Bava Metzia 105

תרי עיסקי וחד שטרא פסידא דלוה

Conversely, if two people engaged in two joint ventures and recorded both in one document, this will be to the detriment of the borrower. They calculate the profits and losses of the two transactions together, and therefore as long as the profits of one joint venture are greater than the losses of the other, the investor will not have to suffer a loss.

ואמר רבא האי מאן דקביל עיסקא מן חבריה ופסיד טרח ומלייה ולא אודעיה לא מצי אמר ליה דרי מהיאך פסידא בהדאי משום דאמר ליה להכי טרחת למליותיה כי היכי דלא ליקרו לך מפסיד עיסקי

And Rava says: This one, who receives merchandise for a joint venture from another, and lost money in the process, and then made the effort to replace the loss but did not inform the investor that he had done so, he may not later say to the investor: Bear this original loss together with me. This is because the investor can say to him: It is for this reason that you made the effort to replace the loss, so that you should not be called a loser of ventures. You wanted to preserve your reputation in order to improve your future business prospects but did not intend to be reimbursed.

ואמר רבא הני בי תרי דעבדי עיסקא בהדי הדדי ורווח ואמר ליה חד לחבריה תא ליפלוג אי אמר ליה אידך נרווח טפי דינא הוא דמעכב ואי אמר ליה הב לי פלגא דרווחא אמר ליה רווחא לקרנא משתעבד

And Rava said: With regard to these two managers who engaged in a joint venture together, i.e., they both received merchandise together from an investor, and profited from it, and one of them said to the other: Come, let us divide the profits and terminate the venture, the halakha is as follows: If the other said to him: Let us wait and profit more, the halakha is that the second manager indeed prevents the first from executing his request. And if, instead of requesting the final division of the profits and the termination of the venture, one said to the other: At least give me half the profits, the latter can say to him: The profit is liened to the principal, meaning that the profits and the principal are considered a single unit, and we can earn much more if we do not set aside the profits.

ואי אמר ליה הב לי פלגא רווחא ופלגא קרנא אמר ליה עיסקא להדדי משועבד ואי אמר ליה נפלוג רווחא ונפלוג קרנא ואי מטי לך פסידא דרינא בהדך אמר ליה לא מזלא דבי תרי עדיף

Rava continues: And if one says to the other: Give me half the profits and half the principal, the latter can say to him: The merchandise for the joint venture is liened to both of us. As we are equal partners in this venture, you cannot force me to divide it. And if one says to the other: Let us divide the profits and divide the principal, and if you suffer a loss as a result, I will bear the loss with you, his partner can say to him: No, I do not desire to do that, since the luck of two people is better. Consequently, I want to continue working together. In all these cases, the claims of the second manager are accepted.

מתני׳ המקבל שדה מחבירו ולא רצה לנכש ואמר לו מה איכפת לך הואיל ואני נותן לך את חכירך אין שומעין לו מפני שיכול לומר לו למחר אתה יוצא ממנה ומעלת לפני עשבים

MISHNA: With regard to one who received a field from another to cultivate and did not want to weed it, and he then said to the owner: What do you care if I neglect the land? You will not suffer a loss since I will give you the amount of produce I owe you for your granting me tenancy, regardless of the state of the field. Nevertheless, they do not listen to him. The reason is because the owner of the land can say to him: Tomorrow you will depart from the field, and it will grow weeds for me, which will remain there and disrupt the yield of the field for years to come.

גמ׳ אי אמר ליה לבתר הכי כריבנא לה אמר ליה חטי מעלייתא בעינא ואי אמר ליה זביננא לך חטי משוקא אמר ליה חטי דארעאי בעינא ואי אמר ליה מנכישנא לך שיעור מנתיך אמר ליה קא מנסבת שם רע לארעאי

GEMARA: If the cultivator said to the owner: Afterward, when I have reaped the field, I will plow it and remove the weeds, the owner can say to him: I want superior wheat, not wheat that sprouted among weeds. And if he says to the owner: I will buy good wheat for you from the market, the owner can say to him: I want wheat from my land. And if he says to the owner: I will weed for you according to the measure of your portion, but no more, the owner can say to him: You are giving a bad name to my land, as everyone will see that it is full of weeds.

