1) The Mishna on 20b states that one may prevent another to set up a store in the courtyard because he can't sleep. Does the person have a right to claim this even at a time that activity is normally done such as 10AM or 3PM?
2) Furthermore, the end of the Mishna states that one may manufacture utensils in his home to sell outside. Does this permit apply at 3AM when everyone normally sleeps? These questions have bothered me for years and I have searched through Meforshim and have not found anyone who addresses this issue.
yosef eisen, pittsburgh pa 15217
1) I would say that the answer to your first question depends on how you understand the Mishnah. The Rambam (Hilchos Shecheinim 6:12) understands that the Mishnah is telling us that a storeowner cannot bother the other courtyard dwellers with noise that would disturb their sleep. Since people don't normally sleep during the day it would seem like an unreasonable claim to tell him to be quiet between 10 AM and 3 PM. The Rashba, however, understands that excessive noise is not a claim - unless perhaps the claimant is sick and the noise is damaging him. This is clear - says the Rashba - from the second Din of the Mishnah that banging of a hammer is no cause for complaint. What the Mishnah is teaching me is that the crowds of customers in the courtyard are interfering with his access to his house and his use of the courtyard. According to this view of things, he would have a legitimate claim even in the middle of the day.
2) The answer to your second question also seems to depend on how you understand the Mishnah. According to the Rambam (ibid) causing noise at 3 AM when people normally sleep would be something that the neighbors could complain about. But the Mordechai in the name of Rabbeinu Yoel says, basically, that a person can make any noise he wants within the confines of his house, so he could do his work even at three in the morning.
The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat, 156:2) rules like the Rambam and the Rema seems to rule like the Mordechai and Rabbeinu Yoel.
Kol Tuv,
Yonasan Sigler
This is not a Psak Halachah