We'll continue talking about distance and setbacks that you have to have when it comes to property so damage doesn't happen. The Mishnah says we have to make sure that there's a distance of 25 amot (cubits) between a tree and the entrance of the city. There's a certain beauty in having an open area, open space at the entrance of a city, with no tree right when you walk in. There's a beauty. We're specifically talking about Eretz Yisrael (Israel) over here. In order to enhance the beauty of Israel, we make sure that there's an open area at the entrance, and no trees are allowed for the first 25 amot. A tree would make the appearance look stuffed, and therefore it's forbidden to plant trees over there, and all trees are removed. And if there's a carob tree or a sycamore tree, where there are a tremendous amount of branches and leaves, we say that these have to be at least 50 amot away from the city entrance because they are so huge that they're an eyesore, and therefore we want them to be even farther back from the entrance of the city. Abba Shaul omer, says Abba Shaul, every single type of tree has to be at least 50 amot. Any type of tree that doesn't bear fruit has to be at least 50 amot away from the city entrance because all types of trees within that area would take away from the beauty of the city. Not only 25 amot, but even 50 amot.
If there's a tree within either 25 or 50 amot, depending on who we hold like, that was planted there before the city was built, then we still remove it. It doesn't matter. We remove these trees no matter what. But what about compensation for the owner of that tree, whom the city forced to have it removed? If the city was there first and then the tree was planted, we cut down the tree and do not pay anything to the owner. The owner did this against the halacha, against the law. You're not allowed to plant anything within this radius. He planted it anyway, so therefore we remove it and we don't pay him. Ve'im ha'ilan kadam, kotzetz ve'noten damim, but if the tree was there first and then the city was built around it, we cut down the tree, but we also pay the owner. The owner did nothing wrong. We went onto his area in a way. He had a tree there, and we then built around him, so therefore we cut it down in order to beautify the city, but we pay him as well.
Safek zeh kadam, safek zeh kadam, kotzetz ve'eino noten damim. If we don't know what came first, if the tree was planted first or the city was there before the tree, we don't know at all. So what we do is we cut down the tree. We're legally allowed to cut down the tree either way. When it comes to the monetary payment, we do not pay the owner because we say, ha-motzi me-chaveiro alav ha-re'aya. If he wants to take money from us, from the city, from the other people, residents of the city, he has to bring proof that he's owed that money. He can only bring proof that he's owed that money if he could prove that his tree was there before the city was there. He can't prove that, so therefore we say no one pays this man. We just remove the tree.