033b – המוכר שדהו – פרק תשיעי – ערכין, דף לג ע”ב

Mishnah: These are courtyard houses^[1]: two courtyards of two houses. Even if the settlement has been walled since the days of Yehoshua bin Nun, it is still like courtyard houses.

מתני' שתי חצרות - A city with only two courtyards.

Gemara: The Sages taught: From the verse "courtyard houses" (Leviticus 25), I would not know that they have no wall.

גמ' איני יודע שאין להן חומה - For "courtyard houses" implies that it is not in a city but a settlement of adjoining courtyards.

What does "which have no wall" come to teach? That even if they have a wall, they are like those that have no wall.

כמי שאין להן חומה - Since there is not enough [room] for a city.

And how many houses make a courtyard settlement? Two courtyards, two courtyards of two houses.

וכמה - Meaning: so that their wall is not counted as the wall of a city, [in the case of] two courtyards, etc.

But perhaps [it means] a house and a courtyard? If so, the Merciful One should have written "courtyards" [alone].

אימא בית וחצר בית וחצר - But if there are two houses in each courtyard, they are like a walled city and not like courtyard houses.

א"כ ליכתוב חצרים - And it should not write "houses"; I know that a courtyard does not exist without a house.

And if you say: if the Merciful One had written "courtyards", [it would imply] a courtyard without a house; that enclosure would be called [a courtyard].

Mishnah: An Israelite who inherited his maternal grandfather, a Levite^[2], does not redeem in the ordinary way.

מתני' ישראל שירש בתי ערי חומה מאבי אמו לוי אינו גואל כסדר הזה - Mishnah: An Israelite who inherited the walled-city houses from his maternal grandfather, a Levite, does not redeem in the ordinary way. For if he sold it, it would be forfeited to the buyer at the end of the year; but he redeems it forever like a Levite, as it is written there: "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites" (Leviticus 25:32).

And likewise a Levite who inherited his maternal grandfather, an Israelite, does not redeem in the ordinary way, as it is said: "For the houses of the cities of the Levites are their holding" (Leviticus 25:33); [the rule holds] provided he is a Levite and [the city is] a Levite city, the words of Rabbi.

עד שיהא הוא - [i.e., the seller] is a Levite, excluding an Israelite who inherited from his maternal grandfather, a Levite, who does not redeem like a Levite.

וערי הלוים - Of the cities given to the Levites in the days of Joshua, excluding a Levite who inherited from his maternal grandfather, an Israelite, who does not redeem like a Levite. And now the first clause is difficult against the last, and the Gemara resolves it.

But the Sages say: these words apply only to Levite cities.

אין דברים הללו - Of the eternal redemption: it applies only to Levite cities; but we do not require that he be a Levite. The Rabbis agree that an Israelite who inherited his maternal grandfather's Levite house redeems like a Levite, since it is from the Levite cities. But for a Levite son who inherited from an Israelite maternal grandfather, the Rabbis agree he does not redeem like a Levite, since the Torah suspended [the rule] for Levite cities.

Gemara: But then according to whom^[3] is this taught, "like a Levite"? And then it teaches "provided he is a Levite and [the city is] a Levite city"?

גמ' וקא פריך אינו גואל כסדר הזה - [The Gemara asks:] Does he not redeem in the ordinary way, like an Israelite? Rather, according to whom is it taught, like a Levite's son? [asked in astonishment]; but the last clause teaches "provided he is a Levite", etc.

Say instead: he does not redeem except in the ordinary way; provided he is a Levite and [the city is] a Levite city, the words of Rabbi.

Granted, [the rule about] Levite cities^[4], as it is written: "for the houses of the cities of the Levites."

בשלמא ערי הלוים - We need [the words] to exclude a Levite's son who inherited an Israelite's [house], as it is written "Levite cities".

But from where do we know [that it must be] a Levite? As it is written: "and whoever redeems from the Levites" (Leviticus 25:32).

אלא לוי מנלן - We need that he be a Levite, to exclude an Israelite who inherited his maternal grandfather's Levite house.

ואשר יגאל מן הלוים - Which implies that permission to redeem was given to some Levites, not all.

It was taught: "and whoever redeems from the Levites" — one might think^[5] a Levite may redeem from an Israelite, because the one is strong and the other weak.

ותניא - For so we expound it, and so it is in the Sifra: "from the Levites" — what does it come to teach? That one might think a Levite may redeem from an Israelite: if it had said only "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites", I could say that a Levite who sold to an Israelite may redeem it forever, because the Israelite is weakened in his sale, since it is forfeited at the end of the year.

But [a Levite redeeming] from a Levite [is not so], since each is strong.

וזה יפה כחו - As it is written "eternal redemption", but a Levite who sold to a Levite may not redeem; it is forfeited at the end of the year.

