Bava Batra 36b (לו:) — the Talmud in English

And we raise an objection to this:

Can you really say so:

Do you think that it is possible to explain their reasons in this way!? But if so,

according to Rabbi Akiva, why specifically a month

even

one

day would also suffice

for him to plow the field!? And why did Rabbi Akiva require a full month at the beginning and at the end!?

Rather,

everyone—

both Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva—hold that

plowing does not establish possession; and here

in our Mishna,

they differ with regard to a large produce and a small produce—

the basis of their dispute is whether one must eat the produce when it is fully grown, or whether it suffices to eat the grain while it is still shahat:

Rabbi Yishmael holds: A large produce is required, and grain [such as barley, oats, and lentils] becomes fully grown only after three months.

And Rabbi Akiva holds: Even if he ate the grain when it was still shahat, before it had fully grown, this too establishes possession.

The Sages taught: Plowing does not establish possession.

And there are those who say: This does establish possession.

And we explain:

Who are the ones who say this?

Rav Ḥisda said: It is Rabbi Aḥa, as it is taught:

If he plowed it for one year

one year [he plowed the field for one year , without sowing it during that year], and

sowed it for two

years, or if he

plowed it for two

years

and sowed it for one year

—

this does not establish possession.

Rabbi Aḥa says: This does establish possession.

Rabbi Aḥa said: I asked

I asked

all the great men of the generation, and they told me: Plowing does establish possession.

He said

he asked

to Rav Naḥman

a.

What is the reason of the one who says: Plowing establishes possession?

Rav Naḥman said to Rav Bibi: It is because

a person does not

allow someone to plow his land and remain silent,

for a person does not see another performing plowing in his field and remain silent.

b.

And what is the reason of the one who says: Plowing does not establish possession?

Rav Naḥman said to Rav Bibi: It is because the owner

says

to himself: “

Let him put every tooth of the plow into it,”

meaning, if only he would plow extensively, until the teeth of the plow fall out and the soil becomes loosened; afterward I will take it from him and sow it myself.

The people of Pum נהara sent

a place-name

to Rav Naḥman bar Rav Ḥisda: Let our master teach us:

Does

plowing for one day

that a person performs in a rain-fed field during the first and third years

establish possession

as though he had held the field throughout that entire year,

or does it not establish

possession?

He said to them

Rav Ḥisda:

Rabbi Aḥa and all the great men of the generation say: Plowing does establish possession.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

But is it

a great accomplishment

to

count the men

[what greatness is there in listing Sages who express this view]!?

Rab and Shmuel in Babylonia, and Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva in Eretz Yisrael, say: Plowing does not establish possession,

as will be explained.

And we explain:

Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva—

who hold that plowing does not establish possession—

our Mishna

is their view, for even Rabbi Akiva does not consider one day, during which he could plow, sufficient!

And

what is the matter with Rab,

where do we find that Rab said that plowing does not establish possession?

As Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rab

concerning our Mishna:

This is the statement of Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva,

who say that in a rain-fed field, one month or three months suffices during the first and third years,

but the Sages

disagree with them and

say:

Its possession

of a rain-fed field, as well, is

three complete years from day to day,

because according to them the reason for possession is that until three years a person is careful with his document; therefore, until he has held the property for three complete years, this is not possession.

Now, the phrase

“

from day to day”—

to exclude what?

Is it

not to exclude plowing, which does not

establish possession!? For even one month or three months, during which he eats small or large produce, does not suffice as a complete year, and certainly plowing for one day is insufficient to count as a complete year.

We further explain:

Shmuel,

who holds that plowing does not establish possession,

what is the matter

[where do we find that he said so]?

As Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel:

This

that we learned in our Mishna: “Rabbi Yishmael said: In what case are these statements said? In a grain field. But in an orchard, if he gathered its grain, harvested its olives, and gathered its summer produce, these constitute three years,” is

the statement of Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva,

as Rabbi Akiva also concedes this, just as he holds that in a rain-fed field one month suffices in the first and last years—

But the Sages

disagree with them and

say:

This is not possession until he eats the produce of the year three times, and it is not possession

until he gathers three harvests

during three years,

and harvests

[or harvests]

three grape harvests and gathers three olive harvests.

And we explain:

What is the difference between them,

what practical difference is there between Rab's statement according to the Sages and Shmuel's statement according to the Sages?

Abaye said: A young date palm

[a young date palm] that produces fruit more than once a year—

is the difference between them

between Rab and Shmuel according to the Sages:

According to Rab, possession is established only through three years, and if the tree produces fruit more than once a year, he must eat all of it; whereas according to Shmuel, three cycles of fruit harvesting suffice, even if he ate three times during two years.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Yishmael said: In what case are these statements said? In a grain field,

but in an orchard, if he gathered his grain, harvested his olives, and gathered his summer produce, these constitute three years.

Abaye said:

From the words

of

Rabbi Yishmael,

who says that three acts of gathering in three places in a single field establish possession of the entire field, as though he had gathered throughout the entire field three times,

we can derive with regard to the Sages:

That if

he had thirty trees

in a field of three se'a,

planted at a rate of ten per beit se'a

[with the trees distributed throughout it, ten trees in each beit se'a]—

And

he ate ten

trees

in this year, and ten

trees

in this year, and ten in this year, this establishes possession

of the entire field. Although in each year he ate only the fruit of one-third of the trees, this is referring, for example, to ten trees that he ate from each year being distributed throughout the entire area of the field: three trees in this beit se'a, three trees in that beit se'a, and four trees in the third beit se'a, as will be explained below.