4. Sustainability in Settling the Land of Israel

(9) bringing us to this place and giving us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (10) Wherefore I now bring the first fruits of the soil which You, יהוה, have given me.”....

The Gemara relates: There were these certain goats that ate peeled barley [ḥushela] in Neharde’a. The owner of the peeled barley came and seized the goats, and was claiming a large sum of money for the barley from the owner of the goats.

(7) One may not raise small domesticated animals, i.e., sheep and goats, in settled areas of Eretz Yisrael, as they graze on people’s crops. But one may raise them in Syria, despite the fact that with regard to many other halakhot Syria is treated like Eretz Yisrael, and in the wilderness of Eretz Yisrael.

...

There is a discrepancy between Hebrew text in Sefaria. I used Sefaria text but does not have translation. The translation in CN original is of text that does not appear here....

(1) אין מגדלין בהמה דקה בארץ ישראל – because the settling of the land of Israel which causes the loss of the seeds.

(3) After the ashes were cleared to the middle of the altar, the priests began raising logs onto the altar in order to assemble the arrangement of wood on which the offerings were burned. The tanna asks: And is wood from all the trees fit for the arrangement? The tanna replies: Wood from all the trees is fit for the arrangement, except for wood from the vine and from the olive tree, but the priests were accustomed to assemble the arrangement with wood from these trees: With young branches of the fig tree, of the nut tree, and of pinewood.

§ Wood from all the trees is fit for the arrangement, except for wood from the olive tree and from the vine. The Gemara asks: What is the reason that wood from these trees is not fit for the arrangement? Rav Pappa said: It is due to the fact that they have thick knots in their branches, which cause the wood to burn poorly and produce excessive smoke. Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: Although these trees are unfit for the arrangement primarily because they burn poorly, there is an additional reason: They are not used because using them would deplete the olive trees and grapevines, which would be detrimental to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael. ...One Sage, Rabbi Eliezer, holds that although the wood of the trees that he deems unfit for the arrangement, e.g., the hackberry tree and the oak, are not knotted from within, since they are knotted on the outside, we do not bring wood from these trees for the arrangement. And one Sage, the first tanna, holds that since these are not knotted from within, even though they are knotted on the outside, we do bring wood from these trees for the arrangment. But according to the one who said that the wood of the olive and of the vine are not used because it would be detrimental to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael, the palm tree should also be unfit for the arrangement. Isn’t it also subject to the consideration that cutting it down would be detrimental to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael? It is also one of the species about which Eretz Yisrael is praised. If so, why does the first tanna deem the palm tree fit for the arrangement? The Gemara explains that Rav Aḥa bar Ya’akov could say to you: It is unnecessary to cite the baraita in order to raise this difficulty, as the mishna itself states that the fig tree is a preferred source of firewood. And according to your reasoning, isn’t the fig tree subject to the consideration that cutting it down would be detrimental to the settlement of Eretz Yisrael? It is also one of the species about which Eretz Yisrael is praised. Rather, what have you to say? One must say that the mishna is referring to a fig tree that does not bear fruit. With regard to the palm tree as well, the baraita is referring to a variety that does not bear fruit. The Gemara asks: But is there a fig tree that does not bear fruit? The Gemara answers: Yes, there are fig trees that do not bear fruit, and this is in accordance with a statement of Raḥava.

translation by Yonatan Neril

Certainly the reason is as is stated because of knots [these woods] are invalid, but even without the reason of knots, for a different reason they would desist [from using them.] What is it? Because of 'the settlement of
the land of Israel.¹ Since if they would burn the olive trees and grapevines, there would not be found wine to drink or oil to anoint with, and the land of Israel would be destroyed...

Rambam, Hilchot Isurei Mizbe'ach, 7:3
All new wood is fit for the arranged pile [of wood on the altar in the Temple] and they would not bring from olive trees or grapevines because of settlement of the land of Israel.

Translated by CN team, YEAR

(5) ...And likewise, with the other cities of Israel.^{​​​​​​​1}

a case where they did not hear that the captive died and presumably he will return. Rav says: The court does not authorize a relative to descend and manage the property of a captive, lest he devalue the property. Since presumably the owner of the property is alive, the relative assumes that he will eventually be required to return the property to the owner. Therefore, he does not tend to the land as if it were his own but will farm the land to increase its short-term yield, at the expense of its long-term condition. And Shmuel says: The court authorizes a relative to descend and manage the property of a captive. Since the Master said: In any case where one works a field that is not his, we appraise his work as if he were a sharecropper, the relative will not devalue the property. It is in his best interest to tend to the land to ensure that he will receive his payment...

...the Sages instituted on his behalf that he be reimbursed for his expenditures so that he will not devalue the property. Here too, the Sages instituted on behalf of the one who labored in the field that he be reimbursed for his labor, so that he will not devalue the property.

translation by Y. Neril:
‘[lest] he cause them [the estates] to deteriorate’: and he will not fertilize the land with manure and he will plant incessantly and cause the land to deteriorate.

translation by R’. Neril:
[The Rabbis enacted a measure on his behalf (of the captive)], so that he [the tenant] might not cause them [the abandoned estates] to deteriorate’—so that he will not degrade the land by planting it incessantly, and not tend it and hoe the vineyards [to aerate them].