Mischna
Mischna

Kommentar zu Bava Batra 1:1

הַשֻּׁתָּפִין שֶׁרָצוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת מְחִצָּה בֶּחָצֵר, בּוֹנִין אֶת הַכֹּתֶל בָּאֶמְצַע. מְקוֹם שֶׁנָּהֲגוּ לִבְנוֹת גָּוִיל, גָּזִית, כְּפִיסִין, לְבֵנִים, בּוֹנִים, הַכֹּל כְּמִנְהַג הַמְּדִינָה. בְּגָוִיל, זֶה נוֹתֵן שְׁלֹשָׁה טְפָחִים, וְזֶה נוֹתֵן שְׁלֹשָׁה טְפָחִים. בְּגָזִית, זֶה נוֹתֵן טְפָחַיִם וּמֶחֱצָה, וְזֶה נוֹתֵן טְפָחַיִם וּמֶחֱצָה. בִּכְפִיסִין, זֶה נוֹתֵן טְפָחַיִם, וְזֶה נוֹתֵן טְפָחַיִם. בִּלְבֵנִים, זֶה נוֹתֵן טֶפַח וּמֶחֱצָה, וְזֶה נוֹתֵן טֶפַח וּמֶחֱצָה. לְפִיכָךְ אִם נָפַל הַכֹּתֶל, הַמָּקוֹם וְהָאֲבָנִים שֶׁל שְׁנֵיהֶם:

Wenn Partner eine Trennwand in einem Innenhof machen wollten, bauen sie die Mauer in der Mitte. [Der "Hof" hier ist einer, für den es kein Teilungsgesetz gibt, es gibt nicht vier Ellen für jeden der Partner, weshalb wir "wenn sie wollten" haben, dh nur wenn sie es beide wollten sie tun dies, aber einer kann den anderen nicht dazu zwingen. Denn in einem Hof, der dem Gesetz der Teilung unterliegt, kann jeder seinen Nachbarn zur Teilung zwingen. Und jetzt wird uns mitgeteilt, dass sie, da sie sich teilen wollten und jeder den ihm im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen gewährten Abschnitt aneignete, die Wand in der Mitte bauen, wobei jeder von seinem Abschnitt den halben Raum der Wandstärke zur Verfügung stellt.] In a Ort, an dem es Brauch war, mit unbeschnittenen Steinen, gehobelten Steinen, Latten [die Hälfte (die Breite) eines Ziegels, eineinhalb Handbreiten zu den drei Handbreiten eines Ziegels] oder Ziegeln zu bauen, tun sie dies—alles nach dem Brauch des Landes ["alles", um einen Ort einzuschließen, an dem es Brauch war, eine Trennwand mit Weinsprossen und Ästen zu bilden. Der Brauch des Landes wird befolgt, solange die Trennwand dick genug ist, um jeden davon abzuhalten, in die Domäne seines Nachbarn zu schauen, denn "Blickschaden" wird als Schaden bezeichnet. Und die Höhe der Wand oder der Trennwand darf nicht weniger als vier Ellen betragen.] Für (eine Trennwand aus) unbeschnittenem Stein bietet jeder drei Handbreiten. Für gehobelte Steine ​​bietet jeder zweieinhalb Handbreiten. [Eine Wand aus unbeschnittenen Steinen erfordert eine Handbreite mehr als eine Wand aus gehobelten Steinen, um raue, vorspringende Steinköpfe zu ermöglichen.] Bei Latten bietet jede zwei Handbreiten. Für Ziegel bietet jeder eineinhalb Handbreiten. [Eine Lattenwand ist eine Handbreite, die dicker als eine Mauer ist, denn auf beiden Seiten befindet sich eine Latte, drei Handbreiten und in der Mitte eine Handbreite (links), auf die Ton gelegt wird, um sie zu verbinden. Die Dicke einer Mauer entspricht der eines ganzen Ziegels, drei Handbreiten, wobei in der Mitte kein Ton benötigt wird.] Wenn also die Mauer fiel, gehören der Raum und die Steine ​​beiden. [Hiermit wird uns mitgeteilt, dass selbst wenn die Steine ​​in die Domäne eines von ihnen fielen oder wenn einer von ihnen hervorkam und sie in seine Domäne räumte—Ich könnte denken, dass "die Beweislast bei dem liegt, der von seinem Nachbarn verlangen würde"; wir werden daher anders informiert.]

Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

השותפין שרצו לעשות מחיצה – we are speaking of a courtyard where there is no law of division in it, where there lacks by the way four cubits for each one of the partners. For this reason, it (i.e., the Mishnah) taught " "שרצו/that they wanted, which implies that especially, two of them want [to make a partition] but neither one of them is able to force his fellow, for if in a courtyard which has a law of division, each one of them is able to force his fellow to divide, but now, it comes to teach us that since they wanted to divide it, and each one of them had taken possession of the direction that is entitled for him according to what they had compromised, they build the wall in the middle, and this one gives from his portion one-half of the place the thickness of the wall and also this one.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra

Introduction
The first mishnah of Bava Batra deal with neighbors who share a courtyard. The mishnah is concerned with the building of a wall to separate the neighbors and with the ability of one neighbor to force the other neighbor to share the costs of building the wall.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

