Study Bava Batra folio 36B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אפילו יום אחד נמי! אלא דכולי עלמא – ניר לא הוי חזקה; והכא – פירא רבא ופירא זוטא איכא בינייהו.
Even if he plowed the land for one day in the first and third years respectively, it should be sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. Rather, everyone agrees that plowing is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership, and here the difference between their opinions is whether in order to establish the presumption of ownership one needs to possess the land long enough to grow major produce, which requires 3 months to grow, or only minor produce, which requires one month.
תנו רבנן: ניר – אינו חזקה. ויש אומרים: הרי זה חזקה. מאן ״יש אומרים״? אמר רב חסדא: רבי אחא היא – דתניא: נרה שנה, וזרעה שתים, נרה שתים, וזרעה שנה – אינה חזקה. רבי אחא אומר: הרי זו חזקה.
A baraita states: Plowing is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. And there are those who say: This is sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. Whose opinion is it that the baraita refers to as: There are those who say? Rav Ḥisda said: It is the opinion of R' Aḥa, as it is taught in a baraita: If the possessor plowed the field for a year and sowed it for two years, or if he plowed it for two years and sowed it for a year, it is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. R' Aḥa says: This is sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership, which indicates that he holds that plowing establishes the presumption of ownership.
אמר רב אשי: שאלית כל גדולי הדור, ואמרו לי: ניר – הרי זה חזקה. אמר ליה רב ביבי לרב נחמן: מאי טעמא דמאן דאמר: ניר הוי חזקה? לא עביד איניש דכריבו ליה לארעיה – ושתיק. ומאי טעמא דמאן דאמר: ניר לא הוי חזקה? מימר אמר: כל שיבא ושיבא דכרבא, לעייל ביה.
Rav Ashi said: I asked all of the great men of the generation about this, and they said to me: With regard to plowing, this is sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership. Rav Beivai said to Rav Naḥman: What is the reason of the one who says that plowing is sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership? Rav Naḥman answered: A person is not apt to have his land plowed by someone else and remain silent. Rav Beivai asked: And what is the reason of the one who says that plowing is not sufficient to establish the presumption of ownership? Rav Naḥman answered: The owner says to himself: Let each and every clump [shibba] of earth enter the plow. That is to say, the owner is amenable to having someone else plow the land for him, and then he will sow and harvest.