The verse teaches: "from the Levites" — from the Levites, but not all Levites: it excludes the Levite who is a mamzer or a netin.

ת"ל מן הלוים - Excluding a Levite son born of a mamzeret or a netinah; and all the more so an Israelite who inherited his maternal grandfather's Levite house, for an Israelite is a full Israelite.

But the Sages say^[6]: these words apply only to Levite cities; but we do not say [the redemption rule applies] only provided he is a Levite.

Mishnah: One does not make a field into a migrash [open land];

מתני' שדה מגרש - A migrash is a thousand cubits around the city, as written (Numbers 35): "from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around"; and outside that thousand the Levites had another thousand cubits for fields and vineyards, as written there: "and their measures outside the city". Take a thousand cubits from them as a migrash, and the rest as fields and vineyards. A migrash is empty of anything and has no houses, and one does not sow it, but it is an ornament for the city.

אין עושין שדה מגרש - Because of the settlement of the Land of Israel; making a field into a migrash would be a destruction, since it reduces the sowing.

nor a migrash into a field,

ולא מגרש שדה - Since that would destroy the ornament of the city.

nor a migrash into a city,

מגרש אין עושין עיר - Since they would build houses on it, and a city is not beautiful without a migrash; and all the more so, one does not make a city into a migrash, since that destroys the settlement of the city.

nor a city into a migrash.

Rabbi Eleazar said: In what case is this said? In Levite cities. But in Israelite cities one may make a field into a migrash, a migrash into a field, a migrash into a city, but not a city into a migrash, so that the cities of Israel are not destroyed.

Kohanim and Levites sell at any time and redeem at any time, as it is said: "Eternal redemption^[7] shall be for the Levites" (Leviticus 25:32).

מוכרין לעולם - Even in the Jubilee year itself, so I heard; but it is difficult for me why [the Mishnah teaches this]. Just as Rav and Shmuel disagree at the start of the chapter (above, 29) about an Israelite who sold his field in the Jubilee year itself, here too there should be a dispute, arguing a fortiori: what is sold is already out [in the Jubilee]. For above (28a) it was said that a Levite's sale returns in the Jubilee year; and it seems to me that because the other chapter taught "consecrate forever and redeem forever", here too it taught likewise.

גואלין לעולם - Because their walled-city houses are not forfeited.

Gemara: Rabbi Eleazar said: In what case is this said^[8]? In Levite cities; but in Israelite cities they may make [a field into a migrash] etc.

Everyone agrees that, at least regarding [the cities of] the Levites, we do not change [them].

From where do we know these things?

Rabbi Eleazar said, as the verse says: "and the field of the migrash of their cities shall not be sold^[9]" (Leviticus 25:34).

What does "shall not be sold" mean?

If you say^[10]: it shall not be sold at all — but since it is written "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites", this implies that they may sell.

Rather, what [does it mean]? "Shall not be sold" — it shall not be changed^[11].

Kohanim and Levites sell^[12] at any time and redeem at any time:

The Sages taught: "Eternal redemption shall be for the Levites" — what does this come to teach^[13]? Since it is said: "according to the number of the years of the crops he shall sell to you" (Leviticus 25:16), one might think this too is so; the verse teaches "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites".

גמ' יכול אף זה - A Levite likewise: if he sold a field of his holding, [i.e.,] those thousand cubits outside the migrash, it may not be redeemed in less than two years.

The verse teaches: "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites".

Since it is said (Leviticus 27): "and the field, when it leaves^[14] at the jubilee, shall be holy to the Lord", one might think this too is so; the verse teaches "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites".

לפי שנאמר - Concerning a person who consecrated a holding field and someone else redeemed it from the Temple treasury: in the Jubilee year it goes to the Kohanim, as written: "and the field...".

יכול אף לוי כן - If he consecrated a field and did not redeem it, he loses it at the Jubilee; therefore the verse says "eternal redemption".

Since it is said (Leviticus 25:30): "and the house in the walled city shall be established forever^[15]", one might think this too is so; the verse teaches "eternal redemption shall be for the Levites".

Granted, these two [cases are] "for the living" [unclear reading; they are read as stated].

But do the Levites have houses in walled cities^[16]?

But it was taught: "These cities^[17] — one does not make them small villages nor large metropolises, but medium towns."

ערים הללו - Those given to the Levites.

אין עושין ערים קטנים - Because they are cities of refuge, and we need a settlement there for the manslayer to flee to.

ולא כרכים גדולים - Because people gather there from all places for trade, and the blood-avenger's foot would be frequent there, and he would lie in wait for the killer and kill him.

אלא עיירות בינוניות - Without a wall.

Rav Kahana said: No difficulty. Here [the case is] that it was walled and afterwards settled; there [the case is] that it was settled and afterwards walled.

