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Week 106 - Shabbat - 8 December 2001

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 3

One who sells the house, sold the door, but not the key; he sold the fixed mortar, but not the portable one; he sold the lower millstone, but not the hopper; and not the stove nor the oven. When he said to him: "It and all that is in it" - all of them are sold.

Kehati

This mishnah adds that when a house is sold without any specification as to what is included, all permanent fixtures are included in the sale, while portable ones are not.

One who sells the house - Without specifying anything more, has sold the door - which is permanently installed in the house, but not the key - because it is portable; he sold the fixed mortar - which is attached to the ground, but not the portable one - which would not be included in such a sale; he sold the lower millstone - which is permanently attached to the ground, but not the hopper - into which grain is poured before it is ground. Others interpret this to be the hopper into which the ground flour falls (Bartenura; Tiferet Yisrael); the hopper is not included in the sale as it is portable.

And not the stove nor the oven - both of which are portable. Another version of the text reads "He has sold the stove and he has sold the oven," implying that these are part of the sale. In the latter case, this would refer to a stove or oven which is permanently attached to the ground. When he - the seller - said to him - the buyer, It and all that is in it - that he is selling the house and its contents, all of them are sold - All the items listed above are included in the sale, whether they are fixed or portable, for all these items are specifically used in the home.

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 4: MISHNAH 4

If one sells a courtyard, he has sold houses, cisterns, ditches, and caves, but not the portables. When he said to him: It and all that is within it - all of these are sold. Whether this way or that way he has not sold the bathhouse and the olive press that are within it. R. Eliezer says: He who sells the courtyard, sold no more than the air of the courtyard.

Kehati

This mishnah deals with what is included when a person sells a courtyard without specifying more than that.

If one sells a courtyard - without specifying further details, he has sold houses - which open onto the courtyard, and those cisterns, ditches, and caves - which are contained in the courtyard; but not the portables - those items used for a home but which are not permanently installed, as listed in the previous mishnah, and the sale obviously does not include those portables which are not included in the category of being used for a home (Rashbam). When he - the seller - said to him - to the buyer: It and all that is within it - That he is selling the courtyard and all its contents, all of these are sold - All items used for a home, including those that are portable, are included in the sale, the only exclusion being foodstuffs.

Whether this way or that way - Even if the seller specified the courtyard and all its contents, he has not sold - the sale of the courtyard does not include the sale of the - seller's - bath house - and the olive press - which is used to extract oil from the olives that are within it - within the courtyard, because these items are not considered as being part of either the courtyard or of its contents, the reason being that most courtyards do not have either item (Nimukei Yosef; Hameiri).

R. Eliezer says: He who sells the courtyard - without specifying further, sold no more than the air of the courtyard - only the open area in the courtyard, but not the houses or cisterns within it. The halakhah does not follow R. Eliezer.

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