Mishnah
Mishnah

Commentaire sur Bava Batra 2:1

לֹא יַחְפֹּר אָדָם בּוֹר סָמוּךְ לְבוֹרוֹ שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ, וְלֹא שִׁיחַ, וְלֹא מְעָרָה, וְלֹא אַמַּת הַמַּיִם, וְלֹא נִבְרֶכֶת כּוֹבְסִין, אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן הִרְחִיק מִכֹּתֶל חֲבֵרוֹ שְׁלשָׁה טְפָחִים, וְסָד בְּסִיד. מַרְחִיקִין אֶת הַגֶּפֶת וְאֶת הַזֶּבֶל וְאֶת הַמֶּלַח וְאֶת הַסִּיד וְאֶת הַסְּלָעִים מִכָּתְלוֹ שֶׁל חֲבֵרוֹ שְׁלשָׁה טְפָחִים, וְסָד בְּסִיד. מַרְחִיקִין אֶת הַזְּרָעִים, וְאֶת הַמַּחֲרֵשָׁה, וְאֶת מֵי רַגְלַיִם מִן הַכֹּתֶל שְׁלשָׁה טְפָחִים. וּמַרְחִיקִין אֶת הָרֵחַיִם שְׁלשָׁה מִן הַשֶּׁכֶב, שֶׁהֵן אַרְבָּעָה מִן הָרָכֶב. וְאֶת הַתַּנוּר, שְׁלשָׁה מִן הַכִּלְיָא, שֶׁהֵן אַרְבָּעָה מִן הַשָּׂפָה:

On ne peut pas creuser un bor [(rond)] près du bor de son voisin, ni un shiach [(long et étroit)], ni un ma'arah [(couvert)], ni un canal d'eau, ni un bassin de lavage [a fosse carrée dans laquelle l'eau de pluie est recueillie pour laver le linge], à moins qu'il ne l'éloigne de trois largeurs de main du mur de son voisin [c'est-à-dire du mur de son trou. Et l'épaisseur de la paroi d'un trou n'est pas inférieure à trois largeurs de main, de sorte que la distance entre son trou et celui de son voisin est de six largeurs de main. Et on ne peut placer l'un des «endommageurs» le long de la frontière de son voisin à moins qu'il ne la supprime à la distance requise, même s'il n'y a pas de mur là-bas, de peur que son voisin ne décide de construire là-bas et qu'il lui cause des dommages.] Et il enduit [ les murs de son trou] avec de la chaux. L'un éloigne la tourbe d'écorce d'olive, le fumier, le sel, la chaux et le silex à trois largeurs de main du mur de son voisin. [Pour tous ces «saper» un mur. (Le "mur" ici n'est pas celui d'un trou.)] On éloigne le semis, le labour et l'urine de trois largeurs de main d'un mur. [("labourer" :) Labourer même sans semer (comme quand on laboure les arbres) mine un mur. ("urine"): Elle érode les briques, qui sont en argile séchée. Par conséquent, si l'on urine près d'un mur de briques, il faut reculer de trois largeurs de main. Avec un mur de pierre, une largeur de main suffit; et avec la pierre dure, comme le granit, il n'a pas besoin de reculer du tout.] Et un moulin doit être enlevé (d'un mur). [(Son "cliquetis" mine la fondation du mur)] trois (largeurs de main) du shechev (la partie inférieure), qui sont quatre du rechev (la partie supérieure). [Le rechev «monte» sur le shechev, et est une largeur de main plus étroite.] Et un four (doit être enlevé) trois du kilya qui sont quatre de la surface. [Le kilya est la base, faite d'argile et de pierres, sur laquelle le four est placé. Il est large en dessous et étroit en haut. La surface supérieure du kilya, sur laquelle le four est posé, est de la même largeur que le four. Cette base doit être retirée à trois largeurs de main du mur, à quatre largeurs de main de sa surface supérieure, car la chaleur du poêle endommage le mur.]

Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

לא יחפור. בור – round.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra

One may not dig a cistern near his fellow’s cistern;
Nor may he dig a ditch, cave, water-channel, or laundry pool unless it is three handbreadths away from his fellow’s wall, and he must plaster it with lime.
They distance piles of olive refuse, manure, salt, lime or stones three handbreadths from his fellow’s wall, and he plasters it with lime.
They distance seeds, and a plow and urine three handbreadths from the wall.
And they distance the mill [from the wall]: three [handbreadths] from the lower millstone and four [handbreadths] from the upper millstone.
And [they distance] the oven [from the wall]: three from the belly of the oven and four from the rim of the oven.

Most of the second chapter of Bava Batra deals with the obligations to distance damaging things from another person’s property. Mishnah one deals with distancing things from a person’s wall lest they damage the wall.
Section one states that a person should not dig a cistern close to another person’s cistern since one cistern may cause the other to break. A cistern is where they would store collected rain water, as opposed to a well which collects water from underground.
The remainder of the mishnah deals with distancing things from another person’s wall, lest they cause damage to the wall. The items mentioned in section two may cause the wall to fall, therefore he must distance them three handbreadths and plaster them to prevent water from seeping out.
The items mentioned in section three also may cause damage to another person’s wall and therefore he must distance them and plaster the place in which he places them.
Section four deals with three more items which also must be kept three handbreadths away from another person’s wall: seeds, a plow and urine. The difference between these items and those mentioned previously is that plastering is not applicable in these cases.
Sections five and six mention large items, a mill and an oven which also must be distanced from another’s wall. In both of these cases there are different measurements given for different parts of the item.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

שיח – long or short
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

מערה – it is covered with an arched ceiling.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

נברכת הכובסין – a square pit. And rain waters gather in it as it is made to launder clothing.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

אלא אם כן הרחיק מכותלו – it is saying from the wall of his cistern. And the thickness of the wall of his cistern is not less than three handbreadths, it is found that from the cavity/space of his cistern to the cavity/space of his fellow’s cistern is six handbreadths. But it is prohibited for a person to rely upon one of the damages to the end of his boundary equally, other than if he distanced it the appropriate measurement, even though his fellow lacks a wall there, lest his fellow decide that he will build on the side of his boundary, and it is found that this causes damage.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

וסד בסיד – the walls of his pit.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

הגפת – the refuse of the olives after they were gathered together in the olive press.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

הסלעים – stones where the light comes out from them, for all of these are hard for the fortification and weaken the wall, and we are not referring to the wall of the cistern now.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

זרעים – they are hard for the wall for they undermine the grounds (through their roots – see Talmud Bava Batra 19b) and bring up crushed, loose earth.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

ואת המחרישה – even though there are no seeds, as, for example, when they plow for trees, it is hard for the wall.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

מי רגלים – they make loathsome the bricks which are of dry plaster. Therefore, someone who urinates close by the wall that is made of bricks needs to distance himself three handbreadths. But with a wall of stones, he distances himself a handbreadth, and of a hard stone such as granite, he does not have to distance himself at all.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

הריחים – they are hard on the wall because they shake the ground with the force of its rolling.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

מן השכב – from the lower millstone.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

הרכב – this is the upper one that rides on this. But it is shorter by a handbreadth of the lower one.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra

שלשה מן הכליא – the base upon which they build from plaster/clay and stones that they place the oven upon it, and It is wide from the bottom and narrow from the top, and upper rim of the belly of the stove is where the stove sits. It is like the measurement of the oven and one must distance the base from the wall three handbreadths from its underbelly, which are four [handbreadths] from the its upper rim, because the vapor of the oven damages the wall.
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Yachin on Mishnah Bava Batra

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Yachin on Mishnah Bava Batra

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