והתנן מפני שמעלת לפני עשבים אלא משום דאמר ליה בזרא דנפל נפל

The Gemara asks: But didn’t we learn in the mishna that the reason they do not listen to him is: Because it will grow weeds for me, indicating that these other claims are not accepted? Rather, the explanation must be because the owner can say to him: The seed that fell has fallen. In other words, even if the cultivator later plows the land and uproots all of the weeds, their seeds remain in the ground and will sprout in the following years.

מתני׳ המקבל שדה מחבירו ולא עשתה אם יש בה כדי להעמיד כרי חייב לטפל בה אמר רבי יהודה מאי קצבה בכרי אלא אם יש בה כדי נפילה

MISHNA: With regard to one who receives a field from another to cultivate and it did not produce a sufficient crop to cover the expenses of its upkeep, if it has enough produce to form a pile he is obligated to take care of it and give the owner his share. Rabbi Yehuda says: What fixed measure is a pile? There is no inherent measure of produce that is considered significant, as it all depends on the size of the plot of land in question. Rather, the relevant issue is whether it has a crop equivalent to the measure of seeds for dropping in a field in order to sow it.

גמ׳ תנו רבנן המקבל שדה מחבירו ולא עשתה אם יש בה כדי להעמיד כרי חייב לטפל בה שכך כותב לו אנא אוקים ואניר ואזרע ואחצוד ואעמר ואדוש ואידרי ואוקים כריא קדמך ותיתי אנת ותיטול פלגא ואנא בעמלי ובנפקות ידי פלגא

GEMARA: The Sages taught: With regard to one who receives a field from another to cultivate and it did not produce a sufficient crop, if it has enough produce to form a pile he is obligated to take care of it and provide the owner with his share. This is because this is what he writes to him in the cultivator’s contract: I will stand and plow and plant and reap and bind and thresh and winnow and establish a pile before you, and you will come and take half, and I, for my work and expenses, will take the other half. Based on this contract, if there is sufficient produce to form a pile, the cultivator must fulfill the terms of the agreement.

וכמה כדי להעמיד בה כרי אמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא כדי שתעמוד בו הרחת איבעיא להו רחת היוצא מהאי גיסא להאי גיסא מאי

The Gemara asks: And how much is the amount of: Enough to form a pile? How large must the pile be? Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Enough for the winnowing shovel to stand in it. If the pile is big enough that the shovel can be placed there and stand independently without falling, it is considered a sufficiently large pile. A dilemma was raised before the Sages: With regard to a winnowing shovel that protrudes from this side to that side, i.e., whose edges extend beyond the pile, what is the halakha? Is this considered a pile in which a winnowing shovel can stand or not?

תא שמע אמר רבי אבהו לדידי מפרשא לי מיניה דרבי יוסי ברבי חנינא כל שאין כונס שלו רואה פני החמה איתמר לוי אמר שלש סאין דבי רבי ינאי אמרי סאתים אמר ריש לקיש סאתים שאמרו חוץ מן ההוצאה

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof from that which Rabbi Abbahu said: This was explained to me by Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina: Any pile in which the blade of the winnowing shovel cannot see the face of the sun because it is covered by the pile is considered a significant one. It was stated that the amora’im engaged in a dispute concerning this issue: Levi says: This pile must be three se’a in size, while the Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai say: Two se’a. Reish Lakish says: The two se’a of which they spoke is without deducting the expenses. Consequently, if he has paid the expenses and a profit of two se’a remains, in that case alone it is considered worthwhile to work the field. But if it cannot produce this amount, the cultivator may neglect the land if he so chooses.

