Bava Batra 61a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

One who sells the house,

and left his words general, and did not specify in his words that he was selling together with it also the things attached to the house—

he sold the buyer only the house itself, but

he did not sell

him together with the house also its

gallery

[and in the Gemara it will be explained what the “gallery” is],

even though it

the gallery [which is called so in the feminine form]

is open into it,

the house, and its use belongs to the house, and it could have been said that it is considered part of the house, since it is open into it and its use is connected with the house.

Rather, since he sold an unspecified house, the gallery is not included in the sale of the house.

And

likewise, he

did not

sell the buyer the house

the chamber

adjacent to the house, despite

the fact that

the chamber adjacent to the house is

within it.

That is, despite the fact that it is impossible to reach the chamber except through the house, since the chamber is not open to the outside but only into the house. Nevertheless, the chamber is not considered part of the house, since the use of the chamber is unlike the use of the house, for the chamber is not made for dwelling in it, but only for concealing his belongings there, to guard them there.

And

likewise, he

did not

sell

the roof

of the house

when it has

the roof of the house

a railing ten handbreadths high.

For then the roof of the house is considered a significant place in its own right, and is not subordinate to the house; therefore it is not included in the sale of an unspecified house.

Rabbi Judah says: If it has

the roof

a doorway-form,

through which one enters from the house to the roof, then

even though it is not ten

the railing of the roof

handbreadths high, it is not sold

the roof. For through the doorway-form at its entrance, the roof is considered a place in its own right, and is not subordinate to the house.

Gemara:

And the Gemara discusses:

What is a “gallery”?

Here,

here in Babylonia,

they translated,

they explained that a gallery is

an apta,

a low structure adjacent to the house, at its side or behind it.

But

Rav Yosef said:

“Gallery” is

a badka

ḥalila.”

A room attached to the house, which has many windows, and is intended for airing oneself and for cooling, and not for ordinary dwelling. And it is called “ḥalila,” from the language of “hollow,” on account of the hollow spaces of its many windows.

And the Gemara explains:

According to the one who says

“apta” is not sold,

that the gallery is not sold together with the house, even though it is an enclosed room, and the use of this room somewhat resembles the use of a house, nevertheless according to his words,

all the more so “badka ḥalila” is not sold.

It is not sold with the house, since it is a room open through many windows, and the use of this room does not resemble the use of a house at all; rather, it is made mainly for beauty and for cooling oneself there, and therefore it is not included within the house, all the more so than an apta.

However,

according to the one who says

the gallery is

a “badka ḥalila,”

only it is not included within the house,

but an apta,

yes,

is sold.

It is indeed included within the sale of the house, since the use of an apta more closely resembles the use of a house [to some extent].

Rav Yosef taught

he taught:

It has three names,

“gallery,” “side,” and “chamber.”

The explanation below follows Rabbeinu Gershom:

In the Temple that Solomon made, many chambers were built around the wall of the Sanctuary, also called “chambers”; they were rooms used for the needs of the Temple.

The “chambers” were built between the wall of the Sanctuary on one side and an additional wall on the other side. And there were three rows of chambers, on three levels, one above the other, around the three walls of the Temple [apart from the eastern wall, in which the entrance of the Temple was located].

Each such row of chambers is called in the language of Scripture a “side.”

The place of the chambers was, as stated, between the outer side of the wall of the Temple and an additional wall that was parallel to the wall of the Temple. [See illustration 1 from “Living Commentary” on the following page.]

Since the chambers were built in three levels between the two walls, it was necessary to pierce the walls on both sides in order to insert the heads of the ceiling beams into them [of each and every level], because otherwise the ceiling beams would have nothing upon which to lean.

But they did not pierce the wall of the Sanctuary, so that the wall of the Sanctuary would be firm, without openings; therefore they built the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary in a form stepped outward.

That is, the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary at its bottom was six cubits, and it narrowed in a stepped form through three “steps” [on its outer side], to five cubits, to four cubits, and to three cubits.

[unclear: the source reads “איו,” whose meaning is not clear]

Thus, there was a place to lay the ceiling beams of the chambers in the lower row upon the first “step” formed in the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary; similarly, the beams of the ceiling of the chambers on the middle level were laid upon the second step formed in the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary, whereas the beams of the ceiling of the chambers on the third level were laid upon the third step. [See illustration 2 from “Living Commentary.”]

As stated, the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary below was six cubits, and when it reached the height of the chambers in the first row it narrowed to five cubits, creating a “step” one cubit wide in the wall of the Sanctuary, so that the heads of the beams of the ceiling of the chambers on the first level would be laid on the step,

instead of piercing the wall in order to place them in it. [See the illustrations]. 1

Therefore, the lower row of the gallery [the chambers], which was between the wall of the Sanctuary and the parallel wall, was five cubits wide, as stated in the verse below.

