Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Bathra

Folio 67a

collect for her a tenth part of her father's estate¹  even from the casing of a handmill.²  R. Ashi said: When we were in the court of R. Kahana, we used to collect such dues from the rent of houses also.³

MISHNAH. IF A MAN SELLS A COURTYARD HE [AUTOMATICALLY] SELLS THE HOUSES, PITS, DITCHES AND CAVES [ATTACHED TO IT,] BUT NOT MOVABLES. IF, HOWEVER, HE SAYS TO THE PURCHASER, [I SELL] IT AND ALL ITS CONTENTS, ALL ARE INCLUDED IN THE SALE.⁴  IN EITHER CASE, HOWEVER, HE DOES NOT SELL A BATH OR AN OLIVE PRESS THAT MAY BE IN IT. R. ELIEZER SAYS: IF A MAN SELLS A COURTYARD, HE ONLY SELLS WITH IT THE SPACE OF THE COURTYARD.⁵

GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: If a man sells a courtyard he sells [with it] the outer and the inner apartments,⁶  and the sand-field⁷  in it. As to the shops, those that open on to it⁸  are sold with it, those that do not open on to it⁹  are not. Those that open on to both sides are sold with it. R. Eliezer says: If a man sells a court he sells only the air of the court.

The Master says [here] that shops opening on to both sides are sold with the courtyard. [How can this be,] Seeing that R. Hiyya has learned that they are not sold with it? — There is no contradiction. The former speaks of shops of which the main entrance is in the courtyard,¹⁰  the latter of those of which the main entrance is in the street.

R. ELIEZER SAYS: IF A MAN SELLS A COURTYARD, HE SELLS ONLY THE SPACE OF THE COURTYARD. Raba said: If the vendor says [in Babylonia], I sell you a diretha,¹¹  no one disputes that he means the apartments. Where the authorities differ is when he says darta,¹²  one [R. Eliezer] holding that in that case he means the open space only, the other [the Rabbis] that he means the apartments as well. According to another version: Raba said: If he said darta, all are agreed that he meant the apartments as well. Where they differ is in the case where he said 'hazer',¹³  one holding that this means only the space of the courtyard and the other that it is analogous to the courtyard of the Tabernacle.¹⁴

Raba further said: If a man sells another the shore¹⁵  of a river and its bed,¹⁶  if the purchaser takes possession of the shore he does not thereby acquire ownership of the bed, and if he takes possession of the bed he does not thereby acquire ownership of the shore.¹⁷  Is that so? Has not Samuel laid down that if a man sells another ten fields in ten different provinces, as soon as the purchaser has taken formal possession of one¹⁸  he becomes owner of all? — The reason there is that the earth is all one stretch¹⁹  and all [the properties] are utilised in the same way. Here, however, one thing is for one purpose and the other for another.

According to another version,

1. If a man died intestate, his daughter was entitled to a tenth part of his landed estate, but not of his movable property, v. Keth. 52b.
2. This shows that R. Nehemiah regarded a handmill as part of a house.
3. The rent being in the same category as the house, which is also an immovable.
4. That is to say, things used in the house, but not things stored in it like wheat or barley. V. infra 150a.
5. Lit., 'the air of the courtyard'. And in the case of immovables we do not say that the price is an indication, as in the case of movables.
6. I.e., those opening on the courtyard and those further back.
7. A shaft from which sand is dug for making glass.
8. And which are for the service of the residents of the courtyard.
9. But on to the street.
10. Lit., 'of which most of the use is within'.
11. Aramaic for 'residence'.
12. Aramaic for 'courtyard'.
13. Hebrew for 'courtyard'.
14. Of which it is written, The length of the court shall be an hundred cubits and the breadth fifty everywhere (Ex. XXVII, 18), which shows that the Tent of Assembly which was in the court was reckoned along with the court.
15. For the sake of the sand. Lit., 'a sandy field'.
16. For gold and silver washings, or, according to others, for the fish.
17. Because they are used for different purposes and have different names.
18. By digging a little or some similar action.
19. Lit., 'the block of the land

Raba said in the name of R. Nahman: If the purchaser takes formal possession of the shore he becomes thereby owner of the bed. Surely this is self-evident, since Samuel has laid down that if a man sells the fields, etc.? — You might argue that in that case the reason is that all the earth is one stretch, but here one thing is used for one purpose and the other for another. Now I know [that we do not argue thus].