תנן התם פריצי זיתים וענבים בית שמאי מטמאין ובית הלל מטהרין

The Gemara cites a dispute from a different area of halakha that discusses a similar measurement: We learned in a mishna there (Okatzin 3:6) concerning the halakhot of food impurities: With regard to unruly olives and grapes, Beit Shammai hold that they become susceptible to ritual impurity, as they are considered food, and Beit Hillel hold that they do not become susceptible to ritual impurity because they are of inferior quality and are unfit for consumption.

מאי פריצי זיתים אמר רב הונא רשעי זיתים אמר רב יוסף ומאי קראה [ובני] פריצי עמך ינשאו להעמיד חזון ונכשלו רב נחמן בר יצחק אמר מהכא והוליד בן פריץ שפך דם

The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of unruly [peritzei] olives? Rav Huna said: Wicked olives, i.e., olives that barely produce any oil. Rav Yosef said: And what is the verse from which it is derived? “Also the children of the wicked [peritzei] among your people shall raise themselves up to establish the vision but they shall stumble” (Daniel 11:14). This verse indicates that the word peritzei means wicked. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said that the meaning of this word can be derived from here: “If he beget a son that is a robber [paritz], a shedder of blood” (Ezekiel 18:10).

וכמה פריצי זיתים רבי אלעזר אמר ארבעת קבין לקורה דבי רבי ינאי אמרי סאתים לקורה

The Gemara asks: And how much is the amount of unruly olives? When are olives classified as unruly? Rabbi Elazar says: They are classified as such if it is possible to extract only four kav of oil from one press of the beam when the fruits are brought in together to the olive press. The Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai say: They are classified as such if it is possible to extract only two se’a of oil from one press of the beam.

ולא פליגי הא באתרא דמעיילי כורא באוללא הא באתרא דמעיילי תלתא כורין באוללא

The Gemara comments: And these Sages do not disagree with regard to the halakha itself, as the difference between their rulings stems from divergent local practices. This statement of Rabbi Elazar is referring to a place where one kor is brought into the press, from which he must be able to extract four kav, whereas that halakha of the school of Rabbi Yannai is referring to a place where three kor are brought into the baskets of the oil press. Since they bring in three times the amount of fruit, it must produce exactly three times as much oil.

תנו רבנן

The Sages taught:

עלו באילן שכוחו רע ובסוכה שכוחה רע טמא

If a zav and a ritually pure person climbed a tree that has little strength, which shook as they climbed it, or if they climbed onto a branch that has little strength, the ritually pure person is rendered ritually impure. One of the ways a zav imparts impurity is by movement, and here the zav is viewed as having moved the pure person.

היכי דמי אילן שכוחו רע אמרי דבי רבי ינאי כל שאין בעיקרו לחוק רובע היכי דמי סוכה שכוחה רע אמר ריש לקיש כל שנחבאת בחזיונה

The Gemara asks: What are the circumstances of this tree that has little strength, i.e., how is a tree with little strength defined? The Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai say: It is any tree whose trunk is not broad enough that one can hollow out a vessel of a quarter–kav from it. What are the circumstances of a branch that has little strength? Reish Lakish said: It is any branch concerning which its circumference can be hidden, i.e., inserted, in a person’s fist. A branch of this size is generally not strong enough to hold two people without shaking.

תנן התם המהלך בבית הפרס על גבי אבנים שיכול להסיט על האדם ועל הבהמה שכוחן רע טמא

We learned in a mishna elsewhere (Oholot 18:6): With regard to one who walks in an area in which uncertainty exists concerning the location of a grave or corpse [beit haperas], if he treads over stones that he can move as he walks, raising concerns that he might have moved a bone of a corpse and thereby rendered himself impure, or if he was in that location, on the back of a person or riding on an animal that had little strength, he is impure, as he is considered to have moved the impurity himself.

