Somebody had a wall next to his friend’s garden, and the wall fell into the garden. The owner of the garden, who now had the stones in his garden, told the owner of the wall, “Clear out your stones. Your stones fell into my garden. Clear them out. I don’t want them here.” But the owner of the wall said, “No, they’re not mine anymore. They’re yours. You keep them. You keep them away. You’re responsible for clearing them away.” Ein shom'in lo. The owner of the garden doesn’t have to listen to him. They’re not his stones. The stones are really the property of the owner of the wall, and since they’re causing damage to the garden and are a nuisance to the owner of the garden, the owner of the wall is obligated to remove them. But if the owner of the garden accepted them and said, “Okay, you know what? Fine, I’ll take those stones. I’ll make them mine, and I’ll clear them away on my own,” and then the owner of the wall changed his mind and wanted to keep them after the owner of the garden had accepted and removed the stones, putting all the expense into clearing them away, the owner of the wall told him, “You know what? I see that you went through all the expense of clearing away those stones. Here, I’m going to pay you for them, and I want to take my stones back.” Ein shom'in lo. We don’t listen to the owner of the wall. We don’t listen to him because the owner of the garden accepted these stones. He was the owner and acquired those stones, so once he acquired them, the owner of the wall had no more jurisdiction over them.
Here’s an unrelated case, but with a similar halacha (Jewish law): If somebody hires a worker to gather straw and stubble, after the worker finishes the job, he tells his boss, “Give me my money. Give me my pay.” The boss tells him, “Take what you did, the straw that you gathered, as your wages. I don’t want to pay you. You take the straw instead.” Ein shom'in lo. The worker doesn’t have to listen to him. He doesn’t want to be paid in straw. We don’t listen to the owner or employer who wants to give him straw. He has to pay him in cash. The worker has the right to be paid with money and not with goods. But once the worker accepted the straw as payment, and then the employer changed his mind and said, “You know what? I need that straw. I need to sell it in the market. I need to do something with it. So, you know what? Give me my straw, and I’ll pay you with cash. I’ll pay you with your money,” Ein shom'in lo. We don’t listen to the employer. The worker is allowed to keep the straw once he acquired it. He can’t be coerced or forced by the employer to give it up.
The Mishnah continues with other things that could fall and cause damage in the Reshut HaRabim (public domain). Somebody was taking manure out into the public domain. He wanted to give it to a farmer, taking it out of the animal pen so someone else could make use of it in their field. Manure, if left out in public, could cause damage to people. Therefore, a person is only allowed to remove it from the animal pen if he’s giving it directly to somebody right away.
In the times of the Mishnah, they would make cement or bricks by kneading it, soaking it in clay, and then kneading it. Then they would lay it out in the sun to dry. Could these procedures be done in the Reshut HaRabim? Ein shorin. A person is not allowed to soak clay in the Reshut HaRabim. If you wanted to make bricks or cement, you’re also not allowed to make bricks in the public domain, because making these things takes a long time, and if they’re made in a public area, in the Reshut HaRabim, they could cause damage to somebody. But you’re allowed to knead clay in the Reshut HaRabim if you want to make cement there, provided you’re going to take that cement away and use it right away. But you’re not allowed to knead clay in the Reshut HaRabim to make bricks, because it has to be kneaded for a long time and could cause damage to somebody passing by.
Now we’ll talk about somebody who’s building a building right on the edge of the Reshut HaRabim. Is he allowed to bring materials through the public domain in order to build? Somebody building a building right on the edge of the Reshut HaRabim has to go through the Reshut HaRabim to bring his materials and supplies. As soon as the person brings the stones into the public domain, the builder has to take them from him there and build with them. In other words, you’re allowed to walk through the Reshut HaRabim with your materials, but you’re not allowed to leave them there for someone to come pick up later, because somebody may fall over them and hurt themselves. If, during the short time he’s passing through the public domain, the materials cause damage to somebody, then the owner has to go through the Reshut HaRabim. He has to go through the Reshut HaRabim to pay for the damage. Even though we said he was allowed to bring the stones into the Reshut HaRabim, he has to be very careful not to cause damage to anybody around there, and if he does, he would be responsible for it.
The next opinion is going to say that when a person is building, doing construction, he’s allowed to keep materials in the Reshut HaRabim. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says a person is even allowed to prepare the materials he needs for 30 days before he starts to work in the public domain. According to the Chachamim (Sages), a person is allowed to store up and build up what he needs to make sure he has everything, even in the public domain, and even if the materials cause damage during that time, the person would not be responsible to pay for it.