Destroy or live TB Baba Metzia 118

 Daf TB Baba Metzia 118 is the penultimate folio of our massekhet. Terrace gardening always has been an effective way of maximizing cultivating The Land of Israel. The last Mishna of our massekhet deals with a dispute between two different terrace farmers.

“In the case of two gardens that were located one above the other, i.e., a garden on a plateau that borders another garden below, and vegetables grew in-between, out of the wall of soil resulting from the difference in height between the two gardens, Rabbi Meir says: These vegetables belong to the owner of the upper garden. Rabbi Yehuda says: They belong to the owner of the lower one. Rabbi Meir said in explanation of his ruling: If the owner of the upper garden would want to dig and take his dirt and does so, no vegetables would grow here, as that wall made of soil would not exist. The vegetables therefore belong to him. In response, Rabbi Yehuda said: If the owner of the lower garden would want to fill his garden with dirt and does so, thereby raising its level, no vegetables would grow here, as that wall made of soil would not exist. The vegetables therefore belong to him.

“Rabbi Meir said: Since the two of them can object to each other, as they each have the ability to prevent the vegetable growth, nothing can be decided based on such considerations. Instead, the court considers from where this vegetable lives and derives nourishment, whether from above or from below.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rabbi Meir brilliantly shifts the focus of his argument. Originally both sages base their argument on the destruction of either the top or bottom garden. Rabbi Meir still holds that the vegetables that grew out of the wall in between the gardens still belongs to the gardener; however, instead of using the language of destruction he emphasizes where the vegetable derives nourishment to live.

The author Mishnat Eretz Yisrael writes that there is a previous unwritten agreement between the two gardeners to preserve the terrace and work their land appropriately. Consequently, the claim that either could destroy the wall separating the two garden isn’t correct. Where the vegetable plant derives is nourishment i.e. its life determines who owns it. All plants search for the closest soil to draw is nourishment which in this case is obviously the upper garden.

Rabbi Meir teaches us that we’re not brought into this world to destroy and hate, but rather to build, to love, and to seek peace.

For all those who can read Hebrew here is the original text of Mishnat Eretz Yisrael.

אמר רבי מאיר וכי מאחר ששניהם יכולים למחות זה על ידי זה – העליון יכול לדרוש מהתחתון לא למלאות את גינתו והתחתון יכול למנוע את הורדת המפלס של המדרגה שמעליו. על מהותו המדויקת של המשפט עמדנו בראשית המשנה. בין שני הצדדים קיים הסכם שותפות קדמון, בלתי כתוב, המחייב כל אחד לשמור על המדרגות ולעבדן כהלכה. אם כן יש כאן הסכם שיתוף פעולה, ולכן הטיעונים הקודמים שהובאו כאילו כל אחד רשאי לבטל את הקיר המפריד אינם נכונים. אם כן מה הטיעון הקובע? מנין ירק זה חייא – או חייה, כלומר חי; צריך לבחון מהיכן הירק שואב את חיותו, להיכן שורשיו נוטים, למעלה או למטה. בדרך כלל השורשים יחפשו את הקרקע הקרובה, וממילא זו הגינה של העליון. רבי מאיר נסוג אפוא מהטיעון שלו, אך מציע טיעון

אחר להגנת עמדתו.