Yerushalmi Gittin 4:9 ירושלמי גיטין ד׳:ט׳

MISHNAH: If somebody sells himself and his children to Gentiles¹⁹⁴As slaves., one does not buy him back¹⁹⁵With public money., but one buys his children back after their father’s death. If somebody sold his field¹⁹⁶In the Land of Israel. to a Gentile and then a Jew bought it back from him¹⁹⁷During the growing season, when the produce already was exempt from the obligation of First Fruits as Gentile property., the buyer brings first fruits because of the public good¹⁹⁸In order to encourage people to buy agricultural properties in the Land..

HALAKHAH: “If somebody sells himself and his children to Gentiles,” etc. The Mishnah, if he sold himself repeatedly. But if he sold himself once, one buys him back¹⁹⁹The Babli agrees, 46b., but if he sold himself to the games²⁰⁰As a gladiator., one does not buy him back. There was a case of one who sold himself to the games; the case came before Rebbi Abbahu, who said, what can we do? He did it for his livelihood²⁰¹Otherwise he would have starved. He agreed to buy him back with money given for charity. In the Babli, 47a, this scenario is restricted to the case of a gladiator who continues to eat only kosher..

²⁰²This is from Demay 5:9, explained there in Notes 104–109. Variants are denoted by ד. The Mishnah is Rebbi Meїr’s, since Rebbi Meїr says that a Gentile may not acquire real estate in the Land of Israel to remove it from tithes; Rebbi Jehudah and Rebbi Simeon say, a Gentile may acquire real estate in the Land of Israel to free it from tithes. Rebbi Immi in the name of Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish: The reason of Rebbi Meïr (Lev. 25:46): “You shall transmit them by inheritance to your sons after you, to inherit by the rules of real estate.” This brackets slaves with real estate. Just as you may buy slaves from them but they cannot buy from you, so real estate you may buy from them but they cannot buy from you. Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Yose said before Rebbi Yasa²⁰³This is the correct reading in ד., the following supports Rebbi Meїr (Lev. 25:23): “The land shall not be sold permanently,” absolutely. He said to him, that in itself²⁰³This is the correct reading in ד. supports Rebbi Simeon. “It shall not be sold”, because if it was sold, it would be sold absolutely. Rebbi Huna from Sepphoris said, Rebbi Ḥanina instituted in Sepphoris following Rebbi Simeon.

Rebbi Ze‘ira said before Rebbi Abbahu in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: Even though Rebbi Meїr said that a Gentile may not acquire real estate in the Land of Israel to remove it from tithes, he agrees that he has property rights. What are property rights? Rebbi Abba said, the usufruct²⁰⁴All the yield rightfully belongs to the Gentile; the land is not ownerless and taking anything from there would be theft.; as we have stated: “the buyer brings First Fruits because of the public good,” otherwise he could have brought First Fruits by the word of the Torah²⁰⁵If the fruits were not the Gentile’s, his possession could not have freed the field from the biblical obligation of First Fruits..

If somebody bought a field during a Jubilee period²⁰⁶This discussion is purely theoretical since the institution of the Jubilee was abolished with the exile of the Ten Tribes, not to be re-instated; cf. Note 66; Ševi‘it 1:1 Note 7, 10:3 Notes 83–88.. Rebbi Ila said, he acquired ownership of the ground²⁰⁷A sale of ancestral agricultural land in a Jubilee period is really a long-term lease since the land returns to the owner in the Jubilee year. The buyer certainly acquires possession; the question is whether he also acquires ownership (cf. Note 169)., Abba bar Mamal said, he did not acquire ownership of the ground. Rebbi Abba bar Mamal objected to Rebbi Ila: In your opinion, since you say that he acquired ownership of the ground, why can he not dig cisterns, ditches, and caves²⁰⁸The prohibition to alienate agricultural lands from their status is not found otherwise in either one of the Talmudim There may be a hint of this in Sifra Behar, Pereq 5(7); also Parašah 4(6) where it is stated that cisterns, ditches, and caves follow the rules of houses, which sometimes are not returned in the Jubilee year, but not those of agricultural land, which always is returned. The buyer/lessee has no right to change the legal status of the land; this seems to indicate that he has no ownership.? He said to him, the Torah said²⁰⁹Lev. 25:28., “he shall return to his inheritance,” as it was. Rebbi Jacob bar Aḥa brought this topic before them and did not know that they still disagreed: Rebbi Joḥanan said, he brings and recites; Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, he does not bring and recite²¹⁰In the Babli, 47b/48a, it is clearly stated that R. Joḥanan holds that possession is like ownership, R. Simeon ben Laqish holds that possession and ownership are distinct. In this, practice of the Babli strictly follows R. Simeon ben Laqish.. Rebbi Eleazar ben Rebbi Yose said before Rebbi Yose: Everybody agrees that he brings²¹¹Possession of the land is sufficient for the property to be subject to the duty of first fruits but not enough for the farmer to declare (Deut. 26:10) “I brought the First Fruits of the land which You gave me, o Eternal”; cf. Mishnah Bikkurim 1:2,6.. Where do they disagree? Rebbi Joḥanan said, he brings and recites; Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, he brings but does not recite.