Bava Kamma 81b

בבא קמא פ״א ע״ב

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Topic

יהושע's ten conditions for the land of ישראל: what each one allows, and why the count is exactly ten

Overview

This amud continues the list of conditions that יהושע set when the tribes received ארץ ישראל. These conditions are public rights that limit what a private owner can do with his land. They include not taking cuttings from the sunny side of a tree, letting the town use a brand-new spring for free, and fishing in the Sea of Tiberias without blocking boats. Other conditions allow relieving oneself behind a fence, walking on field paths, stepping off a rough road, cutting a way out of a vineyard when lost, and burying a מת מצוה where it is found. Along the way the גמרא tells stories about שמואל, רבי and רבי יהודה בן נקוסא stepping off the road. It also explains how the Torah duty of השבת גופו differs from יהושע's added permission to cut through vines. Then the גמרא checks the count of ten. Walking on private paths turns out to be שלמה's teaching, based on a verse in משלי. The rules of רבי יהודה and רבי ישמעאל are not counted, because the list includes only conditions all the חכמים accept.

Opening lines

The steps (39)

1. StatementNot from the sunny side of the tree
2. StatementThe town may use a brand-new spring
3. Statementרבה בר רב הונא: they must pay
4. ConclusionThe halacha does not follow him
5. StatementFishing in the Sea of Tiberias
6. ProofThe tribes themselves agreed to this
7. StatementThe sea belonged to נפתלי
8. StatementLoose items belong to all tribes, attached items to the local tribe
9. StatementEvery tribe received every type of terrain
10. StatementRelieving oneself behind a fence, even in a saffron field
11. StatementThe real point: taking a stone from the fence
12. StatementTaking the stone is allowed even on שבת
13. Statementמר זוטרא put the stone back and had it plastered
14. StatementWalking on private field paths until the second rain
15. StatementIn Babylonia even dew makes walking harmful
16. StatementStepping off a bad road onto the side fields
17. Questionרב יהודה asks whether the conditions apply in Babylonia
18. Responseשמואל: the conditions apply even outside Israel
19. Questionרבי notices a man striding on the road instead of stepping aside
20. Responseרבי חייא defends his student
21. Conclusionרבי accepts the student's sincerity, but warns him
22. StatementA lost person may cut through vineyard branches
23. StatementA helper may also cut through to rescue someone lost
24. QuestionWhy does the ברייתא need to say 'and similarly'?
25. ResponseEven the lost person, who does not know the way, may cut through
26. ChallengeReturning a lost person is already a Torah law
27. ResolutionThe Torah allows only walking the edges; יהושע allowed cutting straight through
28. StatementNext condition: a מת מצוה acquires its place
29. ChallengeContradiction: a body found on a road must be moved
30. ChallengeThe ברייתא lets you move the body wherever you want
31. ResolutionThe ברייתא is about a body lying on the boundary path
32. ChallengeThe list has eleven conditions, not ten
33. ResolutionWalking on private paths came from שלמה
34. ProofA ברייתא shows שלמה's teaching about letting people cross your field
35. ChallengeIs that verse really written anywhere?
36. ResolutionA verse in משלי says the same idea
37. ChallengeIsn't רבי יהודה's manure rule another condition?
38. ChallengeAren't רבי ישמעאל's three court conditions also missing?
39. ResolutionThe list of ten counts only rules everyone agrees on