1In the case of a house, the court listens to him, but in the case of a field, the court does not listen to him.
2The Gemara asks: In the case of a field, what is the reason that the court does not listen to him? It is that due to the desire to promote the settling of Eretz Yisrael, it is inappropriate to uproot trees. There are those who say that it is for a different reason: It is due to the weakening of the land already caused by the tree roots, as it made the land unsuitable for other uses. Therefore, the owner of the trees may not just take them and leave the land in its worsened condition. The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference between these reasons? The practical difference between them is whether outside of Eretz Yisrael, the one who planted the trees may uproot them.
3MISHNA: In the case of one who rents out a house in a town to another in the rainy season, the owner cannot evict the renter from the house from the festival of Sukkot until Passover. If the rental was in the summer, he must give thirty days’ notice before he can evict him. And for a house located in the cities [ uvakerakim ], both in the summer and in the rainy season he must give twelve months’ notice. And for shops that he rented out, both in towns and in cities, he must give twelve months’ notice. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For a baker’s shop or a dyer’s shop, one must give three years’ notice.
4GEMARA: The Gemara asks: What is different about the rainy season that one cannot evict his renter? The Gemara suggests: Because when a person rents a house during the rainy season, it is presumed that he rents it for the entire rainy season. The Gemara challenges this: But in the summer as well, the same halakha should apply, because when a person rents a house, he rents it for the entire summer. The Gemara offers a different explanation: Rather, in the rainy season, this is the reason that he cannot evict him: It is because at that time, houses for renting are not found on the market. Since alternative housing is not available, even if he is renting the house month by month, one cannot evict him.
5The Gemara asks: If that is the reason for the first clause of the mishna, say and try to explain accordingly the latter clause that states: And for a house located in the cities, both in the summer and in the rainy season, one must give twelve months’ notice. It arises from this ruling that if the twelve month rental period would be completed during the rainy season, he could evict him then. But why is this acceptable, given that houses for renting are not found on the market at that time?
6Given this difficulty, the Gemara offers a different interpretation of the mishna: Rav Yehuda said: The mishna teaches about the requirement to give notice before eviction, and this is what it is saying: Although in general in a case of one who rents out a house to another without specification of when the rental period will end, both the landlord and the renter can end the rental whenever they so decide, the landlord cannot evict the renter during the rainy season, i.e., from the festival of Sukkot until Passover, unless he gives him notice of thirty days from the outset, i.e., before the rainy season begins. Since it would still be summer, it would be possible for the renter to find alternate housing. But if a fixed rental period was agreed upon, the renter may be evicted upon its completion without prior notice.
7This is also taught in a baraita : When they said, in the mishna: Thirty days, and when they said: Twelve months, they said it only with regard to the requirement to give notice before eviction. And just as a landlord needs to give notice to his renter before he evicts him, so too a renter needs to give notice to his landlord before he can terminate the rental. The Gemara explains why the renter must give notice: As the landlord can say to him: Had you given me notice, I would have exerted myself to find and settle a respectable person in my house.
8Rav Asi says: If one day of the rental enters into the rainy season without notice being given, then the landlord cannot evict the renter from the festival of Sukkot until Passover. The Gemara challenges this: But didn’t we say that he must be given thirty days’ notice? Rav Asi’s ruling indicates that if notice was given even a day before Sukkot , that would be sufficient. The Gemara explains: This is what Rav Asi is saying: If one day of these thirty days of notice enters into the rainy season without notice being given, i.e., if notice was given fewer than thirty days before Sukkot , then the landlord cannot evict the renter from the festival of Sukkot until Passover.
9Rav Huna said: And if the landlord comes to increase the rental fee, he may increase it without prior notice. Rav Naḥman said to him: One who does so is like this person who grabbed another by his testicles so that he would relinquish his cloak, i.e., he has not provided the person with a true choice. By increasing the rent, one is effectively evicting him and so he should have to give thirty days’ notice. The Gemara defends Rav Huna’s opinion: No, the ruling is necessary in a case where the rental of houses became more expensive. Since the landlord would lose out by preserving the rent, it is acceptable for him to increase the rent without prior notice.
