How can you steal land? TB Baba Kama 63

 A thief doesn’t have to pay the penalty of kefel (כֶּפֶל) for everything he has stolen. There are some exclusions. Dappim 62-63 analyzes through a careful reading of Exodus 22:6-8 to learn these exclusions.  “When any party gives money or goods to another for safekeeping, and they are stolen from that other party’s house: if caught, the thief shall pay double; if the thief is not caught, the owner of the house shall depose before God and deny laying hands on the other’s property. (In all charges of misappropriation—pertaining to an ox, an ass, a sheep, a garment, or any other loss, whereof one party alleges, “This is it”—the case of both parties shall come before God: the one whom God declares guilty shall pay double to the other.” (Exodus 22:6-8)

Whether one uses the method of klal, ufrat, uklal (כְּלָל וּפְרָט וּכְלָל) or ribui, me’ut, rebui (רבוי ומיעוט ורבוי) to expound the Torah, the answer is basically the same.  They both exclude land, Canaanite slaves, and financial documents. Using the method of klal, ufrat, uklal, the Gemara finds the common denominator between an ox, and ass, a sheep, and a garment. “just as each of the items mentioned in the detail is clearly defined as an item that is movable property and has intrinsic monetary value, so too double payment is practiced with regard to any item that is movable property and has intrinsic monetary value. Land is excluded, as it is not movable property. Canaanite slaves are excluded, as they are compared to land in many areas of halakha. Financial documents are excluded, as, although they are movable property, they do not have intrinsic monetary value. The value of the material on which the document is written is negligible; documents are valuable only because they serve as proof for monetary claims. ” (Sefaria.org translation)

Of course land is not movable. How can it be stolen? Tosefot ד"ה יָצְאוּ קַרְקָעוֹת provides two answers. By moving the boundary marker in your favor, you steal somebody else’s property. A modern example would be fencing in your property and placing one of the sides of the fence on your neighbor’s property. In Hebrew this is called hasagat gevul (השגת גבוך). The second answer teaches that there are things that are physically attached to land, but not halakhically deemed attached. TB Shavuot 42b provides an example. “Rabbi Meir says: There are certain items that are physically on the land but are not treated like land from a halakhic perspective, ... How so? If one makes the claim: I assigned you ten grapevines laden with fruit to safeguard, and the other one says: They are only five vines, Rabbi Meir deems the defendant liable to take an oath, as he admitted to a part of the claim, and although the claim concerned grapevines, the primary aspect of the claim was the grapes.” (Sefaria.org translation) Although the sages disagree with Rabbi Meir, the assumption is five out of the ten grapevines laden with fruit were stolen which were physically attached to the land. Therefore part of the “land” was stolen.