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Bava Basra 142a

בבא בתרא קמ״ב ע״א

Bava Batra 142a

Learn Bava Basra 142a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Can an עובר acquire property? The מחלוקת of רב נחמן, רב הונא and רב ששת, רב ששת's proof from the ברייתא of the גר and its rejections, and a challenge from the משנה of a one-day-old heir.

Overview

Before this section, רב נחמן challenged רב הונא from a משנה. The גמרא asks why רב הונא didn't answer that the משנה speaks of a gift set for 'when she gives birth' (לכשתלד). It answers that רב הונא holds even לכשתלד does not work. This leads to a three-way מחלוקת. רב נחמן says a direct gift to an עובר fails but לכשתלד works, רב הונא says both fail, and רב ששת says both work. רב ששת proves his view from a ברייתא about a dead גר's property, where a second taking was needed after the pregnant widow miscarried. אביי answers that ירושה comes by itself and is different from a gift. רבא answers that the first taking was too loose to count. The גמרא explains where those two answers differ. It then challenges רב ששת from a משנה that a one-day-old inherits. The answer is that this only concerns inheriting the mother's property to pass it to the father's sons. The גמרא then asks why an עובר does not inherit in that case, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְלֵימָא לֵיהּ

But let him say to him

דְּאָמַר לִכְשֶׁתֵּלֵד!

that the case is where he said, 'when she gives birth'!

רַב הוּנָא לְטַעְמֵיהּ,

Rav Huna follows his own reasoning,

דְּאָמַר רַב הוּנָא:

for Rav Huna said:

The steps (12)

  1. QuestionWhy not answer that the case is 'when she gives birth'?
  2. Responseרב הונא holds that even 'when she gives birth' does not work
  3. StatementThree opinions on giving a gift to an unborn baby
  4. Proofרב ששת brings a ברייתא about a dead גר's property
  5. ProofWhy a second taking proves the unborn baby owned the property
  6. Rejectionאביי: Inheritance comes by itself
  7. Rejectionרבא: Their first grab was loose
  8. QuestionWhat is the difference between them?
  9. ResponseThey heard he died, but he had not yet died
  10. ChallengeA one-day-old inherits, so not an עובר
  11. ResolutionThe משנה is about inheriting from the mother
  12. QuestionWhy doesn't an עובר inherit from the mother?