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Bava Basra 147b

בבא בתרא קמ״ז ע״ב

Bava Batra 147b

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Topic

רב נחמן on מתנת שכיב מרע: its rabbinic source, its Torah-level strength, and what a dying person can give

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier discussion: knowing the year's weather in advance helps the כהן גדול direct his תפילה. Then the גמרא turns to מתנת שכיב מרע. רבא quotes רב נחמן that this gift works only מדרבנן, so that the dying man won't become upset. The גמרא challenges this from another ruling of רב נחמן. There, שמואל agrees that if a creditor gave a שטר חוב as a deathbed gift, his heir cannot cancel the debt, which seems to assume the gift is Torah-level. The answer is that חכמים gave this rabbinic gift the full strength of a Torah law. Next, רב נחמן rules that a שכיב מרע cannot give only the right to live in a house or eat a tree's fruit. He must give the house or tree itself. The גמרא infers that a dying person can give only what a healthy person can give. It then begins to challenge this with another statement of רב נחמן, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לִתְפִלָּתוֹ שֶׁל כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל.

For the prayer of the High Priest.

וְרָבָא אָמַר רַב נַחְמָן:

And Rava said in the name of Rav Nachman:

מַתְּנַת שְׁכִיב מְרַע

The gift of a person on his deathbed

מִדְּרַבָּנַן בְּעָלְמָא הִיא,

is merely by rabbinic law,

The steps (7)

  1. ResponseWhy the weather forecast matters: the כהן גדול's prayer
  2. Statementרב נחמן: a deathbed gift works only by rabbinic law
  3. ChallengeChallenge from רב נחמן's ruling on a forgiven loan document
  4. ChallengeSpelling out the contradiction: Torah law versus rabbinic law
  5. ResolutionAnswer: חכמים gave it the strength of Torah law
  6. StatementA deathbed person cannot give just the right to live in a house or eat fruit
  7. ChallengeDoes a dying person's gift work only where a healthy person's would?