Bava Metzia - Daf 105
- A tenant who does not want to weed the field
The next Mishnah states that one who leased a field (with a fixed rental), but did not want to weed it while the crop was growing, telling the owner he will get the same rental amount anyway, אין שומעין לו – we do not listen to him, because the owner can respond: למחר אתה יוצא ממנה – tomorrow you are going to leave after the lease ends, ומעלת לפני עשבים – and [the field] will grow weeds for me instead of crops.
The Gemara explains that even if the tenant offers to plow after the harvest, destroying the weeds, or even offers to purchase high-quality wheat from the market, the owner can demand quality wheat from his own field. Even if he offers to weed a section of the field, sufficient to produce the rental amount, the owner can say: קא מנסבת שם רע לארעאי – you are bringing a bad name to my land, which people will think produces weeds. The Gemara objects that the Mishnah says the owner’s insistence is because of a concern about weeds growing, and therefore explains that he can say: בזרא דנפל נפל – a weed seed which fell, fell, and may grow in a later year despite plowing.
- A burden of four kavs for tefillah and tefillin
The Yeshiva of Rebbe Yannai said: לתפלה ולתפילין ארבעה קבין – for prayer and tefillin, the definition of a burden is four kavs. Regarding tefillah, a Baraisa teaches that if one is carrying a burden and the time for tefillah arrives, if it is less than four kavs, מפשילין לאחוריו ומתפלל – he may throw it behind him and daven with it on his back (because its negligible weight will not disturb his concentration), but if it weighs four kavs, he must place it on the ground and daven. Regarding tefillin, a Baraisa teaches that if one was carrying a burden on his head while wearing tefillin, then if they are being crushed, he must remove the burden, but if not, it is permitted. This burden is defined as four kavs. Another Baraisa teaches that if one is carrying compost on his head, he should not move his tefillin to the side of his head, nor tie them around his waist, which is disrespectful. Rather, he should tie them on his arm next to his arm-tefillin.
Rebbe Shila’s Yeshiva taught that one cannot even place the wrap of his tefillin on his head together with his tefillin, and Abaye explains they prohibit even a sixteenth of a litra of Pumbedisa.
- אם מכת מדינה היא מנכה לו מן חכורו
The Mishnah states that if one leased a field (for a fixed rental), and the crop was destroyed by locusts or powerful winds, אם מכת מדינה היא – if it is a general calamity, מנכה לו מן חכורו – he may deduct from his rental according to the scale of damage. If the damage was local, he cannot deduct from his rent, because the owner can blame the damage on the tenant’s bad fortune. Rebbe Yehudah says that if the rent was to be paid in cash, he cannot deduct from the rent, even if it was a מכת מדינה. Rav Yehudah defines a מכת מדינה as: כגון דאישדוף רובא דבאגא – such as where most of [this] valley was damaged by wind. Ulla says that even if just the four fields adjoining the rented field were damaged, it is considered a מכת מדינה. In Eretz Yisroel, several questions were asked: What if only a single row of each adjoining field was damaged, or if all except one row in each field was damaged? What if the immediate surrounding fields were left fallow, or had aspasta (plants for fodder), or another grain, which was not damaged, but surrounding fields were damaged?
