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Bava Basra 154b

בבא בתרא קנ״ד ע״ב

Bava Batra 154b

Learn Bava Basra 154b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The proof needed to uphold a contested document: רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש on witnesses versus קיום השטר, and whether a document its writer admits to needs ratification.

Overview

Our משנה is about a gift document: the heirs say the giver was a dying man (שכיב מרע), and the חכמים say whoever wants to take from the other must bring proof. רבי יוחנן says that proof means witnesses, while ריש לקיש says it means ratifying the document (קיום השטר). רבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from the story of רבי עקיבא in בני ברק, where people asked to examine a dead seller's body. ריש לקיש answers that the buyers held the land and the family was the side challenging the sale. A support for this from the people's silence is brought and then rejected. Next, a teaching from בר קפרא leads to the question of whether a document its writer admits to needs ratification. רבי יוחנן says everyone agrees it does not, and he defends this against several challenges, including one from his own words to his teacher רבי ינאי. The גמרא settles this by reversing the opinions in the משנה, the ברייתא, and finally those of רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש themselves. It then begins to explain why the earlier objection does not need to be reversed, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בִּשְׁלָמָא לְדִידִי –

Granted, according to me,

דְּאָמֵינָא רְאָיָה בְּעֵדִים;

since I say the proof is through witnesses,

כֵּיוָן דְּאָמַר לְלָקוֹחוֹת: ״אַיְיתוֹ עֵדִים״,

since he said to the buyers: "Bring witnesses,"

וְלָא אַשְׁכַּחוּ,

and they did not find any,

The steps (24)

  1. Challengeרבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from the story of רבי עקיבא
  2. Resolutionריש לקיש answers that the buyers held the land and the family was the challenger
  3. ProofSupport for ריש לקיש from the people's silence
  4. RejectionThe silence proves nothing, because רבי עקיבא gave a second reason
  5. ProofA new source: a deed that the protester denies ever writing
  6. ProofSecond case: the protester admits the deed but calls it fake or unpaid
  7. QuestionDoes this teaching follow only רבי מאיר?
  8. Responseרבי יוחנן: everyone agrees an admitted document needs no ratification
  9. ChallengeBut רבי מאיר and the חכמים do argue
  10. ResolutionWitnesses may weaken a document, but the writer cannot
  11. ChallengeA statement in רבי יוחנן's name says the family protested correctly
  12. Resolutionרבי יוחנן denies saying it
  13. Challengeרבי זירא: can he also deny what he told his teacher?
  14. Proofרבי יוחנן told רבי ינאי the חכמים require ratification
  15. Resolutionרבי זירא: reverse the opinions, like רב יוסף
  16. ResolutionWhat 'everyone agrees' means
  17. ChallengeBut our משנה says the opposite
  18. ResolutionReverse the משנה too
  19. ChallengeBut the ברייתא about witnesses also says the opposite
  20. ResolutionReverse the ברייתא as well
  21. ChallengeBut רבי יוחנן said the proof is through witnesses
  22. ResolutionSwitch the opinions of רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש too
  23. QuestionShould the objection be switched as well?
  24. ResponseNo, the objection does not need to be switched