[28a - 20 lines; 28b - 33 lines]

PEREK #3 CHEZKAS HA'BATIM

1)[line 1]חזקת הבתיםCHEZKAS HA'BATIM (CHAZAKAH: CHEZKAS SHALOSH SHANIM)

(a)A person who claims to have bought a house, a field, an olive press, etc. from another person, but has no proof of purchase may, nevertheless, support his claim with a "Chazakah." A Chezkas Shalosh Shanim (a "Chazakah of three years") means that he has proof (witnesses) that he has been living in the house or working on the land for three years as an owner normally would, and his opponent has no witnesses to attest to the fact that he voiced any Mecha'ah (objection) during those three years. This Chazakah serves as proof to the claim that he bought the house or land.

(b)A Chezkas Shalosh Shanim works only if the occupant makes a claim along with it. For example, he must claim when appearing in court that he inherited the house, or that he bought the field and lost any documents attesting to his ownership. Once he makes the claim, the witnesses who attest to his Chezkas Shalosh Shanim are effective to uphold his possession of the field.

2a)[line 1]והבורותBOROS- round pits or wells that are dug in the ground; cisterns

b)[line 1]והשיחיןSHICHIN- narrow elongated wells or ditches

c)[line 1]והמערותME'AROS- caves (usually leading to a spring or water source)

3)[line 2]והשובכותSHOVACHOS- dovecotes

4)[line 2]והמרחצאותMERCHATZA'OS- bathhouses

5)[line 2]ובית הבדיןBEIS HA'BADIN- olive presses

6a)[line 3]ובית השלחיןBEIS HA'SHELACHIN / HA'SHALCHIN- a field that receives its water from irrigation or a wellspring (usually located on a mountain — RASHI to Moed Katan 2a)

b)[line 5]שדה [בית] הבעלSEDEH [BEIS] HA'BA'AL- a field that receives its water from rainfall

7a)[line 10]בשדה לבןSEDEH LAVAN- a field of grain [which looks "white," or which is not shaded from the sunlight] or a field planted with vegetables, as opposed to a field planted with trees.

b)[line 11]בשדה אילןSEDEH ILAN- an orchard, or a field that has trees in it

8a)[line 11]כנס את תבואתוKANAS ES TEVU'ASO- he gathered in the produce [of the vineyard] (i.e. the wine; winepresses were located in the vineyards — RASHASH)

b)[line 11]ומסק את זיתיוMASAK ES ZEISAV- he picked the olives (Olive presses were located in the town. The olives themselves were brought into the house after the picking; only afterward were they taken to the olive presses — RASHASH)

c)[line 12]כנס את קייצוKANAS ES KAITZO- he gathered in the dried figs (Figs were dried in the fields and pressed into cakes before they were taken into the house)

9)[line 13]מהולכי אושאHOLCHEI USHA- those who walked (i.e. who were exiled) to Usha, a city in the western part of the lower Galilee. It was one of the ten places to which the Sanhedrin was exiled at the time of the destruction of the second Beis ha'Mikdash.

10)[line 14]משור המועדSHOR HA'MU'AD

(a)A bull that has gored one or two times is called a Shor Tam. The owner only pays half the value of the damages (Chatzi Nezek) that his bull causes in this manner. In addition, the owner of the bull that caused the damage never has to pay more than the value of the bull that damaged. That is, payment for the damages is taken from the animal itself that caused the damage ("mi'Gufo") (Shemos 21:35).

(b)If the bull gored three times or more, and the owner was informed and warned to guard his bull each time, the bull is termed a Mu'ad. When a Mu'ad causes damage, the owner must pay the full value of the damages (Nezek Shalem) that his bull causes through goring, even if it is greater than the value of the goring bull itself ("Min ha'Aliyah") (Shemos 21:36).

(c)If the bull killed a person (whether as a Tam or a Mu'ad), then it is put to death (Shemos 21:29).

28b----------------------------------------28b

11)[line 3]חזקה שאין עמה טענהCHAZAKAH SHE'EIN IMAH TA'ANAH - a Chezkas Shalosh Shanim that does not have a claim associated with it

See above, entry #1:b.

12)[line 8]מחאהMECHA'AH - a protest

See above, entry #1:a.

13)[line 11]חברך חברא אית ליהCHAVRACH CHAVRA IS LEI- (lit. your friend has a friend) the word will get around and the person in possession of the field will find out. If his claim is legitimate (that he bought the land or acquired it in some other fashion), he will guard the documents that attest to this fact.

