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Bava Kamma 81a

בבא קמא פ״א ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 81a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The ten conditions יהושע set when he divided ארץ ישראל, and the גמרא's explanation of the limits on the first several of them

Overview

This amud opens in the middle of a ברייתא that lists the ten conditions יהושע set when he divided the land among the tribes. These conditions give the public small rights on private land. Examples are grazing animals, gathering wood and grasses, cutting shoots, drawing water, fishing, walking on paths, and burying a מת מצוה where it is found. The גמרא then goes through the conditions one at a time. רב פפא limits grazing to small animals in a forest of big trees. A chain of limits narrows the wood-gathering right: only thorns and shrubs, only while attached, only while moist, and never uprooting them. On grasses in a תלתן field, the גמרא raises a contradiction from a משנה in כלאים. It answers in two ways: seed versus stalks (רב ירמיה), or food for people versus animal feed, which רב פפא says you can tell by whether the field was planted in rows. Finally, an elder begins to explain exactly how shoots may be cut from olives, reeds, vines and other trees, and his list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁיְּהוּ מַרְעִין בָּחוֹרָשִׁין;

That people may graze their animals in forests;

וּמְלַקְּטִין עֵצִים בִּשְׂדוֹתֵיהֶם;

and they may gather wood in their fields;

וּמְלַקְּטִים עֲשָׂבִים בְּכׇל מָקוֹם –

and they may gather grasses in any place,

חוּץ מִתִּלְתָּן;

except from a fenugreek field;

The steps (15)

  1. StatementThe first six of יהושע's conditions
  2. StatementThe remaining conditions of יהושע
  3. Statementרב פפא limits the right to graze in forests
  4. StatementGathering wood means only thorns and shrubs
  5. StatementOnly thorns still attached to the ground
  6. StatementOnly moist growth, and never pulling out the roots
  7. StatementQuoting the rule about gathering wild grasses
  8. ChallengeAre grasses good or bad for fenugreek?
  9. ResolutionGrown for seed versus grown for stalks
  10. ResolutionGrown for people versus grown for animals
  11. QuestionHow can we tell what the field is for?
  12. ResponseRows mean people, no rows mean animals
  13. StatementAnyone may cut a shoot for planting, except from an olive tree
  14. StatementHow much may be taken from olives, reeds, vines and other trees
  15. StatementTake from young branches and from the shaded side