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Bava Basra 157a

בבא בתרא קנ״ז ע״א

Bava Batra 157a

Learn Bava Basra 157a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Two versions of the מחלוקת between רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע about a שכיב מרע's spoken instructions (Shabbat vs. weekday) and about acquiring for a גדול vs. a קטן; then a new משנה about a house that collapsed on a son and his father, where nobody knows who died first.

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a ברייתא with two versions of a מחלוקת between רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע. The first is about whether a שכיב מרע's spoken instructions count on a weekday or on Shabbat. The second is about whether one may acquire property for an adult or a minor. In each version רבי אליעזר limits the rule to one case, and רבי יהושע uses a קל וחומר to include the other; רבי יהודה reports both disputes the opposite way. Then a new משנה begins: a house fell on a son and his father, and the son owed a כתובה and a debt. בית שמאי say the father's heirs and the son's creditors split the property. בית הלל say the property stays with its last known owner, the father's heirs. The גמרא brings שמואל's question about דאיקני: does a lien on property the borrower acquires later reach that property once he sells it or it passes to his heirs? רב יוסף's proof is rejected by רבא. רב חנא then tries to prove it from our משנה, and רב נחמן answers that the creditors collect only because orphans have a מצוה to pay their father's debts. רב אשי objects that such a debt would be like an oral loan, which cannot be collected from heirs.

Opening lines

אוֹמֵר: בַּחוֹל אָמְרוּ,

says: With regard to a weekday they said it,

וְקַל וָחוֹמֶר לַשַּׁבָּת.

and all the more so it applies to Shabbat.

כַּיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ –

Similarly,

זָכִין לַגָּדוֹל,

one may acquire on behalf of an adult,

The steps (16)

  1. Statementרבי יהושע: weekday rule applies all the more so on Shabbat
  2. StatementAcquiring on behalf of an adult or a minor, first version
  3. Statementרבי יהודה's version: Shabbat versus weekday
  4. Statementרבי יהודה's version: acquiring for a minor or an adult
  5. StatementNew משנה: a house falls on a son and his father
  6. Statementבית שמאי: split it; בית הלל: property stays where it was
  7. StatementBackground rule: a loan with a document versus a loan with only witnesses
  8. Questionשמואל asks about a lien on property the borrower will acquire later
  9. QuestionThe question only arises according to the רבנן
  10. Proofרב יוסף tries to prove the lien from the clever lender case
  11. Rejectionרבא: collecting from the borrower himself proves nothing
  12. QuestionThe real question: he acquired, then sold or left it to heirs
  13. Proofרב חנא quotes the משנה of the collapsed house
  14. ProofWhy the משנה shows later-acquired property is liened
  15. RejectionThe creditors collect because of the orphans' מצוה
  16. Challengeרב אשי: without a lien it is like an oral loan