Bava Basra 101b

בבא בתרא ק״א ע״ב

Bava Batra 101b

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Topic

How to place the two back burial niches (כוכין) in a burial cave without disrespect or overlap, and the start of a new discussion on finding buried bodies.

Overview

The משנה teaches that a burial cave has eight כוכין: three on each side wall and two on the wall opposite the entrance. The גמרא rejects one way of placing the back two niches, calling it 'a burial of donkeys' because it is disrespectful. According to רבי יוחנן, the two niches are dug diagonally out of the back corners. The גמרא objects that these corner niches would run into the niches next to them. רב אשי answers that they are dug lower in the wall, and he proves this from רבי שמעון's four caves around a courtyard, which could not be built any other way. רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע suggests the four caves could instead work by slanting the niches like palm leaves, but the גמרא shows with a measurement of the diagonal that eight niches cannot fit, so his idea is a mistake. A second answer to the corner problem is that those niches were small ones for נפלים. Finally, the גמרא opens a new topic by quoting a משנה in נזיר about finding one or two bodies buried in the normal way.

Opening lines

The steps (10)

1. RejectionThat arrangement is disrespectful
2. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: place them in the corners
3. ChallengeThe corner niches would touch
4. Resolutionרב אשי: dig them lower
5. ProofProof from רבי שמעון's four caves
6. ConclusionSo here too, he digs deeper
7. ResolutionAngling the niches like a palm branch
8. RejectionThe geometry shows the palm-branch idea is a mistake
9. ResolutionThe corner niches were small ones for stillborn babies
10. StatementA new משנה: finding one or two buried bodies