Talmud - Kiddushin 26a קידושין כ״ו א׳

Alternatively, the buyer can lift an elephant by using bundles of vines. He leads the elephant to them, and when the elephant stands on the bundles of vines this is considered lifting the elephant.

MISHNA: Property that serves as a guarantee, i.e., land or other items that are fixed in the earth, can be acquired by means of giving money, by means of giving a document, or by means of taking possession of it. Property that does not serve as a guarantee, i.e., movable property, can be acquired only by pulling. Property that does not serve as a guarantee can be acquired along with property that serves as a guarantee by means of giving money, by means of giving a document, or by means of taking possession of them. The movable property is transferred to the buyer’s possession when it is purchased together with the land, by means of an act of acquisition performed on the land.

Generally, one is not obligated to take an oath concerning the denial of a claim with regard to land. The mishna continues: And in a legal dispute involving both land and movable property, if the defendant makes a partial admission of the claim with regard to the movable property, thereby rendering himself obligated to take an oath denying any responsibility for the remaining property, the movable property binds the property that serves as a guarantee, i.e., the land, so that he is forced to take an oath concerning the land as well, despite the fact that one is generally not obligated to take an oath for a claim involving land.

GEMARA: The Gemara inquires: From where do we derive that land can be acquired by means of money? Ḥizkiyya said that the verse states: “They shall acquire fields with money” (Jeremiah 32:44). The Gemara asks: But if the proof is from that verse, one can say that the acquisition is not valid unless there is a document as well, as it is written in the same verse: “And write a document and sign” (Jeremiah 32:44). The Gemara answers: If it were written: They shall acquire fields with money, at the end of the verse, it would be as you said, that one must also write a document so that he can acquire the land with money. Now that it is written “they shall acquire” at the beginning of the verse, this teaches that the money itself effects acquisition of the land, and the document is merely a proof.

Rav says: They taught that land can be acquired by means of money alone, i.e., without a document, only in a place where the custom is that they do not write documents; but in a place where the custom is that they write documents one does not acquire land until a document is given to him. And if he specified that he wishes to acquire the land from the time of the money transfer, then he has specified his wishes, and the land is acquired once the money is given.

The Gemara comments: This is like that which Rav Idi bar Avin would do. When purchasing land, Rav Idi bar Avin would say: If I wish to acquire it by means of money, I will acquire it in that manner, and if I wish to acquire it by means of a document, I will acquire it by that method. He would stipulate at the outset that he reserves the right to choose how the transaction will be finalized. The Gemara elaborates: If I wish to acquire it by means of money, I will acquire it in that way, as, if you wish to retract your participation in the sale you cannot retract it, because the money has already changed hands. And if I wish to acquire the land by means of a document, I will acquire it in that way, as, if I wish to retract my participation in the sale I can retract it provided that I have not received a document of purchase.

§ The mishna teaches that land can be purchased by means of a document. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? If we say that it is because it is written: “And write in a document and sign, and witnesses shall testify” (Jeremiah 32:44), but didn’t you say that the document mentioned in the verse is merely a document of proof? Rather, it is derived from here: “And I took the deed of purchase” (Jeremiah 32:11), an expression that indicates that the document itself effects the acquisition. Shmuel said: The Sages taught that the document itself effects acquisition only in the case of a deed of a gift. But with regard to a sale, it does not effect acquisition until the buyer gives the seller money. The document itself does not effect the acquisition.

Rav Hamnuna raises an objection to this from a baraita: How is acquisition performed by means of a document? If he wrote for him on paper or earthenware, even though the paper or the earthenware is not worth one peruta: My field is sold to you, or: My field is given to you as a gift, it is thereby sold or given. This indicates that a document is sufficient to effect acquisition both in the case of a sale and in the case of a gift. Rav Hamnuna raised the objection and he resolved it: The baraita is referring to one who sells his field due to its poor quality. The seller wants to be rid of his field due to its decreasing value and would like to transfer ownership of it as quickly as possible. In this case writing a document is enough to complete the acquisition.

Rav Ashi says: It can be claimed that the entire baraita is referring to one case, that of a gift one wished to give another. The baraita does not deal with a sale at all. And why does he write for him a deed for a gift containing the language of a sale? He does it in order to enhance his power. If it turns out that there was a lien on this land, the beneficiary can collect the value of the field from the giver’s other property, as though this land had been sold to him. In other words, by writing that it is a sale, the giver grants the beneficiary the acquisition power of a buyer, but since the transaction is actually a gift, the document itself completes the acquisition.

§ The mishna further teaches that land can be acquired by means of taking possession of it. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? Ḥizkiyya said that the verse states: “And dwell in your cities that you have taken” (Jeremiah 40:10). In what manner have you taken these cities? They are taken by dwelling, which indicates that taking possession of a plot of land and dwelling there is an act demonstrating ownership, and it is itself a valid act of acquisition. A Sage from the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught a different proof: “And you shall possess it and dwell there” (Deuteronomy 11:31). How have you possessed it? You have done so by dwelling there. This teaches that land can be acquired through an act that demonstrates ownership.

§ The mishna teaches that property that does not serve as a guarantee can be acquired only by pulling. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive this? As it is written: “And if you sell any item to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor’s hand” (Leviticus 25:14). This verse speaks of an item that is acquired from hand to hand, i.e., by pulling.

The Gemara asks: And according to the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, who says that by Torah law giving money effects acquisition but pulling does not, what can be said? Rabbi Yoḥanan maintains that acquisition through pulling is a rabbinic decree, and by Torah law movable property can be acquired only by means of giving money. Why does the mishna not mention this mode of acquisition? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Yoḥanan could answer that the tanna teaches a rabbinic ordinance, which reflects the accepted practice, but he does not find it necessary to mention a mode of acquisition that applies by Torah law.

§ The mishna further states that property that does not serve as a guarantee, i.e., movable property, can be acquired along with property that serves as a guarantee, i.e., land. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Ḥizkiyya said that the verse states: “And their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah” (II Chronicles 21:3). This indicates that he gave them movable items together with the cities. He did not need to give the items to them directly, as he was able to transfer these gifts by means of the cities he gave them.

A dilemma was raised before the Sages with regard to this matter of acquisition of movable property by way of land: Do we require that this movable property be actually piled on the land that is sold or not? Rav Yosef said: Come and hear a proof from the following mishna (Pe’a 3:6). Rabbi Akiva says: The owner of any amount of land is obligated in pe’a and in first fruits,

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Kidushin 26a explores acquiring land through payment or documentation, movable goods through pulling, and how mixed claims trigger oath obligations.