Study Bava Batra folio 19B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לצדדין קא משתרשי?! והא תנן: המבריך את הגפן בארץ, אם אין על גבה עפר שלשה טפחים – לא יביא זרע עליה;
take root to the sides, i.e., the growing roots spread sideways and cause damage to walls? But didn’t we learn in a Mishnah (Kilayim 7:1): With regard to one who bends a branch of a grapevine into the ground so that it strikes roots and produces a new vine, if it does not have 3 handbreadths of earth over it he may not plant a seed above it, as he would thereby transgress the prohibition of diverse kinds?
ותני עלה: אבל זורע את הצדדין אילך ואילך. אמר רבי חגא בשם רבי יוסי: מפני שמחלידין את הקרקע ומעלין עפר תיחוח.
And it is taught with regard to this Mishnah: But one may plant on either side of that bent branch. This indicates that there is no concern that the roots of the seeds will spread out sideways. R' Ḥagga says in the name of R' Yosei: The issue here is not that the roots will spread out sideways and reach the wall. Rather, it is prohibited to plant seeds near one’s neighbor’s property because they break up the ground and cause loose soil to rise up, which damages the foundation of the wall.
ואת מי רגלים מן הכותל – שלשה טפחים וכו׳. אמר רבה בר בר חנה: מותר לאדם להשתין מים בצד כותלו של חבירו, דכתיב: ״והכרתי לאחאב משתין בקיר, ועצור ועזוב בישראל״. והא אנן תנן: ואת מי רגלים מן הכותל – שלשה טפחים! התם בשופכין.
§ The Mishnah teaches: And urine must be kept at a distance of 3 handbreadths from the wall of one’s neighbor. Rabba bar bar Ḥana says: It is permitted for a person to urinate alongside the wall of another, as it is written: “And I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against the wall, and him that is shut up and him that is left at large in Israel” (I Kings 21:21). As the verse employs the term “those who urinate against the wall” to mean males, it seems that urinating against a wall was a common practice. The Talmud asks: But didn’t we learn in the Mishnah that urine must be kept a distance of 3 handbreadths from the wall? The Talmud answers: There, the Mishnah is referring to urine that is poured from a chamber pot, as opposed to urine that is passed from the body.