Bava Basra 158b

בבא בתרא קנ״ח ע״ב

Bava Batra 158b

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Topic

Who inherits when relatives die together and no one knows who died first (husband and wife, then son and mother), followed by a puzzling ruling from ארץ ישראל about a son and his father's property.

Overview

The גמרא first asks whose ownership בית הלל meant when they said the wife's guaranteed property stays 'בחזקתן'. רבי יוחנן says the husband's heirs, and רבי אלעזר says the wife's heirs. ריש לקיש, in the name of בר קפרא, says they split it, and a ברייתא of בר קפרא backs this up. A new משנה deals with a house that fell on a son and his mother: both בית שמאי and בית הלל agree the heirs split, but רבי עקיבא says the property stays in its ownership. בן עזאי protests that רבי עקיבא is creating a dispute where there was none. The גמרא asks whose ownership רבי עקיבא means. רבי אילא says the mother's heirs and רבי זירא says the son's heirs. After moving to ארץ ישראל, רבי זירא switched to רבי אילא's view and concluded that the air of ארץ ישראל makes one wise. אביי explains that the property stays with the mother's heirs because it was already established in her tribe. רבי שמלאי learns from בן עזאי's direct 'you came' that he was a תלמיד חבר of רבי עקיבא. Finally, a puzzling ruling arrives from ארץ ישראל about a son who 'borrowed' on his father's property. The גמרא shows that its wording cannot be right and begins to reword it, and the corrected wording comes on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. QuestionWhose possession does the wife's property stay in?
2. Responseרבי יוחנן: the husband's heirs
3. Responseרבי אלעזר: the wife's heirs
4. Responseריש לקיש in the name of בר קפרא: they split it
5. Proofבר קפרא's ברייתא supports splitting
6. StatementNew משנה: a house falls on a son and his mother
7. Statementרבי עקיבא: here the property stays in its ownership
8. Challengeבן עזאי objects to creating a new argument
9. QuestionWhose ownership does רבי עקיבא mean?
10. Responseרבי אילא: the mother's heirs
11. Responseרבי זירא: the son's heirs
12. Statementרבי זירא switches sides, and רבה takes his old view
13. ConclusionThe air of ארץ ישראל makes one wise
14. QuestionWhy does the property stay with the mother's heirs?
15. Responseאביי: the inheritance was already settled in that tribe
16. StatementQuoting בן עזאי's protest from the משנה
17. Statementבן עזאי was a student-colleague of רבי עקיבא
18. StatementA ruling from ארץ ישראל about a son who borrowed on his father's property
19. ChallengeThe wording makes no sense: borrowing and buyers
20. ResolutionThe גמרא begins to reword the ruling