Here we’ll talk about different types of buildings that are built to ensure privacy and security in a courtyard or a city, and about the responsibility of the people living in those areas to pay for them.
The Mishnah says that we obligate a person to contribute to building a gatehouse and a door for the common courtyard that the house opened into. In the times of the Mishnah, people would have multiple homes together, right next to each other, all opening into a common yard, a courtyard. Many of these layouts had a courtyard with multiple homes, and the courtyards would all lead into a common mavoi (alleyway). What we’re saying here is that a gatehouse, with the option of having a guard, has to be built in every single courtyard where there are multiple homes. If people want to put it up, everyone within that courtyard has to contribute and pay for it to ensure the privacy of the people who live there. They have to put in a door and a little booth, a little guardhouse for a possible security guard.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel omer—Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that not every courtyard would require a gatehouse. According to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, if you look at how things are laid out, the mavoi, which is the alleyway between multiple chatzerot (courtyards), leads into the Reshut HaRabim, the public area, the main street. He would say that only the courtyards close to the main street really have to worry about putting in a security guard or a gatehouse, because there aren’t many people loitering in those areas unless they’re very close to the main street. Therefore, only those types of courtyards need a public gatehouse, and we can only pressure the people who live in that type of courtyard to contribute to it.
According to the Tanna Kamma (first tanna), every single courtyard needs a gatehouse. Even though there are certain courtyards that are not near the street, he would say that people come from the street, go into the alleyways, and then even go into the courtyards, and people eventually get close. The people in the courtyards would need protection from those people. According to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, we’re not worried about that. But Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel would agree—everyone agrees to this fact—that all the residents have to pay for the door to the entranceway: every single courtyard needs a door to have privacy from outsiders.
Now, when we’re talking about a city, the next part of the Mishnah says that we force every single member of the city—it’s like a tax on every member of the city—to pay for a surrounding wall, a door, and a bar for the city gates to protect the city from outside people coming in. They would build a wall, and around that wall they would have security to make sure that no one comes in at night. There would be doors, gates, and every single resident of that city would have to contribute to the protection.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that he disagrees with the blanket statement of the Tanna Kamma. Not every single city needs a wall, according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel. Only cities that are very close to another country, to the border of another country, are vulnerable to attacks. They are attacked by a foreign army, and therefore only those types of cities need a wall for protection. Therefore, only those types of residents would have to contribute to that type of wall around those types of cities.
Now we’ll talk about which people staying in the city have to contribute to the expense. How long does a person have to be in the city to be considered a resident of that city, and therefore have to contribute to these types of taxes to protect the city? 12 months. Someone who is new to town and has not lived there for 12 months cannot be forced to contribute to the cost of security. Once he’s been there for a year, he’s considered to be a resident, and therefore he would have to contribute.
The Mishnah continues and gives an exception to this rule. If somebody buys a house, as opposed to living there or renting, he would have to pay for the security immediately. He doesn’t have that 12-month gap before he becomes an actual resident. The moment he buys a house, it’s obvious that he plans on being there long-term, and he’s considered to be like somebody who’s there permanently. He doesn’t have to wait for that year. He has to contribute to the defense and protection of the city right away.