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Bava Basra 144b

בבא בתרא קמ״ד ע״ב

Bava Batra 144b

Learn Bava Basra 144b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 144b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Brothers sharing an inheritance: which gains, costs, and wedding-gift debts are shared and which belong to one brother alone.

Overview

The משנה teaches that when brothers keep their inheritance together as partners, a brother drafted into the king's service shares the result with everyone, but a sick brother pays for his own healing. A ברייתא adds that a brother appointed tax collector or officer shares the profit if he was chosen because of the family, even if he is the sharpest of them. Another ברייתא says a brother who leaves to learn תורה or a trade gets support only when he is home. The גמרא concludes that he still gets what he would have cost at home. רבין in the name of רבי אלעא limits the medical rule to illness from carelessness, such as catching cold, based on רבי חנינא. A new משנה rules that שושבינות (groomsman gifts) from the father's lifetime is shared by the brothers, because a court can collect it. A ברייתא seems to contradict this, and the גמרא gives three answers: רבי יוחנן's, רבי אסי's, and שמואל's, which is about a יבם. The גמרא then challenges שמואל using a ruling of his own about returning קידושין money, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳ אַחִין הַשּׁוּתָּפִין

MISHNA: Brothers who are partners

שֶׁנָּפַל אֶחָד מֵהֶן לְאוּמָּנוּת –

where one of them was drafted into service

נָפַל לָאֶמְצַע.

he was drafted from the middle (the shared pot).

חָלָה וְנִתְרַפֵּא –

If he became sick and was healed,

The steps (27)

  1. StatementThe משנה: shared service, private medical costs
  2. StatementDefining the service: the king's service
  3. StatementA brother appointed tax collector or officer
  4. ChallengeIsn't the first half obvious?
  5. ResolutionThe case of the sharper brother
  6. StatementA brother who left to learn Torah or a trade
  7. ChallengeWhy not support him wherever he is?
  8. ResolutionLiving together costs less
  9. ChallengeAt least give him what he would cost at home
  10. ResolutionYes, he gets the home amount
  11. StatementMedical costs: only illness from carelessness is his own
  12. QuestionWhat counts as carelessness?
  13. ResponseColds and traps are a person's own fault
  14. StatementNew משנה: wedding gifts go back to all the brothers
  15. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to say it goes to the son alone
  16. ResolutionThe משנה is about gifts sent to the father
  17. ChallengeThe wording says the brothers gave the gifts
  18. ResolutionRead it as 'to some of them'
  19. ChallengeBut the משנה says the gift 'came back'
  20. Resolution'Returned' means it came back to be collected
  21. Resolutionרבי אסי: named son versus no son named
  22. ProofA ברייתא that makes this exact split
  23. Resolutionשמואל: the case is about a יבם
  24. ChallengeWhy should the friend repay at all?
  25. ProofA ברייתא about returning betrothal money
  26. Statementשמואל limits the ברייתא to when the woman died
  27. QuestionWhy the money stays with her when he died