הלכות מכירה

When a person sells three trees within his field, even three small newly planted trees, or three growths of one tree, the purchaser also acquires the land necessary to nurture them. Even if the trees dry up or are chopped down, he still owns the land necessary to nurture them. The purchaser also acquires all the other trees between them.

How much land is necessary to nurture them? The land beneath them, between them and beyond them, in which a person picking fruit can stand together with his basket.
This place - the place in which a person picking fruit can stand together with his basket - may not be sown by either the buyer or the seller unless the other agrees.

When does the above apply? When the three trees that he purchases are positioned like the three feet of a range on which a pot is placed - i.e., two parallel to each other and the third equidistant between them, but not on the line connecting them. There must be at least four cubits between each tree, and no more than sixteen cubits.

From where does one measure? From the wide portion of the trunk of the tree.
In the following situations, by contrast, the purchaser does not acquire land: the trees were not standing in such a position, they were closer together than four cubits or more distant than sixteen cubits; he purchased one after the other; he sold him two trees in the midst of his field and the third on the boundary line; the purchaser bought two trees in one person's field and one in a field belonging to a colleague; or a cistern, an irrigation ditch or the public domain was interposed between the purchaser's three trees.
Therefore, the purchaser does not acquire the trees between the trees he purchased. If his trees dry up or are cut down, he has no further rights.

The following rules apply whenever a person purchases three trees and therefore acquires land: If the trees grow and a new branch emerges outward from the trunk, it should be cut off, so as not to limit the passage of the owner of the field.
All the twigs and small branches that emerge from the trees - even those that emerge from the roots - belong to the owner of the trees, for he has acquired the land.

When a person purchases two trees in a field belonging to a colleague, the purchaser does not acquire any land. Therefore, if one of his trees dies or is cut down, he has no further right to the land.
If his two trees grow and produce twigs and small branches, they should be cut off, lest they grow into the earth and appear as a third tree. Then the purchaser would tell the seller: "You sold me three trees and I have a right to the land."

The following laws apply to all the branches that the owner of the trees trims from them. Any branches that grow from the portion of the trunk that sees the sun belong to the owner of the trees. The branches that grow from the roots and do not see the sun belong to the owner of the field. With regard to palm trees, the owner of the tree does not acquire any of the branches, for they do not grow from the trunk.

When a person sells landed property but retains the rights to the trees, he also retains possession of half of the land. For if he did not retain possession of the land, the purchaser would tell him: "Uproot your trees."
Similarly, if he retains the rights to two trees, he also retains possession of the land appropriate for them. For if he did not retain possession of the land, the purchaser would tell him: "Uproot your trees."

When a person sells trees, but retains possession of the land, the owner of the trees acquires possession of the land necessary for them, as we have explained.
If a person sold the land to one person and the trees to another, and the purchaser of the trees manifested his ownership over the trees, and the purchaser of the land manifested his ownership over the land, the purchaser of the trees acquires the trees and half the land, while the purchaser of the land acquires only half the land.

When brothers divide an inheritance, one taking an orchard and one taking a field of grain, the owner of the orchard receives four cubits in the field of grain next to the orchard. He is granted this land because we assume that they divided the land with this stipulation in mind. It need not be stated explicitly, because it is something that is well known.

The following rules apply when a person sells a field containing date palms to a colleague and specifies that he is selling him the field with the exception of one specific tree. If it is a valuable and high-quality tree, we assume that he retained ownership of that one date palm alone; the remainder belong to the purchaser. If the date palm that he specified that he was retaining is inferior, we assume that he surely retained ownership over the others, and the purchaser does not acquire any of the date palms at all.

The following rules apply when a person sells a field to a colleague and tells him that he is selling it to him with the exception of the trees. If it contains only date palms, the seller retains ownership over the date palms. If it contains only vines, the seller retains ownership over the vines. Similar rules apply if it contains only one other type of tree.
If the field contains vines and date palms, the seller retains ownership over the vines alone. If it contains other trees and vines, the seller retains ownership over the other trees alone. Similarly, if it contains other trees and date palms, he retains the other trees alone. The rationale is that whoever sells, sells generously,
If the seller retains ownership over date palms, he retains ownership over only those date palms that are tall and that one must ascend by means of a rope. The others belong to the purchaser. If he retains ownership over trees, he retains ownership over only those trees that will not be bent over by a yoke. Those that can be bent over by a yoke belong to the purchaser and are considered to be part of the field.

The following rules apply when a person tells a colleague, "I am selling you land and date palms." Even if there are no date palms on the land that he was intending to sell, if he desires to transfer ownership of two other date palms, the transaction is binding. The purchaser does not have the option of saying: "I am purchasing only land that has date palms growing on it."
If, however, the seller tells him: "I am selling you land with date palms," the sale is binding only when there are at least two date palms on the land. If not, it is considered a transaction entered into under false premises, and it is nullified. If the seller tells the purchaser: "I am selling you land for date palms," it need not have date palms. This expression indicates merely that the land is fit to grow date palms.

When a person sells an orchard to a colleague, he must write: "Acquire the date palms, the dates and the palm branches." Although the purchaser acquires all of these entities even when they are not explicitly mentioned in the deed of sale, mentioning them makes the wording of the document articulate.
Similarly, when a person sells landed property to a colleague, he must write: "I have not retained ownership over anything in this sale," to prevent judgments and claims from arising.

The following rules apply when a person sells a house to a colleague: Even though he writes in the deed of sale: "I have transferred ownership of its depths and its heights," he must write to him: "Acquire from the ground of the earth's depths to the heights of the sky." For the heights and the depths of the property are not transferred when no specification is made.
If he said that he was transferring ownership of the heights and the depths, the purchaser would acquire the height - i.e., the atmosphere alone- and the depths, what is under the ground. He does not acquire what is in their midst. When, however, he writes: "From the ground of the earth's depths to the heights of the sky," he acquires a water receptacle and a cistern that are in the midst of the earth and the pathways that are in between the ceiling and the top of the building.

When a person sells a home on the condition that the upper storey remains his, he retains possession of that portion of the building. If he desires to extend projections from it, he has the right. If it falls, he may rebuild it. And if there was a third storey built on top of the second and it fell, if he desires to rebuild it, he may build it as it was before it fell.

Although a person sells his grave, the path to his grave, the place where the funeral procession stands in honor of the departed, or the place where eulogies are recited, the family may come and bury the deceased there or perform any of the other rites against the will of the purchaser.
This privilege was granted lest the failure to do so blemish the honor of the family. They must pay the purchaser for the grave in which the deceased was buried. This provision is granted even though it was not stated explicitly in the original deed of sale.