היכי דמי אדם שכוחו רע אמר ריש לקיש כל שרוכבו וארכבותיו נוקשות היכי דמי בהמה שכוחה רע אמרי דבי רבי ינאי כל שרוכבה מטילה גללים

The Gemara asks: What are the circumstances of a person that has little strength? Reish Lakish said: Any person whose knees knock against each other when someone rides upon him. What are the circumstances of an animal that has little strength? The Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai say: Any animal that releases excrement due to strain when a person rides upon it.

אמרי דבי רבי ינאי לתפלה ולתפילין ארבעה קבין

§ As the Gemara has cited the rulings of the school of Rabbi Yannai with regard to measurements, it now cites similar halakhot that the Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai state: With regard to prayer and with regard to phylacteries, the measure is four kav.

לתפלה מאי היא דתניא הנושא משאוי על כתיפו והגיע זמן תפלה פחות מארבעה קבין מפשילין לאחוריו ומתפלל ארבעה קבין מניח על גבי קרקע ומתפלל

The Gemara inquires: What is the relevance of this measure with regard to prayer? This is as it is taught in a baraita: With regard to one who carries a load on his shoulder and the time for prayer arrives, if the load is less than four kav, he lowers it behind him while still holding it and prays, as a light load of this size does not interfere with prayer. If the load is four kav, he places it on the ground and prays.

לתפילין מאי היא דתניא היה נושא משאוי על ראשו ותפילין בראשו אם היו תפילין רוצצות אסור ואם לאו מותר באיזו משאוי אמרו במשאוי של ארבעת קבין

What is the relevance of this amount with regard to phylacteries? This is as it is taught in a baraita: If a man was carrying a load on his head and he had phylacteries on his head, if the phylacteries were being crushed under the load it is forbidden to leave them on his head, but if they were not being crushed, it is permitted. With regard to which load did the Sages state this halakha? They stated it with regard to a load of four kav.

תני רבי חייא המוציא זבל על ראשו ותפילין בראשו הרי זה לא יסלקם לצדדין ולא יקשרם במתניו מפני שהוא נוהג בהן מנהג בזיון אבל קושרם על זרועו במקום תפילין

Rabbi Ḥiyya teaches: With regard to one who removes garbage by carrying it on his head and has phylacteries on his head, he may not move the phylacteries to the side to prevent them from being crushed, and likewise he may not tie the phylacteries of the head to his loins because he thereby treats them in a manner of degradation. But he may tie them on his arm in the location where the phylacteries of the hand are placed.

משום דבי שילא אמרו אפילו מטפחת שלהן אסור להניח על הראש שיש בו תפילין וכמה אמר אביי אפילו רבעא דרבעא דפומבדיתא

The Sages said in the name of the school of Sheila: It is forbidden to place on the head of one that has phylacteries on it even the scarf in which they are wrapped. The Gemara asks: And how much does Rabbi Sheila permit one to place on his head while wearing phylacteries? Abaye said: Even as little as one-quarter of one-quarter of the smallest measurement of Pumbedita is still forbidden from being placed on one’s head.

אמר רבי יהודה מאי קצבה בכרי אלא אם יש בו כדי נפילה וכמה כדי נפילה רבי אמי אמר רבי יוחנן ארבעה סאין לכור רבי אמי דיליה אמר שמונת סאין לכור אמר ליה ההוא סבא לרב חמא בריה דרבה בר אבוה אסברה לך בשני דרבי יוחנן הוה שמינא ארעא בשני דרבי אמי הוה כחישא ארעא

§ The mishna teaches: Rabbi Yehuda says: What fixed measure is a pile? Rather, the relevant issue is whether it has a crop equivalent to the measure of seeds for dropping in a field in order to sow it. The Gemara asks: And how much is equivalent to the measure of seeds for dropping in a field in order to sow it? Rabbi Ami says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Four se’a for the amount of land sufficient to grow a kor. Rabbi Ami himself, though, says eight se’a for the amount of land sufficient to grow a kor. A certain elder said to Rav Ḥama, son of Rabba bar Avuh: I will explain it to you: In the years of Rabbi Yoḥanan the land was fat, while in the years of Rabbi Ami the land was lean, and it was therefore necessary to double the amount of seed for each unit of land.