10§ It is obvious that if the house in which the landlord lives fell down, then he can evict his renter from the house that he is renting to him, without giving notice, as he can say to him: You are no better than me. Since the landlord needs to find a new house to live in, he can demand that he should move into his rental property and it should be his renter who must look for new housing. He cannot be expected to have given notice, as he could not have foreseen that his house would fall down.
11If a landlord sold the rental property to another, or bequeathed it to his heirs, or gave it to another person as a gift, the renter can say to the new owner: You are no better than the person from whom your ownership of the property came. Since he was required to give me notice before evicting me, so must you.
12If a landlord marries off his son, and wishes to evict his current renter to provide a home for the newly married couple, then we see: If it was possible for him to have given notice, as the couple had already been engaged for some time, then he is required to give notice and cannot evict his renter otherwise, but if it was not possible to give timely notice, then he can say to his renter: You are no better than me and my needs. I need the property now for my son, so it should be you who should go and find alternate housing.
13The Gemara relates: There was a certain man who purchased a boat laden with wine. He was unable to find a place to store it. He said to a certain woman: Do you have place to rent to me? She said to him: No. He was aware that she did own a suitable place, so he went and betrothed her, and then she gave him a lease on the place for him to bring in his wine there. He went back to his home and wrote a bill of divorce for her, which he then sent to her. Upon receiving the bill of divorce and realizing that the betrothal had been nothing more than a ruse, she went and hired porters, paying them from the wine itself, and instructed them to take the wine out of her place and put it on the road. Upon being presented with this case, Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said, paraphrasing Obadiah 1:15: Like he did, so shall be done to him, his repayment shall come back on his head; she was entitled to do as she did.
14The Gemara explains Rav Huna’s ruling: It is not necessary to state that the woman is entitled to evict the man if the place she rented out to him was a courtyard that did not stand to be rented out, in which case she is not expected to rent it to anyone; rather, even if it was a courtyard that stands to be rented out, she could say to him: It is amenable for me to rent the place to everyone else, but it is not amenable to me to rent it to you, as you are to me like a preying lion. Since you deceived me, I do not wish to have any dealings with you.
15§ The mishna teaches: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For a baker’s shop or a dyer’s shop, one must give three years’ notice. It was taught in a baraita ( Tosefta 8:27): The need for this unusually long period of notice is due to the fact that the length of the credit extended by these businesses to their customers is extensive. They must be provided with enough time to collect their debts before being forced to relocate.
16MISHNA: If one rents out a house to another, the landlord bears the responsibility for providing the door, for providing the bolt, for providing the lock, and for providing every item in the house that is essential for normal living and requires the work of a craftsman to provide it. But with regard to an item that does not require the work of a craftsman, the renter is responsible to make it.
17The manure found in the courtyard of a rented house is the property of the landlord, and the renter has rights only to the ashes that come out of the oven and the stove, which can also be used as a fertilizer.
18GEMARA: The Sages taught in a baraita : If one rents out a house to another, the landlord bears the responsibility to install doors for it, to open windows in its walls to provide light for it, to strengthen its ceiling, and to support its cross beam. And the renter bears the responsibility to make a ladder for it to provide access to the roof, to erect a parapet for its roof (see Deuteronomy 22:8), to construct a gutter for it to carry away rain which falls on the roof, and to plaster its roof so that rain does not leak through it.
19The students in the study hall raised a dilemma before Rav Sheshet: Upon whom is the obligation to affix a mezuza (see Deuteronomy 6:9)? The Gemara expresses surprise at the question: Why did they ask about a mezuza ; doesn’t Rav Mesharshiyya say: Affixing a mezuza is the obligation of the resident? It is certainly the responsibility of the renter. The Gemara emends the dilemma: Rather, their dilemma was: Upon whom is the responsibility to prepare the place where the mezuza will be affixed, e.g., to bore a slit in a stone doorpost to insert the mezuza there?
20Rav Sheshet said to them: You learned this in the mishna: With regard to an item that does not require the work of a craftsman, the renter is responsible to make it. And this task is also something that does not require the work of a craftsman, as it is possible