Study Bava Batra folio 23A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אתו אומני ויתבי תותייהו, ואתו עורבי אכלי דמא, וסלקי אבי תאלי ומפסדי תמרי. אמר להו רב יוסף: אפיקו לי קורקור מהכא. אמר ליה אביי: והא גרמא הוא! אמר ליה: הכי אמר רב טובי בר מתנה, זאת אומרת: גרמא בניזקין אסור.
bloodletters would come and sit beneath them and perform their work there, and crows would come, eat the blood, and fly up to the palm trees and damage the dates. Rav Yosef said to the bloodletters: Remove these crowing birds from here, i.e., leave in order to avoid further damage. Abaye said to him: But it is an indirect action, as the bloodletters themselves are not damaging the dates. Rav Yosef said to him that Rav Tovi bar Mattana said as follows: That is to say that it is prohibited to cause even indirect damage.
והא אחזיק [להו]! הא אמר רב נחמן אמר רבה בר אבוה: אין חזקה לנזקין. ולאו איתמר עלה – רב מרי אמר: בקוטרא, ורב זביד אמר: בבית הכסא?! אמר ליה: הני, לדידי – דאנינא דעתאי, כי קוטרא ובית הכסא דמו לי.
Abaye said to Rav Yosef: But they have established an acquired privilege to use that particular spot for their work. Rav Yosef replied: Doesn’t Rav Naḥman say that Rabba bar Avuh says: There is no acquired privilege of use in cases of damage, i.e., an established situation may not be allowed to continue in the event that damage results. Abaye inquired further: But wasn’t it stated with regard to that statement of Rav Naḥman that Rav Mari said it is referring specifically to smoke, and Rav Zevid said it is referring to a latrine? In other words, this principle was stated specifically in the context of damage caused by these substances. Rav Yosef said to him: For me, as I am sensitive, these are like smoke and a latrine to me, which is why I have the right to demand that the bloodletters leave.
מתני׳ מרחיקין את השובך מן העיר חמשים אמה. ולא יעשה אדם שובך בתוך שלו, אלא אם כן יש לו חמשים אמה לכל רוח. רבי יהודה אומר: בית ארבעת כורין – מלא שגר היונה. ואם לקחו – אפילו בית רובע, הרי הוא בחזקתו.
Mishnah: One must distance a dovecote 50 cubits from the city to prevent doves from eating seeds in the town. And a person should not establish a dovecote within his own property unless he has 50 cubits in each direction between the dovecote and the edge of his property. R' Yehuda says that one must have surrounding the dovecote the area required for sowing 4 kor of seed on each side, which generally extends as far as a dove flies in a single flight. And if one bought the dovecote with the land, he has the acquired privilege of its use even if it has surrounding it only the area required for sowing 1/4th-kav of seed [beit rova] around it, and he need not remove it from there.