject to the law of pre-emption. If one purchases from or sells to a heathen, there is no law of pre-emption. 'If one purchases from a heathen' — because he [the purchaser] can say to him [the abutting neighbour], 'I have driven away a lion from your boundaries.' 'If he sells to a heathen' — because a heathen is certainly not subject to [the exhortation], <i>'And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord</i>.' Nevertheless, he [the vendor] is placed under a ban, until he accepts responsibility for any injury that might ensue through him [the heathen]. A mortgage is not subject to the law of pre-emption. For R. Ashi said: The elders of Matha Mehasia told me, What is the meaning of mashkanta [a pledge, mortgage]? That it abides with him [the mortgagee].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [ [H] from [H] 'to rest', 'abide'. The mortgagee is considered the nearest abutting neighbour; v. B.M. (Sonc. ed.) p. 396, n. 6.] ');">⁶</span>

לכרגא ולמזוני ולקבורה לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא דאמרי נהרדעא לכרגא למזוני ולקבורה מזבנינן בלא אכרזתא לאשה וליתמי ולשותפי לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

What is its practical bearing? In respect to pre-emption. When one sells [an estate] that is far [from the vendor's domicile] in order to buy one that is near, or an inferior property to repurchase a better, the law of pre-emption does not apply.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since the vendor may suffer through the delay, and no privilege is given to one which entails a disadvantage to another. ');">⁷</span>

שכיני העיר ושכיני שדה שכיני העיר קודמין

[When an estate is sold] for polltax, alimony [of a widow and her daughters] and funeral expenses, the law of pre-emption does not apply, for the Nehardeans said: For poll-tax, alimony, and funeral expenses an estate is sold without public announcement.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In other cases of forced sale by order of the court, it was publicly announced so as to attract bidders. But these were regarded as matters of urgency, and therefore the announcement was dispensed with. For the same reason, one cannot wait for the neighbouring estate-owner to avail himself of his privilege. ');">⁸</span>

שכן ותלמיד חכם תלמיד חכם קודם קרוב ותלמיד חכם תלמיד חכם קודם איבעיא להו שכן וקרוב מאי ת"ש (משלי כז, י) טוב שכן קרוב מאח רחוק

[A sale] to a woman, orphans, or a partner is not subject to the law of pre-emption.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It was not held seemly that a woman should go about in search of land to buy; therefore the first purchase she makes is valid, even though it infringes upon the rights of pre-emption. The same privilege is accorded to orphans, on account of their generally defenceless state. With respect to partners, there are different interpretations. Rashi: If A and B are partners in a field, and C is their neighbour, A can sell his portion to B, and C cannot plead, 'Since I am a neighbour, I am entitled to buy half that portion, as in the case of two neighbours.' Tosaf. and R. Hai (quoted in Asheri a.l.): If A and B are partners in general, in land, or in business, A can sell a field to B (in which they are not partners) notwithstanding that C is a neighbour. In actual law, both interpretations are accepted; v. H.M. 175, 12 and 49. ');">⁹</span>

הני זוזי טבי והני זוזי תקולי לית ביה משום דינא דבר מצרא הני ציירי והני שרי לית ביה משום דינא דבר מצרא

Of urban neighbours and rural neighbours, the former have priority;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If A is selling a field, and B is his neighbour in town, having a house next to his, whilst C is a neighbour of a field belonging to A, but not of that which is for sale, so that neither is a neighbour of the field to be sold, priority must be given to B, the urban neighbour. Thus, this does not refer to pre-emption at all. So Rashi, who bases his interpretation on the following arguments: (i) Whereas the whole of the preceding passage uses the phrase 'the law of neighbourly pre-emption' ([H]), this passage speaks of priority, in quite a different phrase ([H]); (ii) Had the reference been to pre-emption, the previous passage should have included it, reading, (A sale) to a woman, orphans, a partner, and urban neighbour, and a scholar (as this passage continues) is not subject to pre-emption; (iii) Surely a scholar cannot infringe upon the pre-emption rights of an ignoramus! Tosaf. holds that the passage does refer to pre-emption, but treats of two neighbours. The weight of authority supports Rashi's view; v. H.M. 175, 50. ');">¹⁰</span>

אמר איזיל ואטרח ואייתי זוזי לא נטרינן ליה אמר איזיל אייתי זוזי חזינן אי גברא דאמיד הוא דאזיל ומייתי זוזי נטרינן ליה ואי לא לא נטרינן ליה

of a neighbour [but not of the field to be sold] and a scholar, the latter takes precedence; of a relative and a scholar, the latter has priority. The scholars propounded: What of a neighbour and a relative? — Come and hear: <i>Better is a neighbour that is near that a brother that is far off</i>.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Prov. XXVII, 10. ');">¹¹</span>

ארעא דחד ובתי דחד מרי ארעא מעכב אמרי בתי מרי בתי לא מעכב אמרי דארעא ארעא דחד ודיקלי דחד מרי דארעא מצי מעכב אמרי דיקלי מרי דיקלי לא מצי מעכב אמרי דארעא

If one offers well-formed coins, and the other full — weight coins,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 403, n. 4. If the neighbour offers the former and the purchaser the latter, or vice versa, the vendor can insist upon a particular preference. ');">¹²</span>

ארעא לבתי וארעא לזרעא ישוב עדיף ולית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

the law of pre-emption does not apply. If these [the coins of the abutting neighbour] are bound up, and those [of the purchaser] unsealed, there is no pre-emption.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If a neighbour and a stranger send money for the field, the former's coins being bound up and sealed in a package, whilst the latter's are open to view, and the vendor maintains that he is afraid to open the package, lest the sender claim that it contained more, he can sell to the stranger. ');">¹³</span>

אפסיק משוניתא או ריכבא דדיקלא חזינא אם יכול להכניס בה אפילו תלם אחד אית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא ואי לא לית בה משום דינא דבר מצרא

If he [the neighbour] says, 'I will go, take trouble, and bring money;' we do not wait for him. But if he says, 'I will go and bring money;' we consider: if he is a man of substance, who can go and bring the money [without delay], we wait for him; if not, we do not wait for him.

הני ד' בני מצרני דקדים חד מינייהו וזבין זביניה זביני ואי כולהו אתו בהדי הדדי פלגו לה בקרנזיל:

If the land belongs to one and the buildings [upon it] to another, the former can restrain the latter,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From selling them to a stranger, if he wishes to buy himself. ');">¹⁴</span> but the latter cannot restrain the former.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The landowner is regarded as permanent on the land, hence he can restrain the house-owner; not so the latter, who is held to have no permanent stake in the land. ');">¹⁵</span> If the land belongs to one and the palm-trees [upon it] to another, the former can restrain the latter, but the latter cannot restrain the former. [If a stranger wishes to purchase] the land for building houses, and [the abutting neighbour wants] the land for sowing, habitation is more important; and there is no law of pre-emption. If a rocky ridge or a plantation of young palm trees lay between [the fields], we consider: If he [the abutting neighbour] can enter therein even with a single furrow,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the separation is not continuous. ');">¹⁶</span> it is subject to the law of pre-emption, but not otherwise.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because the main reason of the right of pre-emption is that it is cheaper to cultivate two adjoining fields than two separate ones, as a long continuous furrow can be ploughed and sown in a single operation. ');">¹⁷</span> If one of four neighbours [on the four sides of a field] forestalled the others, the sale is valid; but if they all come together, it [the field] is divided diagonally.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' v. figure. ');">¹⁸</span>