MISHNAH. IF A MAN SELLS AN OLIVE PRESS, HE [AUTOMATICALLY] SELLS THEREWITH THE SEA AND THE POUNDING STONE AND THE 'MAIDENS', BUT HE DOES NOT SELL THE THWARTS NOR THE WHEEL NOR THE BEAM.¹  IF, HOWEVER, HE SAYS TO THE PURCHASER, '[I SELL] IT AND ALL ITS CONTENTS', ALL THESE THINGS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SALE. R. ELIEZER SAYS THAT IF A MAN SELLS AN OLIVE PRESS HE INCLUDES THE BEAM.²

GEMARA. The SEA is [what is called in Aramaic] 'lentil'.³  The POUNDING STONE, according to R. Abba bar Memel, is [what is called in Aramaic] 'crusher'.⁴  The 'MAIDENS', according to R. Johanan, are cedar posts by which the beam is supported.⁵  By THWARTS is meant planks.⁶  The WHEEL is a winch.⁷  The BEAM is actually a beam.

Our Rabbis taught: If a man sells an olive press, he sells therewith the planks⁸  and the tanks and the crushers and the lower millstone but not the upper one.⁹  If he uses the formula 'it and all its contents', all these are sold with it. In either case he does not sell the stirrers nor the sacks and leather bags.¹⁰  R. Eliezer says that if a man sells an olive press he automatically includes the beam, since it is this which gives the olive press its name.

MISHNAH. IF A MAN SELLS A BATH HE DOES NOT [AUTOMATICALLY] INCLUDE EITHER THE PLANKS¹¹  OR THE BASINS¹²  OR THE BATHING APPAREL.¹³  IF HE SAYS TO THE PURCHASER, [I SELL YOU] 'IT AND ALL ITS CONTENTS', ALL THESE ARE INCLUDED. IN EITHER CASE HE DOES NOT SELL THE CISTERNS OF WATER NOR THE SHEDS FOR WOOD.¹⁴

GEMARA. Our Rabbis taught: If a man sells a bath, he [automatically] includes the cupboards for the boards and for the head towels¹⁵  and for the basins and the curtains,¹⁶  but not the boards nor the head towels nor the basins nor the curtains themselves. If he says to the purchaser, ['I sell you] it and all its contents', all these are included. In either case he does not include the pools which supply him with water whether

1. All these terms are explained in the Gemara. The first three things mentioned are apparently fixtures, the others, though part and parcel of the press, are not fixtures.
2. Since this is the most essential part of an olive press.
3. A trough for collecting the olive juice.
4. Apparently a stone or piece of cement with a hollow for fixing the pounder in.
5. Strictly speaking, the beam was attached to a cross-bar joining two posts. These were what were called in Old French the 'gemelles' (twins), and in L. 'sorores' (sisters).
6. Which were lowered on the pulp after treading to distribute the pressure equally. According to another, more probable opinion, we should render 'stirrers', for stirring up the pulp.
7. For raising the beam. [On all these terms v. Krauss, op. cit. II, 222ff.]
8. Apparently boards around the olives to keep them in their place during the pressing.
9. Before being placed in the tank the olives were partly crushed in a handmill, the lower stone of which was fixed in the ground.
10. For carrying the olives.
11. For standing on after the bath.
12. Var. lec. 'benches'.
13. Var. lec. 'hangings'.
14. Because these are not necessarily adjuncts of a bathhouse, and can be used for other purposes.
15. For covering the head after the bath.
16. Al. 'towels'.