And the beams of its ceiling were six cubits long, with one cubit of them resting on the step formed by the reduction of the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary.

And above, opposite the middle, central gallery, the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary was only five cubits, up to the ceiling of the middle gallery. It follows that the width of the chambers in the middle gallery, which were between the wall of the Sanctuary and the parallel wall, was six cubits.

And opposite the ceiling of the middle gallery and above it, the thickness of the wall narrowed to four cubits, so that an additional step one cubit wide was formed, upon which the ends of the beams of the middle ceiling lay.

And the thickness of the wall was four cubits opposite the upper gallery.

It follows that the width of the upper gallery was seven cubits.

And opposite the ceiling of the upper gallery the thickness of the wall was reduced and became three cubits, and upon the cubit by which the wall was set back lay the ends of its beams, those of the upper gallery.

And as stated, they did all this so that there would be a place in the thickness of the wall of the Sanctuary upon which the ends of the beams of the ceilings of the chambers could lean, and they would not need to pierce the walls of the building to insert the heads of the beams there, so that the wall would not be weakened.

“Gallery” —

as it is written

[I Kings 6]

“The lower gallery, five cubits wide.”

“Side” —

as it is written

[Ezekiel 41]

“And the sides, side to side, thirty-three times.”

The verse speaks of the Third Temple, may it be built speedily in our days, in which there will be thirty-three “sides,” chambers [galleries] built outside the wall of the Sanctuary. And their arrangement is as follows: on the northern side there will be five sides, one beside the other, and likewise in the south five, one beside the other, and one in the west—there are eleven. And the sides were tripled in their height, lower, middle, and upper, one above the other; it follows that there were thirty-three sides.

“Chamber” —

as it is written

[Ezekiel 40]

“And the chamber, one reed in length and one reed in width. And between the chambers, five cubits.”

The measure of the “reed” is six cubits. It follows that the length of the chamber was six cubits, and likewise its width was six cubits. And here it is speaking of the middle gallery, which was six by six. And the thickness of the wall of the chambers, which separated one from the other, was five cubits.

And if you wish, say instead, from here,

from here it can be proved that it is called a “chamber,” from the Mishna in Tractate Middot [4:6].

For we learned: The thickness of the

wall of the Sanctuary

behind the House of the Holy of Holies was

six

cubits.

And

the thickness of

the chamber was six.

And here it is speaking of a chamber of the middle side, which was six wide. And the thickness of the

wall

of the outer wall of

the chamber was five.

Mar Zutra said:

As for what we learned, that the gallery is not sold as part of the house,

and it,

this is speaking only in a case where

the gallery is

the gallery

four cubits.

Only then is it not included within the house. But if the area of the gallery is less than four cubits, it is not significant in its own right, and is subordinate to the house.

Ravina said to Mar Zutra: According to you,

according to your approach,

who said, until it is

the gallery at least

four cubits,

but when it is less than this it is indeed sold as subordinate to the house.

But now, concerning a pit, as we learned,

that we learned below in the Mishna [64a]: One who sells a house

does not

sell

the pit

that is in the house,

nor the cistern

[a cistern is like a pit, except that a pit is a hollow dug in the earth, whereas a cistern is a structure built upon the ground in the form of a pit; see illustration 3 from “Living Commentary”], and this

even though he wrote for him “depth and height.”

For the seller wrote for him, “I sell you this house, and its depth and its height”; nevertheless, a pit and a cistern are not included in this.

And if so, according to you,

here too, if they were four cubits, yes; if not, no!

Are we speaking specifically when the pit and the cistern are four cubits wide, but when they are less than this they are sold

as part of the house!? But surely an ordinary pit is not four cubits wide. And it is forced to say that the Mishna is speaking only in a case where it is four cubits wide.

And the Gemara rejects:

Is this comparable!?

What is the comparison between these?

For

there,

with a pit and a cistern,

this has one use, and that has another use.

The use of a house does not resemble the use of a pit and a cistern at all: the house is made for dwelling, whereas the pit is made to contain water and the like. Therefore it is not included within the house even if it is less than four cubits.

But

here,

with a gallery,

both this and that have one use.

The house and the gallery have the same use, for both are made for dwelling. And therefore only

if it is

the gallery

four cubits,

then it is

considered

a place in its own right,

but if not, it is not considered.

And it is subordinate to the house.

We learned in the Mishna:

“Nor the chamber within it”:

And the Gemara discusses:

Now, if a gallery is not sold,

the gallery is not sold as part of the house, even though its use is the same as that of the house, then

a chamber,

whose use is not the same as that of the house, since the chamber is made for guarding belongings,

is it necessary!?

Surely it is obvious that it is not sold as part of the house; why, then, was it necessary for the tan­ nay to mention it?