Flax has long been a valuable crop because it is not only edible but can also be spun into fibers for textiles, but processing it is labor-intensive, requiring the stalks to be vigorously beaten to separate the seed pods. This was difficult to do and, as it turns out, sometimes dangerous:

When the household members of bar Maryon, son of Ravin, beat their flax, the chaff flew off and hurt people. Those people came before Ravina to complain. Ravina said to them, “If we say that Rabbi Yosei gives in with regard to his arrows, this ruling applies only if the harmful object moves by his direct force. Here, on the other hand, it is the wind that carries the chaff.”

To explain: We learned in a Mishnah that a tree must be planted at least 25 cubits from a water reservoir to prevent its roots from breaking through the water reservoir and making it unusable. If the water reservoir is on one plot of land and the tree is on another, Rabbi Yosei says that this rule does not apply because everyone has the right to do whatever he wants on his own land. But this does not mean that all behaviors of the neighbors are acceptable to Rabbi Yosei:

Rabbi Yosei admits regarding his arrows.

Rabbi Yosei’s permissiveness has its limits. You may be able to plant a tree even if your neighbor has dug a water reservoir relatively close to the property line, but an archery range, Rabbi Yossi explains, must be placed a safe distance from the property line to ensure that stray arrows do not harm the neighbor.

Is the projectile chaff then like an arrow? In the case of the bar Maryon household and their flying flax, Ravina rules that Rabbi Yosei’s arrow concession does not apply. Why? The chaff, although initially separated by those working on the threshing floor, ends up in the neighbor’s yard because it is blown there by the wind. This, says Ravina, is different from an arrow propelled by human power. This is good news for the bar Maryons, who are consequently not held responsible for the chaff-inflicted injuries of their neighbors.

Fortunately for the Maryon family, their case did not end up before Mar bar Rav Ashi, who challenged Ravina’s decision—not on the basis of whether wind-blown chaff is comparable to arrows, but rather on the basis of the laws of Shabbat. Winnowing is one of the prohibited categories of labor on Shabbat, and, as Mar bar Rav Ashi reminds us, the laws of Shabbat make no distinction between winnowing on the threshing floor and winnowing with the wind: both are prohibited. If winnowing and winnowing with the wind are considered the same for Shabbat, says Mar bar Rav Ashi, then they should be considered the same here as well. And if he had his way, the members of bar Maryon’s household would be held responsible for the damage caused by the chaff from their flax.

Read the entire Bava Batra 26 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Teachings Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on July 21, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, please sign up here.