Commentaire sur Kil'ayim 5:4

Introduction In yesterday’s mishnah we discussed a case where of a winepress or a trench going through a vineyard. In today’s mishnah we learn of an opposite situation, where a vine is found in the winepress.

A vine planted in a winepress or in a depression [in the ground], they leave it room to work on it, and one may sow on the rest. Rabbi Yose says: if there are not four cubits there, one may not bring seed there. If there is a vine found inside the winepress or in another depression in the ground, then all one has to do is leave space to work the vine (six handbreadths around the entire vine) and then he may plant the rest of the area. Rabbi Yose holds that if the winepress or depression is not four cubits by four cubits, then there can’t be enough space in it to work the vine and plant seeds. He can only plant seeds there if the winepress is more than four cubits by four cubits.

As for a house that is within a vineyard, it is permitted to sow there. A house is considered to be its own domain. Therefore, if there is a house within a vineyard, he can plant seeds inside the house, even if the vines above the house are intertwined. A house is different from a wall or a trench in that the house creates inner space.