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Bava Basra 172b

בבא בתרא קע״ב ע״ב

Bava Batra 172b

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Topic

Does ״מִמְּךָ״ ("from you") in an unnamed loan document let whoever holds it collect, and do we worry that the note was lost and found (נפילה)?

Overview

רב הונא rules that when a loan שטר says "I borrowed from you" without naming the lender, whoever brings it out can collect with it, even the ריש גלותא or King שבור. רב חסדא tells רבה to find a source before רב הונא asks him that night. רבה finds a ברייתא in which אבא שאול accepts an undated גט that says "I divorced her today," because "today" means the day the גט is brought out. In the same way, "from you" means the person who brings out the שטר. אביי pushes back: perhaps אבא שאול holds like רבי אליעזר that the עדי מסירה make the divorce work, but with a שטר we should worry it fell and someone else found it (נפילה). רבה answers that we do not worry about נפילה. He proves it from the משנה about two men in one city both named יוסף בן שמעון, who may still collect from others. אביי replies that we ignore a note falling from one specific person, but we do worry about a note falling from anyone in the public.

Opening lines

אָמַר רַב הוּנָא:

Rav Huna said:

״מִמְּךָ״ – אֲפִילּוּ מֵרֵישׁ גָּלוּתָא,

"From you" could mean even from the Exilarch,

וַאֲפִילּוּ מִשַּׁבּוּר מַלְכָּא.

and even from King Shapur.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב חִסְדָּא לְרַבָּה:

Rav Chisda said to Rabba:

The steps (8)

  1. Statementרב הונא: "From you" could mean anyone
  2. Statementרב חסדא tells רבה to research the question
  3. Proofרבה finds a ברייתא about an undated גט
  4. Proof"From you" means the one who brings out the document
  5. Rejectionאביי rejects the proof from אבא שאול
  6. Resolutionרבה: we do not worry about a lost note
  7. ProofProof from the two men named יוסף בן שמעון
  8. Rejectionאביי: falling from one person is different from falling from anyone