14)[line 13]ריחק נגיחותיוRICHEK NEGICHOSAV / KIREV NEGICHOSAV

There is an argument among the Tana'im as to whether the three times that a bull gores must be on different days or may even be on the same day. Rebbi Yehudah rules that they must be on separate days, and therefore if a bull gores three times on one day we attribute it to the same circumstance; we do not consider that the nature of the bull has changed. Rebbi Meir contends that if a bull that gores on three separate days is considered a Shor ha'Mu'ad, then all the more so a bull that gores three times in one day.

15)[line 16]בעידנאB'IDNA- at the time

16)[line 19]צלףTZELAF- the caper-berry bush (a) that has the quality that when one fruit is ripe, others are so small as to be indistinguishable (RASHI, TOSFOS); (b) that has three types of fruits that are ripe at the same time: Evyonos (the actual caper-berry), Temaros (date-like leaves that are soft and edible) and Kafrisin (the soft peel around the caper-berry) and can be eaten on the same day (RABEINU CHANANEL, who is Gores the question of Tzelaf before the question of Te'enah, since the three fruits of the Tzelaf can be eaten at the same time)

17)[line 19]התם פירא מיהא איתיה, ומגמר הוא דקא גמר ואזילHASAM PEIRA MIHA ISEI, U'MIGMAR HU D'KA GAMAR V'AZIL- there the fruit exists (even though it is so small as to be indistinguishable) and it ripens as it goes along (in the next few days, while with regard to a Shor ha'Mu'ad, the second goring does not exist at all at the time of the first goring)

18)[line 21]בתלתיןTELASIN- thirty

19)[line 22]אספסתאASPASTA- any plant especially adapted for use as animal fodder; grass

20)[line 22]דקדיח ואכלהD'KEDI'ACH V'ACHLAH- that it grew forth and he fed it to his animal (lit. ate it) [before it fully ripened]

21)[line 23]משמט הוא דקא שמיט ואכילMESHAMET HU D'KA SHAMIT V'ACHIL- he is [merely] snatching away [a bit] and eating it [and not consuming the entire year's crop in a manner that would cause an owner to protest, see above, entry #1:a]

22)[line 25]ירחיYARCHEI- months

23)[line 25]כגון אספסתאKEGON ASPASTA- that is, which he cuts once a month after it finishes growing, planting more for the next month's crop

24)[line 31]"שָׂדוֹת בַּכֶּסֶף יִקְנוּ וְכָתוֹב בַּסֵּפֶר וְחָתוֹם [וְהָעֵד עֵדִים, בְּאֶרֶץ בִּנְיָמִן וּבִסְבִיבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם וּבְעָרֵי יְהוּדָה וּבְעָרֵי הָהָר וּבְעָרֵי הַשְּׁפֵלָה וּבְעָרֵי הַנֶּגֶב, כִּי אָשִׁיב אֶת שְׁבוּתָם, נְאֻם ה']""SADOS BA'KESEF YIKNU V'CHASOV BA'SEFER V'CHASOM [V'HA'ED EDIM, B'ERETZ BINYAMIN UVI'SEVIVEI YERUSHALAYIM UV'AREI YEHUDAH UV'AREI HA'HAR UV'AREI HA'SHEFEILAH UV'AREI HA'NEGEV, KI ASHIV ES SHEVUSAM, AMAR HASH-M]" - "Let them purchase fields for money, and let it be written in a document and signed [and witnesses appointed, in the land of Binyamin and the surroundings of Yerushalayim, in the land of Yehudah, in the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowlands and in the cities of the south, for I shall return their captivity, says HaSh-m]." (Yirmeyahu 32:44) (HASH-M'S PROMISE)

Although this prophecy was said only a short time before the destruction of the first Beis ha'Mikdash and Galus Bavel, it is part of a positive prophecy. HaSh-m promises that the Galus would soon come to an end and that He would soon bring them back to their land and do much good for them. The Navi dispels the people's gloomy contention that they would never return and that the land had been given to the Babylonians forever.

25)[line 32]נביא עומד בעשר, ומזהיר על אחת עשרהNAVI OMED B'ESER U'MAZHIR AL ACHAS ESREI- the prophet (Yirmeyahu) is standing and warning the people in the tenth year (Yirmeyahu 32:1), about the eleventh year (when the destruction will take place)