Bava Basra 140a

בבא בתרא ק״מ ע״א

Bava Batra 140a

Learn Bava Basra 140a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How a small estate (נכסים מועטין) is divided between daughters' sustenance and sons' inheritance: רבא's rule, what happens if the estate's value changes, and whether a widow's sustenance counts in the calculation.

Overview

The גמרא rejects a view that would hand the daughters the whole estate. It adopts רבא's rule instead: the daughters' sustenance is set aside until they become adults, and the sons get the rest. It then states that if a large estate shrinks, the sons keep it, since they already acquired it. Next it asks what happens when a small estate grows. It answers from רבי יוחנן's ruling that orphans' sale of a small estate is valid, which shows the heirs still own it. After that, רבי ירמיה asks רבי אבהו a chain of questions about which claims are subtracted when deciding whether an estate is 'small'. The chain runs from the widow's sustenance, to support pledged to a stepdaughter, to a debt owed to a creditor. Some report that he asked the chain in reverse order, starting with the creditor, and that version continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (9)

1. ChallengeShould the daughters really take everything?
2. Resolutionרבא: Set aside the daughters' food, the rest goes to the sons
3. StatementObvious case: a large estate that shrank stays with the heirs
4. QuestionWhat if a small estate grows?
5. ResponseProof: orphans' sale of a small estate is valid
6. QuestionDoes the widow's sustenance make the estate count as smaller?
7. QuestionDoes a stepdaughter's support reduce the estate?
8. QuestionDoes a debt owed to a creditor reduce the estate?
9. QuestionAnother version: the questions asked in reverse order