daf bit: Bava Batra 60
The mishna turns to laws of privacy. If two houses share a courtyard, the owner of one may not place a door facing the other's door or a window facing the other's window, nor may he enlarge ones that are already present. On the side of the street, however, he may do so. Where do we learn the rule for privacy? The g'mara tells us: from the story of Bilaam, who lifted up his eyes and saw Israel dwelling according to their tribes. This indicates (the g'mara says) that he saw that their doors did not exactly face each other, and this caused him to say: worthy are these that the Divine presence should rest upon them! Why then is there an exception when the houses are across a street? Because the one can say to the other: you have to preserve your privacy from the eyes of those on the street anyway, so you might as well from me too. (60a)
I expected the "across the street" argument to be about distance. Here the argument is "I'm not making it any worse for you".
Originally posted at http://cellio.dreamwidth.org/2000439.html.
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