כאן שהוקף ולבסוף ישב - One cannot find here [a case] for the Levites, as you said; but a city settled and afterwards walled can be found, since after they were given to them in the days of Joshua, they walled them.

And in such a case, is it considered a walled city?

וכי האי גוונא - A settled-and-then-walled [city]: is it a wall? The verse was needed to exclude it.

But it was taught: "And if a man sells a house of dwelling^[18] in a walled city" (Leviticus 25:29): [this refers to a city] that was walled and afterwards settled, not one that was settled and afterwards walled.

בית מושב עיר חומה - A house that was inhabited and built as a walled city, implying that it was walled and afterwards settled.

One might think: even if Israel walled it^[19]. It says "wall" here and "wall" elsewhere; just as there {gentiles} [walled it], so here {gentiles}.

יכול אפילו הקיפוה ישראל - After they conquered the land, and even before they settled in it.

ונאמר להלן חומה - (Deuteronomy 3:5): "all these were cities fortified with walls", etc.

One might think: even if {gentiles} walled it.

Afterwards it says "wall" elsewhere and "wall" here; just as there {gentiles} [walled it] before, so here {gentiles} [walled it] before.

לאחר מכן - After Israel conquered them.

Rav Yosef son of Rav Sala Hasida^[20] explained it before Rav Pappa: [this is the case] where they fell to them [the Levites] by lot^[21].

תרגמה רב סלא - Always [the case is] walled and afterwards settled; and as for your difficulty, "these cities one does not make...", etc.

כגון שנפלו להן - By lot in the days of Joshua.

Notes

1. 1. Batei chatzerim are houses grouped around a shared courtyard in an unwalled settlement. Because such a settlement is not a city, Leviticus 25:31 treats its houses like fields, and they can be redeemed at any time.
2. 2. The Mishnah's case: an Israelite inherits a house from his mother's father, who was a Levite. He is not a Levite, so he does not redeem as a Levite does; if he does not redeem within a year, the house is forfeited to the buyer (Leviticus 25:29-30).
3. 3. The Gemara's question: the first clause says the Israelite 'does not redeem in the ordinary way'. If that means he redeems like a Levite, the closing words 'provided he is a Levite' seem to contradict it, so the Gemara asks according to which view this is taught.
4. 4. The Torah assigns forty-eight cities to the Levites (Numbers 35:7). Houses in them are subject to the perpetual-redemption rule of Leviticus 25:33.
5. 5. 'Yachol' ('one might think') introduces an inference that the baraita then rejects: the Torah does not allow a Levite to redeem from an Israelite.
6. 6. The Sages hold that the condition 'provided he is a Levite' is stated only for Levite cities. Outside Levite cities the ordinary walled-city law applies.
7. 7. 'Eternal redemption' (geulat olam): a Levite's house or field may be redeemed at any time, indefinitely, and is not forfeited at the end of a year (Leviticus 25:32-33).
8. 8. The Gemara quotes Rabbi Eleazar's words back from the Mishnah and asks for their source: why a field may be made a migrash only in Israelite cities.
9. 9. Leviticus 25:34: the migrash-field of the Levite cities 'shall not be sold'. The Gemara offers this verse as proof that Levite fields may not be sold.
10. 10. 'Ilima' ('if you say') introduces a reading that the Gemara sets up in order to refute it.
11. 11. The Gemara settles on this reading: 'shall not be sold' means 'shall not be changed', i.e. the field may not be turned to a different use.
12. 12. A quoted Mishnah: Kohanim and Levites sell and redeem at any time, so their sale is not forfeited at the end of the year. The Gemara now asks for the verse behind this rule.
13. 13. 'Mah talmud lomar' – 'what does the verse come to teach' – asks why a verse is needed; the baraita then answers with an inference.
14. 14. Leviticus 27:16-21: a field consecrated to God that was not redeemed goes to the Kohanim at the Jubilee.
15. 15. Leviticus 25:30: a house in a walled city that is not redeemed within a year 'shall be established forever' for the buyer.
16. 16. Walled cities: houses in them may be redeemed only within a year (Leviticus 25:29). The Gemara asks whether any Levite city had such houses.
17. 17. 'These cities' are the Levite cities, among them the six cities of refuge (Numbers 35:6), to which a manslayer fled.
18. 18. Leviticus 25:29: 'a house of dwelling in a walled city' – the verse behind the one-year redemption rule for walled-city houses.
19. 19. The baraita learns from the repeated word 'wall' (Deuteronomy 3:5) that a city counts as walled even if Israelites built the wall.
20. 20. Rav Yosef bar Rav Sala Hasida and Rav Pappa were Babylonian Amoraim (a fact from general knowledge, not from the page).
21. 21. The Levite cities were allotted by lot in Joshua's time (Joshua 21).