Summer was rapidly approaching its end. The neighborhood children had all returned from camp; school was starting up again. Bright rays of sunlight continued to shine, but the days were becoming noticeably shorter.
Mr. and Mrs. Adler were sitting in their backyard on Shabbos afternoon, enjoying the remaining days of sun. A pleasant breeze blew, rustling the leaves of the trees all around. Luscious clusters of grapes hung over the fence from a neighbor's vine, adding a beautiful splash of purple to the green leaves. The neighbor across the fence, who enjoyed gardening in his spare time, was particularly proud of these grapes and used them to produce home-made wine.
Mrs. Adler was reading a recent issue of the Jewish Press, flipping through the pages and commenting on the various articles. She came across the article, "Whose Tomatoes?," which discussed ownership of fruit growing in a rented property. Suddenly, a gust of wind shook the grapes and a few of them fell down into their yard.
Mrs. Adler looked up at the clusters of grapes hanging over the fence and wondered: To whom do these clusters belong? Although the vine clearly belonged to the neighbor who planted it in his property, many of the clusters grew over the fence in their yard. Sometimes, the vine got out of hand and had to be trimmed.
She turned to her husband and asked: "Menachem, did you read the article about the tomatoes?"
"Yes," he replied, "it was quite interesting. What about it?"
"It made me wonder about these grapes," she said, pointing the grapes hanging over the fence. "To whom do they belong?"
"Hmmm, I never really thought about it," he replied. "I suppose that what grows over the fence may be ours, but I'm not really sure."
"I’d love to find out," said his wife. "Can you check with Rabbi Dayan when you see him?"
"I'll see Rabbi Dayan at Mincha this afternoon," replied Mr. Adler. "If I get a chance, I'll ask him."
On the way to shul, Mr. Adler passed by the house of a non-Jewish neighbor, whose apple-tree protruded out over the street. "I'll check about these apples also," he thought to himself.
After Mincha, people began walking downstairs to the function room for Seuda Shlishis. Mr. Adler accompanied Rabbi Dayan.
"My wife raised an interesting monetary question this afternoon," Mr. Adler said. "Our neighbor has a grape vine growing on the backyard fence, and some clusters of grapes hang over the fence into our yard. To whom do they belong?"
Rabbi Dayan thought for a moment. "This question was posed to Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l many years ago. (Igrot Moshe, C.M. vol. I, #43) He ruled that the fruit belong to the owner of the vine. Rav Moshe explains that although the Gemara (B.B. 27b) debates whether bikkurim can be brought from a tree whose roots or branches extend into someone else's property, ownership of the fruit is determined solely by where the stem emanates from the ground. Since the vine's stem emanates from your neighbor's property, even the clusters of grapes over the fence are his. The Rama also rules that the branches follow the base of the tree. (C.M. 167:2)"
"If the grapes are his," asked Mr. Adler, "am I allowed to trim the branches that interfere with my yard?"
"Yes," said Rabbi Dayan. "The Gemara teaches that branches of a tree that interfere with public traffic can be cut down. The same would seem true of branches that interfere with someone else's private property. Nonetheless, despite your right to trim these branches, the fruit belong to their owner."
Rabbi Dayan and Mr. Adler washed and sat down for Seuda Shlishis. They helped themselves to some whitefish salad.
Mr. Adler turned to Rabbi Dayan, "Would it make a difference whether the neighbor is Jewish or not?"
"No," replied Rabbi Dayan. "Rav Moshe writes explicitly that since monetary ownership is determined solely by the stem, there is no difference between a Jew and a non-Jew. Stealing from a non-Jew is also prohibited."
Mr. Adler took a drink and thought for a moment of the grapes that fell to the ground. He turned again to Rabbi Dayan, "What about individual grapes that fall onto the ground?"
"In principle, there is no difference between whole clusters and individual grapes," said Rabbi Dayan. "Both belong to your neighbor. However, in practice, we can assume that he is interested only in the whole clusters, not in individual grapes that fall into your yard. Therefore, you can typically take individual grapes that fall, since he most likely doesn't mind, but you cannot take the clusters without asking his permission."
Rabbi Dayan took a piece of cake, and finished just in time to begin singing Mizmor l'David.
