Bava Batra 71b (עא:) — the Talmud in English

But as for trees, which weaken the land,

since at times they damage the ground around them, when the seller retains two trees for himself, he is concerned that the buyer may later bring a claim against him if he does not also retain the land around them. Therefore, he is also concerned lest the trees die, in which case, since he has no ownership of the land,

if he did not retain

land around them, he must fear lest

the buyer say to him:

the owner of the land will say:

“Uproot your tree”

that has died,

“take it and go,”

take it for yourself and leave, because you have no right to the land to plant another tree in its place.

And the Gemara raises an objection to Rav Huna from our Mishna:

We learned:

Rabbi Shimon says: One who consecrates the field

has not consecrated with it all the things that are not sold with it,

but the grafted carob tree and the sycamore stump.

And it was taught concerning it,

we learned the following in a beraita concerning this statement of the Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon said: What is the reason

that he consecrated the carob tree and the sycamore stump, whereas he did not consecrate the other things that are not sold with the field?

Since

they

draw nourishment from consecrated land.

When he consecrated the field, he consecrated all the land of the field [because he consecrates the land itself generously], and he did not retain for himself the land surrounding the carob tree and the sycamore stump. Consequently, they draw nourishment from consecrated land, and therefore they are consecrated.

And if it enters your mind

that Rav Huna’s statement is correct, that one who sells two trees

retains

the land surrounding them for himself, then one who consecrates land containing a sycamore stump and a carob tree likewise retains the land surrounding them for himself. If so, it is difficult: Why are the carob tree and the sycamore stump consecrated? After all,

when they draw nourishment—

they draw nourishment from themselves,

that is, the carob tree and the sycamore stump draw their nourishment from the land that the one who consecrated the field retained for himself, and not from consecrated land. Why, then, are they consecrated?

As a result of this objection, the Gemara retracts what it said earlier: that Rav Huna’s innovation is that even Rabbi Akiva agrees that one who sells land while retaining trees retains the land surrounding them for himself. And it answers:

Rabbi Shimon stated his opinion in accordance with Rabbi Akiva,

his teacher, who says that one who sells sells generously and does not retain even the land surrounding the trees. Likewise, one who consecrates consecrates everything that is sold with the field. Therefore, the land surrounding the carob tree and the sycamore stump is consecrated, and since they draw nourishment from it, they are consecrated by virtue of that nourishment.

And

if

Rav Huna

who holds that he retains the land surrounding the trees

stated his opinion in accordance with the Rabbis,

who maintain that one who sells, and likewise one who consecrates, does so begrudgingly, retaining the land surrounding the trees for himself.

But now the Gemara is perplexed: How can it be said that Rav Huna came to state his opinion

in accordance with the Rabbis?

After all,

it is obvious

that this is what the Rabbis hold, since they maintain that one who sells does so begrudgingly!

The Gemara answers that Rav Huna’s statement contains an innovation even according to the Rabbis:

The practical difference

in Rav Huna’s statement, beyond what is explicitly stated in the words of the Rabbis, is

that if they fall,

if the trees fall, or grow old and dry up,

he may plant them again.

He may plant other trees in that place in their stead. This is not explicit in the words of the Rabbis, because it could have been said that his entire right to the surrounding land exists only so long as the trees remain, as in the case of a cistern and a cellar: once the cistern and cellar have collapsed and become filled in, and it is impossible to repair them, he no longer has the right to a path leading to them. Therefore, Rav Huna teaches that according to the Rabbis, he retains the right to the land forever.