Gittin, Daf Het, Part 1

Introduction

The Talmud continues to deal with the baraita in which the sages and R. Yehudah disagree:

Earth from outside the land that has come into the land [of Israel] in a boat, [the produce grown in it] is subject to tithes and to the [laws relating to] the seventh year.

Rabbi Judah: when does this apply? When the boat touches [the ground]. But if the boat does not touch the ground, he is exempt.

אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא עָצִיץ נָקוּב הַמּוּנָּח עַל גַּבֵּי יְתֵדוֹת בָּאנוּ לְמַחְלוֹקֶת רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבָּנַן

R. Zera said: A perforated pot resting on poles this brings us to the dispute between R. Yehudah and the rabbis.

According to R. Zera, just as R. Yehudah and the rabbis would dispute earth that comes into Israel on a boat, so too would they dispute earth in a perforated pot that is not connected to the ground. The sages would say that it is subject to the laws of the land of Israel and R. Yehudah would say that it is not, until it touches the ground.

אָמַר רָבָא דִּילְמָא לָא הִיא עַד כָּאן לָא קָאָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה הָתָם אֶלָּא בִּסְפִינָה הָעֲשׂוּיָה לִבְרוֹחַ אֲבָל עָצִיץ שֶׁאֵינוֹ עָשׂוּי לִבְרוֹחַ לֹא

Rava said: Perhaps [this comparison] is not justified. R. Yehudah only said his statement about a ship, which is made to move away. But with a pot that is not made to move, he did not say this.

Rav disagrees with the comparison. Earth on the boat might not be liable, according to R. Yehudah, because the boat is made so that it can leave Israel (assumedly on a river). Therefore, for the dirt to be part of Israel the boat must be on the ground. But the pot is not made to move (although it easily can be moved). Therefore, R. Yehudah would hold that the dirt in it is liable by virtue of being in Israel, even if it does not touch the ground.

אִי נָמֵי עַד כָּאן לָא קָאָמְרִי רַבָּנַן הָתָם אֶלָּא בִּסְפִינָה דְּלָא מַפְסֵיק אַוֵּירָא דְּמַיָּא כִּי אַרְעָא סְמִיכְתָּא דָּמְיָא אֲבָל עָצִיץ דְּמַפְסֵיק אַוֵּירָא לָא

Alternatively, the rabbis only made their statement about a boat, where there is no air [in between the dirt and the boat] for water is considered to be like solid earth. But in the case of the potted plant, where there is air, they do not make their statement.

This is another difference between the two situations. The rabbis made their statement about dirt on a boat. There is no air between the dirt and the ground we look at the water as if it is ground. Therefore the dirt is considered as if it is already in Israel. But the potted plant has air between it and the ground. Thus, they might say that things that grow in it do not count as if they are growing on the ground.