Actively pursue your goals will yield success TB Eruvin 25

Today’s daf TB Eruvin 25 presents a very interesting rezoning case. The discussion begins with the question “may one build a wall upon existing wall in order to rezone the karpef that wasn’t originally designated for habitation?” Rav Ḥisda and Rav Hamnuna disagree whether a wall built on top of another wall effectively rezones the karpef. Rav Ḥisda rules that a wall upon an existing wall is effective. The interesting case revolves around a wall that is passively created.

“Rabba bar Ḥana raised a dilemma: If the lower partitions were swallowed up, e.g., if they sank in boggy ground, and the upper partitions that he had erected still stand, what is the law?

“The Gemara asks: With regard to what issue was this dilemma raised? If it was raised with regard to acquiring the property of a convert, (The property of a convert who dies without heirs is regarded as ownerless unless he had transferred it to someone as a gift during his lifetime. Whoever first implements a valid mode of acquisition upon such property acquires it. For example, one may acquire property by performing an act of taking possession, such as construction of a partition around it. But if one erects a partition around the property of a deceased convert on top of an existing partition, he does not acquire the property in this manner.) this is precisely the same as the ruling cited by Yirmeya Bira’a, as Yirmeya Bira’a said that Rav Yehuda said: If one sowed turnip seeds in cracks which he found in land that had belonged to a convert, and another Jew came and plowed the ground a little, the latter one, the one who plowed, acquires the property, and the first one does not acquire it.

“What is the reason that the first one who sowed the seeds does not acquire the property? At the time that he sowed, the land was not improved by his sowing. When it did improve, with the growth of the turnips, it improved on its own. That is to say, the act of sowing alone is not a sufficiently noticeable action that changes and improves the property at the time. Although the sowing later proves to have been beneficial, this is seen as an improvement of the land that comes on its own. Therefore, an action that will only provide benefit in the future cannot serve as an act of acquisition.” (Sefaria.org translation)

To acquire land or rezone a karpef requires a positive action by a person. Passive actions like the upper partition standing only after the lower partition sinks into a bog or passively improving the field by just throwing a seed into a crack in the earth is insufficient to achieve the desired results.

I think this is true in other areas of life as well. Actively pursuing your goals will be more effective than just waiting for your goal to be achieved.