As we discussed in the last Mishnah, a Chazakah is when a person is using property for three years and there’s no one protesting. The previous owner, for example, is not saying that it’s his land or that there was no sale. It’s quiet; there’s no protest whatsoever. Then a person establishes a Chazakah. The question, though, is what if the previous owner is not local, is not in the same area as the piece of property, and has no ability to protest? Does that mean a Chazakah is established or not?
The Mishnah says there are three different pieces of land in Eretz Yisrael in terms of the laws of Chazakah: Yehudah (Judea), Ever haYarden (Transjordan), and haGalil. Yehudah, Judea. Ever haYarden is Transjordan. And then the Galil. These three different sections of land in Eretz Yisrael are considered to be totally different areas. People wouldn’t travel often between them, even in peacetime. There were three different areas, and people wouldn’t go back and forth. A Chazakah cannot be established in one of these regions if the previous owner is in a different region from the occupier.
So, if a person was in Yehudah and someone occupied a property that he previously owned in the Galil for three years—or baGalil vehechezik biYehudah, or he was in the Galil and someone else was in a property that he owned in Yehudah for three years—then the Chazakah is not valid, even though the occupier was in that piece of land, in that property, for three years. No Chazakah is established, simply because the previous owner wasn’t there to protest. The fact that a person occupied it doesn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t be a valid excuse. It wouldn’t be an excuse to say that he lost the contract, the bill of sale. Therefore, the Mishnah concludes, ad sheyehei imo baMedinah: the Chazakah can only be established if the previous owner is with the occupier in the same piece of land, in the same province, either Yehudah, Ever haYarden, or the Galil.
Rabbi Yehudah disagrees. What did Rabbi Yehudah say? “Lo amru shalosh shanim ela kedei sheyehei b'Aspamia (Spain), v'yachzik shanah, v'yeilech v'yodiahu shanah, v'yavo l'shanah acheret” (They did not say three years except so that he would be in Spain, and he would establish possession for one year, go and notify him for one year, and come in another year.) That is what Rabbi Yehudah says. The whole purpose of the three-year Chazakah is that a person can only have a Chazakah if he’s there for three years; it’s a very long time. The only reason we do that is: let’s say the previous owner of the land, or the actual owner of the land, is in Spain. He’s far off. He’s on a business trip. He’s living in another country. Then somebody comes, squats on his land, and takes his land. What’s going to happen? Somebody who is a neighbor, somebody who’s a relative, is going to go off and get him and inform him of what’s going on. So even if the owner is in a far-off land and somebody takes his land for one year, what’s going to happen? Somebody is going to travel all the way to Spain and tell him; that will take another full year to inform him. Then, during the third year, the actual owner is going to come back, reclaim his land, and properly protest.
Rabbi Yehudah disagrees with the Tanna Kamma (first tanna) of the Mishnah. The Tanna Kamma of the Mishnah says the whole point of the three years is to establish a Chazakah, because a person keeps track of his bill of sale until three years have passed without anyone challenging it, and then he puts it aside. According to Rabbi Yehudah, the whole three-year period was made for the benefit of the previous owner. The previous owner has time to return from a far-off land if he wants to protest against somebody who is squatting, occupying his land illegally. Therefore, according to Rabbi Yehudah, somebody can make a Chazakah on land even if the owner is not in the same area.