Bava Basra 140b
בבא בתרא ק״מ ע״ב
Bava Batra 140b
Learn Bava Basra 140b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.
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Topic
Who gets fed from a small estate: the widow, the daughter, אדמון's protest, and the טומטום
Overview
The amud opens at the end of a list of questions רבי ירמיה asked רבי אבהו about claims on a small estate. רבי אבהו answers one of them, quoting רבי אסי: when there is not enough for both, the widow is fed before the daughter, just as a daughter is fed before the sons. The גמרא then explains אדמון's protest in the משנה, 'Because I am male, I lose out?' אביי says it is about a male's duty to learn Torah. רבא rejects this and explains that a son, who inherits a large estate, should not lose everything in a small one. A new משנה then rules on a טומטום, a person whose gender is unknown. In inheritance and support, the doubt is used to push him into the other group. With a gift promised by gender he gets nothing, but with a gift to 'whatever is born' he collects. אביי and רבא argue whether a טומטום pushed to the daughters still gets support, and the גמרא begins testing them with a ברייתא that says he 'inherits like a son and is supported like a daughter.' The challenge to אביי continues on the next amud.
Opening lines
בַּת אִשְׁתּוֹ, מַהוּ שֶׁתְּמַעֵט בַּנְּכָסִים?
His wife's daughter: does she reduce the estate?
אַלְמְנָתוֹ, מַהוּ שֶׁתְּמַעֵט בַּנְּכָסִים?
His widow: does she reduce the estate?
אַלְמְנָתוֹ וּבַת – אֵי זֶה מֵהֶן קוֹדֶמֶת?
His widow and a daughter: which of them comes first?
אֲמַר לֵיהּ: זִיל הָאִידָּנָא וְתָא לִמְחַר.
He said to him: Go now and come back tomorrow.
The steps (16)
- QuestionThree questions about who gets fed from the estate
- ResponseThe widow comes before the daughter
- QuestionWhat is אדמון actually saying?
- Responseאביי: a male should be free to learn Torah
- Challengeרבא: then only Torah learners would inherit?
- Resolutionרבא: an heir of a big estate shouldn't lose everything in a small one
- StatementNew משנה: the טומטום gets pushed to whichever side loses
- StatementA gift promised to a boy or to a girl
- StatementTwins of both genders, and a טומטום who gets nothing
- Statement'Whatever my wife bears' includes a טומטום
- ChallengeIs the טומטום treated like a daughter? The later clause says he gets nothing
- Resolutionאביי: he is pushed off and gets nothing
- Resolutionרבא: he does get a share, and the later clause follows רבן שמעון בן גמליאל
- ProofSource for רבן שמעון בן גמליאל: a טומטום is neither male nor female
- ChallengeA ברייתא says a טומטום is supported like a daughter
- ChallengeHow the ברייתא fits רבא's view