Bava Kamma 81a (פא.) — the Talmud in English

1.

That all Israelites may graze their animals

in forests

of

woodlands] belonging to private individuals, and the owner of the woodland may not object to this.

2.

And they may gather wood from the fields of others,

and below the Gemara explains which wood is meant.

3.

And they may gather grass anywhere

in another’s field,

except from

a field of

fenugreek,

as the grass is beneficial to it, and the one who gathers the grass damages the fenugreek.

4.

And they may cut saplings [branches for planting]

from trees

anywhere,

each person from his fellow’s trees,

except olive stumps.

These are the stumps that one who cuts down his olive trees leaves in order to burn, from which the tree grows anew; and one may not cut saplings from these stumps, because he thereby destroys them.

5.

And a spring that emerges for the first time [anew, and certainly an old spring that existed at the time the land was apportioned]

in one person’s portion,

all the inhabitants of the city may draw from it.

6.

And they may fish [cast a fishing line]

every person

in the Sea of Tiberias,

even though it was not apportioned to them, but was in the portion of Naphtali,

provided that he does not spread a kele’a [

a broad vertical net fixed in the sea for catching fish]

and

by means of the net

station the boat.

7.

And they may relieve themselves [

attend to their needs]

behind a fence, even in a field full of saffron,

as the Gemara proceeds to explain.

8.

And they may walk along paths through private property until the second rainfall descends,

that is: In grain fields, after the grain has been gathered in Nisan and until the time of sowing, which is when the rain falls for the second time, on the seventeenth of Marḥeshvan, field owners customarily permit people to shorten their route by passing through their fields, since they are empty of grain. And Joshua stipulated that this would be permitted, even when it is not known that the field owners authorized the public to walk through their fields.

9.

And they may move to the sides of the roads because of the road-protrusions,

that is: During the summer, the mud on the roads dries and becomes like protrusions—formed by the footsteps of people and animals who walked there in the winter—that are difficult to walk upon. It is therefore permitted to turn aside from the road and walk through the fields adjacent to the paved road, even when there is grain in those fields.

10.

And one who loses his way among vineyards may cut his way upward and cut his way downward,

that is: He severs the tendrils that obstruct him and ascends or descends until he finds the road.

xi.

11.

A met mitzva acquires

the

place where he fell and died—for burial there—and the owner of the field may not prevent this.

From this point onward, the Gemara explains Joshua’s enactments:

1.

That they may graze their animals in forests:

Rav Pappa said: We said

that it is permitted to graze one’s animal in another’s woodland only with regard to grazing

small livestock in a

woodland of

large trees,

[a woodland of trees], because it does not damage the trees.

But

with regard to

small livestock in a

woodland of

small trees, and

with regard to

large livestock in a

woodland of

large trees,

as it destroys the trees,

and all the more so

with regard to

large livestock in a

woodland of

small trees, it is not permitted.

2.

And they may gather wood from their fields:

The wood that we mentioned:

We said this only with regard to hizmei and higei [

types of thorns]

but not other wood; and even with regard to hizmei and higei, we said this only when they are

for example, still

attached, but when they have been detached

by the owner of the field,

no,

because once the owner of the field has taken the trouble to detach them, it is again prohibited to take them, as he has them in mind.

And even with

And even

with regard to

attached thorns, we did not say

that

it is permitted to gather them

unless they are still

moist

;

but with regard to dry ones, no, because the owner of the field intends to use them to heat the oven.

And

what was permitted was permitted only

provided that he does not uproot them [

that he does not pull out the roots].

3.

And they may gather grass anywhere except from a field of fenugreek:

And we raise a difficulty:

Is that to say that

a field of

fenugreek benefits from grass [

and are grass beneficial to a field of fenugreek]!?

And we juxtapose

this with what we learned in the tractate Kil’ayim:

Fenugreek that grew together with various types of grass: One does not require him to uproot

the grass on account of the prohibition of diverse kinds, because ultimately he will remove it from there, as it damages the fenugreek.

It follows that grass damages the fenugreek and is not beneficial to it!?

Rav Yirmeya said: It is not difficult; here,

when the fenugreek is intended

for seed, [

to be sown],

here,

when the fenugreek is intended

for zeirin,

that is, to be eaten, as the Gemara proceeds to explain.

When it is intended

for seed: Grass is harmful to it, for it weakens it [

grass is harmful to it, because it weakens it], and this is the case addressed by the Mishna in Kil’ayim.

But

when it is intended for zeirin: Grass benefits it, for when it stands among grass it climbs upon it,

[grass benefits it, because when the fenugreek grows among the grass it climbs up upon it], and in such a field it is prohibited to take the grass without the owner’s permission.

Alternatively,

to resolve the difficulty from the Mishna in Kil’ayim:

Here—

in the Mishna in Kil’ayim—when the fenugreek is intended

for

human

food,

and the grass is superfluous and harmful.

Here—

the qualification made by the Gemara concerning a field of fenugreek, that one may not take grass from it—when the fenugreek is intended

for

animal

food, since it is sown for animal food, grass is also needed by the animal [

since the fenugreek is intended as animal fodder, the animal also needs grass].

And we explain:

And how do we know

[how can a person know for what purpose the fenugreek is intended], so that he will know whether he may gather grass without the owner’s permission?

Rav Pappa said:

If

it is arranged in arranged beds [

the field is made up of beds], it is certainly

for human

food.

And if

it is not arranged in arranged beds [

the field is not made up of beds], presumably

it is for animals

that it is intended.

4.

And they may cut saplings anywhere except olive stumps:

Rabbi Tanḥum and Rabbi Brais explained it in the name of a certain elder:

One who cuts

from

an

olive tree

leaves from the branch

the size of an egg

adjacent to the trunk.

One who cuts

from reeds and grapevines

may cut

from the node [

joint] on the branch

and above.

And

with

all other trees,

he may cut:

from the fruit [

of the tree]

of the tree,

that is, from the soft and thin branches,

but not from the top of the tree,

as he may not cut from large, thick branches.

And only

from

the branch

that is new and

still

does not produce fruit, and not from

the

old branch that produces fruit.