DAMAGE THROUGH WIND [line 1]
When people of Bar Meryon's house combed flax, the chaff would fly off and damage people; people complained.
(Ravina): R. Yosi admits regarding Giri Dilei, but that is when he set the damager in motion. Here, the wind takes it!
Question (Mar bar Rav Ashi): Regarding Shabbos, one is liable for winnowing, even though the wind helps him!
Answer (Mereimar): Indeed, here also, it is due to his Ko'ach (impetus, so he must distance his flax).
Question (against Ravina): Why is this different than when the wind carries a spark from a hammer? There, the smith is liable!
Answer: The smith is happy that the spark leave his shop (so it will not cause a fire in the shop). The owners of the flax do not need the chaff to fly away.
DISTANCING TREES [line 12]
(Mishnah): Reuven must distance his tree four Amos from Shimon's field;
Vines have the same law as trees.
If there is a fence in between, each may plant up to the fence.
If the roots of Reuven's tree are in Shimon's field, Shimon may cut them up to three Tefachim deep, so they will not impede his plow;
If Shimon digs a pit, he may cut whatever roots he encounters. The (cut) roots are his.
(Gemara - Beraisa): He must distance four Amos, because this amount is needed to tend to a vineyard.
Version #1 (Shmuel): This is only in Eretz Yisrael. In Bavel, two Amos are enough.
Support (Beraisa): Reuven must distance his tree two Amos from Shimon's field;
Contradiction: The Mishnah requires him to distance four Amos!
Answer: The Mishnah discusses Eretz Yisrael, and the Beraisa discusses Bavel.
Version #2 (Mishnah): Reuven must distance his tree four Amos from Shimon's field;
Contradiction (Beraisa): He must distance his tree two Amos.
Resolution (Shmuel): The Mishnah discusses Eretz Yisrael, and the Beraisa discusses Bavel. (end of Version #2)
Rava bar Rav Chanan had date trees bordering on Rav Yosef's vineyard. Birds came to the trees and descended to the vines, and damaged them.
Rav Yosef: Cut your trees!
Rava: I kept the proper distance!
Rav Yosef: A greater distance is required for vines.
Question (Rava - Mishnah): Vines have the same law as trees.
Answer (Rav Yosef): The same distance is required between trees and trees or between vines and vines. A greater distance is required between trees and vines.
Rava: I will not cut them, for Rav forbids cutting a tree that produces a Kav of dates;
R. Chanina said that his son died only because his son cut a fig tree prematurely.
If you want to cut, I permit you!
Rav Papa had date trees bordering on Rav Huna brei d'Rav Yehoshua's property. He saw Rav Huna digging and cutting the roots; he asked why he was doing this.
Rav Huna: The Mishnah says, if Reuven's roots in Shimon's field, he may cut them up to three Tefachim deep, so they will not impede his plow.
Rav Papa: You are cutting deeper than three Tefachim!
Rav Huna: I am digging a pit. The Mishnah says 'if he digs a pit, he may cut whatever roots he encounters, and the roots are his.'
Rav Papa tried bringing many proofs. Only the following dissuaded Rav Huna.
(Rav Yehudah): One may not ruin a path that the public has been using.
Rav Huna (after Rav Papa left): I should have answered that the Chazakah is only within 16 Amos (the tree is fed from those roots), but past that I may cut!
(Mishnah): If Shimon digs a pit, he may cut whatever roots he encounters. The roots are his.
Question (Yakov Hadayva): Who gets the roots?
Answer (Rav Chisda - Mishnah): If Levi's roots enter Hekdesh's field, it is forbidden (mid'Rabanan) to benefit from them. If one benefited, he did not transgress Me'ilah.
If we say that the roots belong to the tree's owner, we understand why there is no Me'ilah;
However, if they belong to the owner of the field, there should be Me'ilah!
Question (Seifa): If roots of a Hekdesh tree enter Levi's field, one may not benefit from them. If one benefited, he did not transgress Me'ilah.
If the roots belong to the tree's owner, there should be Me'ilah!
Answer #1: The Mishnah discusses what grew after the tree was made Hekdash. the Tana holds that Me'ilah does not apply to what grows from Hekdesh. (Therefore, we cannot settle Yakov's question from the Mishnah of Me'ilah.)
Answer #2 (Ravina): The first clause discusses roots within 16 Amos, these belong to the tree's owner;
The second clause discusses roots beyond 16 Amos, they belong to the owner of the field.
THE AREA FROM WHICH TREES NURTURE [line 18]
(Ula): If Reuven's tree is within 16 Amos of Shimon's property, he is a thief (it nurtures from Shimon's property), and he does not bring Bikurim from it.
Question: What is Ula's source?
Suggestion (Mishnah): (Normally, we add on to Shemitah and prohibit some labors in the previous year.) If ten saplings are spread over a Beis Se'ah (a field in which one seeds a Se'ah), one may plow the entire Beis Se'ah for the sake of the trees until Rosh Hashanah.
Rejection: A Beis Se'ah is 2500 (square) Amos, i.e. 250 Amos for each tree;
According to Ula, each tree nurtures from 16 Amos in each direction, i.e. a square of 32 by 32 Amos, its area is 1024 (square) Amos!
Answer (Mishnah): If three (adult) trees in a Beis Se'ah are owned by three people, we may plow the entire Beis Se'ah for the sake of the trees (until Shavu'os).