Bava Batra 102b (קב:) — the Talmud in English

Rav Shisha, son of Rav Idi, said: Actually, it is Rabbi Shimon.

And with what are we dealing here?

With nefalim,

as the three graves that he found were graves of miscarried fetuses, and a cave for miscarried fetuses is smaller, its length being only six cubits.

And we raise an objection:

Since this one is for miscarried fetuses, this one too is for miscarried fetuses.

Just as miscarried fetuses were buried in the first cave, presumably the second cave opposite it was also for miscarried fetuses. And if so,

they amount to eighteen,

as he need examine only eighteen cubits: six for each cave and six for the courtyard?

And we answer:

We say that one is for miscarried fetuses; we do not say that two are for miscarried fetuses.

Indeed, the cave that he found was for miscarried fetuses, but presumably the second cave contained ordinary graves, since one cave suffices for miscarried fetuses.

And he raises a contradiction between one statement of the Rabbis and another statement of the Rabbis, and between one statement of Rabbi Shimon and another statement of Rabbi Shimon.

For we find that with regard to kilayim, the Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon dispute the same issue over which they dispute here with regard to graves: whether we say, “We view the intervening ones as though they are not present,” or not. And there each one’s opinion is the opposite of his opinion here:

As we learned

in tractate Kilayim [5:2]:

A vineyard planted with less than four cubits

between one row and the next, which is the measure required in order for it to be possible to plow between the rows and tend the vines:

Rabbi Shimon says:

Since vineyards are not ordinarily planted so densely,

it does not

count as a

vineyard

at all, and it is permitted to sow seeds there without concern for the prohibition of kilayim in a vineyard.

And the Rabbis say: This is a vineyard,

and it is prohibited to sow kilayim there, because

we view the intervening ones,

the middle rows,

as though they are not present,

leaving a gap between the outer rows of the requisite measure.

This is difficult according to the Rabbis, from the Rabbis.

For with regard to kilayim they hold that we say “we view,” whereas with regard to graves they hold that we do not say “we view.”

And this is difficult according to Rabbi Shimon, from Rabbi Shimon.

For with regard to kilayim he holds that we do not say “we view,” whereas with regard to graves he holds that we do say “we view.”

And we answer:

With regard to Rabbi Shimon, from Rabbi Shimon, it is not difficult.

For

there,

with regard to kilayim,

people do not plant with the intention of uprooting.

No one plants vines between the rows intending to uproot them later. Therefore, he planted everything as a vineyard; and since it was not planted in accordance with the proper law, it is not considered a vineyard.

But

here,

with regard to graves,

sometimes it happens to him between twilight,

when there is occasionally a pressing circumstance, such as when it is twilight on the eve of Shabbat,

and he happens to place him there.

He buries the deceased among the dead who are buried in the proper arrangement, intending to remove him from there later. Subsequently, they forget, or an accident occurs that prevents them from removing him. Therefore, we say “we view,” and consider the remaining outer graves a burial ground.

With regard to the Rabbis, from the Rabbis as well, it is not difficult.

For

here,

with regard to graves,

since it is degrading,

as it is disrespectful to the dead to be buried so close to other graves,

it is not called a grave.

Certainly, they were not all buried there in the ordinary manner, and therefore it is not considered a burial ground.

But

there,

with regard to kilayim, it is possible that a person would plant a vineyard densely, because

he might say,

thinking to himself and saying:

Whichever of them is doing well,

the one that takes root in the soil and thrives,

doing well,

I will leave it;

and whichever is not doing well,

the one that does not thrive, I will uproot it;

let it be for firewood,

so that it will serve me as wood for burning. Therefore, we say that we view the middle rows as though they are not present, and the remainder has the status of a vineyard.

We have completed the chapter “One Who Sells Produce.”

Introduction:

The Meiri wrote: The purpose of the chapter is to complete the laws stated concerning the laws of sales, most of whose matters were already explained in the preceding three chapters: the house, the ship, and the produce.

And

as part of completing these matters, the subjects of the chapter are divided into three sections.

The first:

A case in which one sells his fellow a measured quantity of land, but does not sell this particular tract of land; rather, he sells him, without specifying a particular tract, a beit kor of earth, or some other measure. There are places in it that are unfit for sowing, or that appear to be separate areas in their own right, even though they are fit for sowing. In what circumstances must the buyer accept them, and in what circumstances need he not accept them?

The second:

A case in which he stipulated an unspecified known measure, measured it for him, and it was found to be slightly deficient or slightly in excess: under what circumstances must they return something to one another, and under what circumstances do they return nothing to one another? And when something is returned, whether land or money is returned.

The third:

A case in which one sells half of a particular field without specifying on which side, and how they divide it.

This is

the general framework of the chapter, except that matters will be introduced incidentally, in accordance with the manner of the Talmud’s discussions, as explained previously. End quote.

Mishna:

One who says to his fellow, “

the measure of

a beit kor of earth I am selling you”.

That is, he sold him a field with an area of a beit kor, as the Sages measured it: namely, 7,500 square cubits, which are 86.273 by 86.273 cubits. (According to the calculation of a beit se'a of the courtyard of the Tabernacle: the area of the Tabernacle courtyard was 50 by 100 cubits and contained two se'a. Therefore, a beit kor, which is thirty se'a, has an area of 50 by 1,500 cubits.)

If

there were depressions [

cracks or furrows in the ground]

ten handbreadths deep, or rocks

ten handbreadths high,

they are not measured along with it.

Rather, he gives him a complete beit kor of unobstructed land.

Since he said to him, “a beit kor of earth,” this implies earth fit for sowing.

But if he merely said to him, “a beit kor,” he may also give him a rocky field. Perhaps he sold it to him for building a house or for spreading out produce, and the buyer bears the burden of proof.

But if the depressions or rocks were

less than this [

less than ten handbreadths],

they are measured along with it.

Since there is no field that does not contain some rocks and depressions, and they are subordinate to it.

And if he said to him, “like a beit kor of earth,”

which implies that he accepts it as it is, whether rocks or earth,

even

if

there were depressions more than ten handbreadths deep, or rocks more than ten handbreadths high, these are measured along with it.

Gemara:

The Mishna states that if there were depressions in the field more than ten handbreadths high or deep, they are not subordinate to the field.

The Gemara discusses whether they are never subordinate, or only when they are entirely unfit for sowing.

We learned there [

we learned concerning this matter in tractate Arakhin (25a)]:

It is stated in the Torah (Leviticus 27:16): “And if a man consecrates to the Lord some part of the field of his ancestral property, then your valuation shall be according to its seed: a homer of barley seed at fifty silver shekels.”

That is, the redemption value for a field capable of producing a homer of barley—that is, a beit kor—is fifty silver shekels.

This verse is stated with regard to a time when the Jubilee is in effect, and when he consecrated his field at the beginning of the Jubilee.

But if he consecrated it at a time when the Jubilee is not in effect, he redeems the field according to its value.

The Mishna explains how a beit kor is calculated with regard to the redemption of consecrated property:

“One who consecrates his field at the time of the Jubilee

that is, when the Jubilee is in effect,

gives to

every

beit of a homer of barley seed (

a beit kor)

fifty silver shekels.

As stated above.