The Book of Contracts

This Is the Text of a Document for the Sale of Fields and Vineyards

We the undersigned witnesses know in the form of a clear testimony that So-and-so son of So-and-so said to him, etc., and defined the terms:

Be my witnesses for all this, and acquire from him a full acquisition, and write and sign for me with all formulations of rights. Then give it to So-and-so son of So-and-so, for it to be in his possession for his advantage. As I freely wanted this, I was not compelled at all, but I did it with a full heart, willingly, and generously. I took and received such-and-such an amount of dinars, for which I sold him that field, or that vineyard, which is now his, that I owned in such-and-such a place. Its measurements are such-and-such, and it has certain markings and boundaries. These are its boundaries: To the east, the field such-and-such; to the south, the field such-and-such; to the west, the field such-and-such; and to the north, the field such-and-such. Anything within these four boundaries, I have sold all of it to So-and-so for these aforementioned dinars, whether the land is cultivated or uncultivated, and whether or not it is called a field, together with its dirt and earth, and with all the toil and appreciation that has been accrued to it.

If it is a vineyard, he should similarly write: “Whether it is planted or not planted, whether it is called a vineyard or not called a vineyard, together with its dirt and earth, and with all the toil and appreciation that has been accrued to it.”

Some add, in the sale of a field or vineyard: “From the depth of the earth up to the height of the sky,” whereas others include this phrase only for the sale of a field that is an adjunct to a house, as explained below.

The document continues:

Now So-and-So may go and actualize his right and take possession and acquire this field that I sold to him, and he may do with it as he desires. He has the right to cultivate it, to plant or uproot, to plow and to sow, to remove a sharecropper or bring in a sharecropper, to inherit or bequeath, and to give it as a gift to whomever he chooses, both he and his representatives. For with a full heart, I have performed this transaction with him, from now, without any sort of reservation, not for myself nor for my representatives. I and my representatives have removed ourselves from this sale in a complete manner, forever. Nothing is reserved from this transaction, not a handbreadth above nor a handbreadth below, for I have executed it with a full heart for So-and-so.

This is a complete sale, an everlasting sale, a sale that is definitive, in perpetuity, in force, and valid in accordance with the law and the halakhah. It cannot be claimed that I was just trifling with it, and it can never be retracted. I have given it fully to him and his heirs after him. None can object to him, nor to his representatives. Anyone who arrives from one of the four corners of the world, whether he is a son or daughter, brother or sister, relative or stranger, an heir or one who bequeaths, Jewish man or Jewish woman, non-Jewish man or non-Jewish woman, who comes forth and asserts, speaks, utters, and objects with any kind of legal claim whatsoever, regarding So-and-so or his representatives, his statement should be nullified and void, and considered like a broken earthenware shard that is of no value. Any document or ratification of a document, in any language, whether it is produced in my name or not in my name, which purports to cancel all or part of this transaction, that document or ratification should be nullified and void, and considered like a broken earthenware shard. It should be of no effect, neither according to the laws of Israel nor non-Jewish laws. It is my responsibility and the responsibility of my representatives to recompense, remove, and dismiss from him any type of objection and claim, and also to establish this sale in his possession and the possession of his representatives in a full-fledged, complete manner without him suffering any sort of loss. Any declaration to the contrary that I might issue, or a declaration that results from another declaration of mine, including all declarations that I have delivered and will deliver in the future, they are all nullified before you, so that nothing should ever be derived from them.

And So-and-so said to us the following:

I have accepted upon myself and my heirs the responsibility for and ramifications of this document of sale like the responsibility and ramifications for all documents of sale as practiced in Israel, from this today and forever. It is not like a transaction with questionable consent, nor like a template of documents. I have acquired from So-and-so, son of So-and-so, all that is written and specified above, with a maneh [a coin] that is valid for commerce.

We wrote and signed concerning that which occurred in our presence, on the date of such-and-such, in the month of such-and-such, in the year such-and-such of the creation of the world, according to the counting that we use here, in the city of Such-and-such. We delivered it into the possession of So-and-so so that it should serve him and his representatives as proof and for his advantage, and it is all in force and valid.

Now, the reason why the phrase “from the depth of the earth up to the height of the sky” is included only in the sale of a house is because its meaning varies. For we learned in chapter 4 of tractate Bava Batra [63a] that Resh Lakish said: One who sells a house to another and says to him, “I am selling you this house on condition that the upper story is mine,” the upper story is his. The Gemara asked: With regard to what law did Resh Lakish issue this statement? R. Zevid said: He is teaching that if the seller wishes to extend projections from his upper story over the sold courtyard, he may extend them. R. Papa said: He is teaching that if the seller wishes to build an upper story on top of it, he may build it, and if it fell, he may rebuild it. And the law is accordance with R. Zevid, who said that if he wishes to extend projections he may do so. For we learned in chapter 9 [148b] that Rava said in the name of R. Naḥman: Even if you say that one who sells a house to one person and its upper story to another person has not reserved rights for the second person, if he specified “except for the upper story,” he has reserved for himself, and this is in accordance with R. Zevid, who said that if he wishes to extend projections, he may do so.

That same passage continues [63b]: R. Dimi of Nehardea said: One who sells a house to another, even though he wrote for him “the depth and the height,” he does not acquire them [i.e., the pits and tunnels of the house]. Rather, he must write for him “from the depth of the earth up to the height of the sky.” What is the reason? If there is no specification, the buyer does not acquire the depth and the height of the property. Therefore, the phrase, “the depth and the height,” enables him to acquire the depth and the height of the house, and the phrase, “from the depth of the earth up to the height of the sky,” enables him to acquire any pits and tunnels that go with the house.

Consequently, some maintain that since the Gemara states “one who sells a house to another, etc., must write for him from the depth of the earth up to the height of the sky, etc.,” it is only in the case of the sale of a house that one must write this formula, not for the sale of a field or a vineyard. However, in our humble opinion, that is not correct. We contend that when the sages spoke of “one who sells a house to another, etc.” they did not mean specifically a house. Rather, the same applies to a field or a vineyard. The reason they mentioned a house is because the sages dealt with the common situation, which is easier to follow, as houses are proper structures. Nevertheless, the same law applies to a field, as people construct pits and tunnels in a field as well, and sometimes they even develop the area of a field and erect houses there.