תנן התם הרוח שפיזרה את העומרין אומדים אותה כמה לקט ראויה לעשות ונותן לעניים רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר נותן לעניים כדי נפילה

We learned in a mishna elsewhere (Pe’a 5:1): If the wind scattered the standing sheaves so that it is no longer known which gleanings fell from the sheaves during the harvest and belong to the poor, one evaluates how many gleanings it was fit to produce, and he gives these to the poor. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: He gives to the poor the amount equivalent to the measure of seeds dropping in the course of harvesting.

וכמה כדי נפילה כי אתא רב דימי אמר רבי אלעזר ואיתימא רבי יוחנן ארבעת קבין לכור בעי רבי ירמיה לכור זרע או לכור תבואה למפולת יד או למפולת שוורים

The Gemara asks: And how much is the amount equivalent to the measure of seeds dropping in the course of harvesting? When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael he said that Rabbi Elazar said, and some say it was Rabbi Yoḥanan: Four kav for a kor. Rabbi Yirmeya raised a dilemma: Does this mean for a field that requires a kor of seed to plant it, or for a kor of produce? And if it is the former, does it refer to sowing by hand or to sowing by oxen?

תא שמע דכי אתי רבין אמר רבי אבוה אמר רבי אלעזר ואמרי לה אמר רבי יוחנן ארבעת קבין לכור זרע ועדיין תבעי לך למפולת יד או למפולת שוורים תיקו

The Gemara answers: Come and hear, as when Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael he said that Rabbi Avuh said that Rabbi Elazar said, and some say that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Four kav for a field sown with a kor of seed. The Gemara comments: And the other question should still raise a dilemma for you: Does this refer to sowing by hand or to sowing by oxen? No answer was found for this question, and the dilemma shall stand unresolved.

מתני׳ המקבל שדה מחבירו ואכלה חגב או נשדפה אם מכת מדינה היא מנכה לו מן חכורו אם אינה מכת מדינה אין מנכה לו מן חכורו רבי יהודה אומר אם קיבלה הימנו במעות בין כך ובין כך אינו מנכה לו מחכורו

MISHNA: In the case of one who receives a field from another to cultivate and grasshoppers consumed it or it was wind blasted, if it is a regional disaster which affected all the fields in the area, the cultivator subtracts from the produce he owes as part of his tenancy. If it is not a regional disaster, the cultivator does not subtract from the produce he owes as part of his tenancy. Rabbi Yehuda says: If the cultivator received it from the owner for a fixed sum of money, whether this way, i.e., there is a regional disaster, or whether that way, i.e., there was no regional disaster, he does not subtract the produce he owes as part of his tenancy.

גמ׳ היכי דמי מכת מדינה אמר רב יהודה כגון דאישדוף רובא דבאגא עולא אמר כגון שנשתדפו ארבע שדות מארבע רוחותיה

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: What are the circumstances of a regional disaster? Rav Yehuda said: If, for example, most of that valley in which the field was located was wind blasted, it is considered a regional disaster. Ulla said: If, for example, four fields were wind blasted on its four sides, it is considered a regional disaster.

אמר עולא בעו במערבא נשדף תלם אחד על פני כולה מאי נשתייר תלם אחד על פני כולה מהו אפסיקא בירא מאי אספסתא

Ulla also said: They raise the following dilemma in the West, Eretz Yisrael: If one furrow was wind blasted along its entire length, adjacent to other fields that were wind blasted, what is the halakha? Is this considered to be part of the regional disaster? Conversely, if one furrow remained undamaged along its entire length, what is the halakha? Does the remaining furrow mean that the entire field is not considered to be part of the regional disaster? If a fallow field divided between the cultivated fields and the fields that were wind blasted, what is the halakha? Alternatively, if there was a field of fodder between this field and the others that were wind blasted,