Our daf begins with recommendations for agricultural success: one should alternate crops each year, and one should alternate the rows so that they are planted across one year and up and down the next.
In their discussion about the Mishna's prohibition against growing legumes and grains together, the Gemara first speaks of whether or not it is considered to be 'stealing' to take cress from a field of flax. Cress might be considered to be a weed. However, it could be cultivated to extract its seeds which were used medicinally. Also considering what is fair practice in agriculture, the Gemara speaks about the fruit of a tree which grows between two properties. What if the tree leans in one direction or the other? What if the fruit is on one side of the tree only? The halacha, Steinsaltz notes, is to divide the fruit equally.
The Gemara then takes a turn. The rabbis discuss whether or not a person should buy land near a town or far from a town. A far-away field has the advantage of not being 'watched'; people were afraid of the evil eye. We learn that there was a law prohibiting people from standing in others' fields when those fields were ready for harvesting for that very reason. A town, however, could be a wonderful place for one's field.
We are introduced to Deuteronomy (28:3) and (28:6). "Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field"; "Blessed shall you be when you enter and blessed shall you be when you exit". The rabbis suggest that these verses could be proofs for many varied practices. For example, perhaps 'the city' means that one's home should be near the synagogue, and 'field' means that one's property should be near the city. And perhaps 'entering' refers to one's wife being in a state of certain niddah or not when one returns home from a journey, and 'exiting' refers to one's descendants being like oneself. There are many similarly unusual suggestions.
On the same theme of blessings, the rabbis consider Deuteronomy (7:5), "And the Lord will take away from you all sickness". Does this refer to the evil eye? Is this about the wind, which enters the body through crevices and wounds to cause illness? Is it about protecting against the cold and the heat, which are thought to cause all illness? Or perhaps about infections of the nose and the ear? Finally, sickness could mean illnesses related to the gall bladder.
The rabbis consider remedies, beginning with bread and a jug of water consumed in the morning. They speak of the importance of sparse breakfasts and the benefits of bread in the morning. These include diminished sweating, better intercourse at proper times, removal of bacteria/louse in the intestines, and fighting jealousy; increasing love. Quite the feat for bread in the morning!
Our daf ends with a return to issues of land ownership and responsibility. The rabbis speak of the importance of caring for even very small plots of land which could nurture small, valuable plants like saffron. They also speak about creating pathways and roads for large boats or other vehicles. Their discussion includes both the width of these roads and the necessity of creating space for those who might assist in pulling a boat with long ropes.
Through today's daf we are given a wider glimpse than usual of the daily lives of our rabbis and their communities regarding field work, illness, nutritional beliefs, and road construction.
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