גויל – stones which are not trimmed or fixed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra

Mishnah One
1) If two partners wish to make a partition in a courtyard they build the wall in the middle.
2) In a place where the custom is to build of unshaped stones, or of hewn stones, or of half-bricks, or of whole bricks, so they should build it—everything is according to local custom.
a) [If the wall is made of] unshaped stones this one supplies [from his property] three handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] three handbreadths.
b) [If the wall is made of] hewn stones this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths.
c) [If the wall is made of] half-bricks this one supplies [from his property] two handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] two handbreadths.
d) [If the wall is made of] whole bricks this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

גזית – stones which are trimmed and planed with a saw.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra

Explanation
In the time of the mishnah most homes did not have openings to the street but rather would open onto a common courtyard. The courtyard was used for all sorts of purposes and was the common property of the owners of the houses surrounding it. Our mishnah states that if the two partners wish to build a wall separating the courtyard they should build the wall in the middle and when they do, they should build the wall with the materials customary used in their place. There are four kinds of building materials mentioned in the mishnah, and the mishnah lists each one.
Clauses 2a through 2d all state how much of a person’s property he should allocate for the thickness of the wall. This space will depend on the thickness of the building materials. Unshaped stones are (on average) 6 handbreadths wide and therefore each partner must allocate three handbreadths of his property for the building of the wall. Hewn stones are only 3 handbreadths wide and therefore each partner allocates one and a half handbreadths. A whole brick is 3 handbreadths wide, and therefore each partner allocates one and a half handbreadths. Half bricks are one and half handbreadths wide. In order to make a wall with them they would use two half-bricks, placing mortar in between the two. The total width of the wall would be four handbreadths, and therefore each partner would allocate two handbreadths.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

כפיסין – a small brick/girder which is a one-half brick which is a handbreadth-and-a-half (i.e., one handbreadth equals 3.65 inches or 9.34 cm) and a brick is three handbreadths.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra

Questions for Further Thought:

• Mishnah one: If one partner wished to build with half-bricks and one partner with whole bricks, and the custom of the land was to use hewn stone, what type of wall should they build?

• What laws in modern society are similar to these types of laws? How are they different?
If two partners wish to make a partition in a courtyard they build the wall in the middle.
In a place where the custom is to build of unshaped stones, or of hewn stones, or of half-bricks, or of whole bricks, so they should build it everything is according to local custom. [If the wall is made of] unshaped stones this one supplies [from his property] three handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] three handbreadths. [If the wall is made of] hewn stones this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths. [If the wall is made of] half-bricks this one supplies [from his property] two handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] two handbreadths. [If the wall is made of] whole bricks this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths, and this one supplies [from his property] one and a half handbreadths.

The first mishnah of Bava Batra deal with neighbors who share a courtyard. The mishnah is concerned with the building of a wall to separate the neighbors and with the ability of one neighbor to force the other neighbor to share the costs of building the wall.
In the time of the mishnah most homes did not have openings to the street but rather would open onto a common courtyard. The courtyard was used for all sorts of purposes and was the common property of the owners of the houses surrounding it. Our mishnah states that if the two partners wish to build a wall separating the courtyard they should build the wall in the middle and when they do, they should build the wall with the materials customary used in their place. There are four kinds of building materials mentioned in the mishnah, and the mishnah lists each one.
Clauses 2a through 2d all state how much of a person’s property he should allocate for the thickness of the wall. This space will depend on the thickness of the building materials. Unshaped stones are (on average) 6 handbreadths wide and therefore each partner must allocate three handbreadths of his property for the building of the wall. Hewn stones are only 3 handbreadths wide and therefore each partner allocates one and a half handbreadths. A whole brick is 3 handbreadths wide, and therefore each partner allocates one and a half handbreadths. Half bricks are one and half handbreadths wide. In order to make a wall with them they would use two half-bricks, placing mortar in between the two. The total width of the wall would be four handbreadths, and therefore each partner would allocate two handbreadths.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

הכל כמנהג המדינה – "הכל"/everything includes a place where they have the practice to make a partition with the sprouts of vine and the branches of trees that they make according to the custom, as long as the partition is wide enough so that neither one of them cis able to see that of his fellow for visual damage is called damage, and the height of the wall and the partition is not less than four cubits.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

זה נותן שלשה טפחים – that the wall of untrimmed stones requires an additional handbreadth more than the wall of hewn stones because of the tops of the stones that protrude outward which are not smooth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

ובכפסים זה נותן טפחי – that the thickness of the wall of the one-half/small/girder brick is a handbreadth greater than the width of a wall of full brings because he places a small brick/bond-timber on one side and a small brick/bond-timber on the other side, which are three handbreadths and a handbreadth in the middle in which they place there plaster to attach them, but the wall made from bricks, one places a full brick along the thickness of the wall which is three handbreadths and there is no need for plaster in the middle.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

המקום והאבנים של שניהם – this tells us that even though the stones fell into the domain of one them, or alternatively, that one of them first removed them into his domain, you might have thought that it belongs to the other – for the claimant must produce the evidence. But this comes to tell us that this is not the case.
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