Gemara Clarity

Bava Basra 22b

בבא בתרא כ״ב ע״ב

Bava Batra 22b

Learn Bava Basra 22b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 22b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Distances between walls, windows, gutters and dovecotes, the walking (דוושא) reason, and the rule that indirect damage (גרמא) is forbidden

Overview

The גמרא explains the משנה about keeping a wall ארבע אמות from a neighbor's wall. רבא reads it as a wall that stood ארבע אמות away and fell. When it is rebuilt, it must stay that far, because people walking in the gap (דוושא) firm up the ground by the neighbor's wall. רב limits the rule to a garden wall, and רבי אושעיא applies it to a courtyard wall too. רבי יוסי בר חנינא explains that they do not really argue: one speaks of an old city, the other of a new city. The גמרא then tests the walking reason against the rules about windows and roof gutters. It defends the reason by narrowing each case: a side wall near a window, and a sloping gutter. A new משנה requires a ladder to be kept away from a neighbor's dovecote so a mongoose cannot jump in. The גמרא shows this fits רבי יוסי and learns that even indirect damage (גרמא בניזקין) is forbidden. A story about רב יוסף's small palm trees begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הַבָּא לִסְמוֹךְ,

One who comes to build a wall close by

לֹא יִסְמוֹךְ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן

may not build it close unless

הִרְחִיק מִמֶּנּוּ אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת.

he keeps it four cubits away from it.

מַתְקֵיף לַהּ רָבָא:

Rava challenged it:

The steps (25)

  1. StatementFirst reading: a new wall must be kept four cubits away
  2. Challengeרבא objects from the wording of the משנה
  3. Resolutionרבא's new reading: a wall that fell
  4. QuestionWhy must the gap be kept?
  5. ResponseWalking in the gap strengthens the ground
  6. Statementרב: the rule is only for a garden wall
  7. Statementרבי אושעיא: the rule is for both walls
  8. ResolutionNo real argument: old city versus new city
  9. StatementThe משנה on windows and the ברייתא explaining it
  10. ChallengeOnly darkening is mentioned, not trampling
  11. ResolutionThe case is a wall coming from the side
  12. QuestionHow far must the side wall be kept?
  13. Responseרב: the width of the window
  14. ChallengeHe could still peek in
  15. Resolutionרב זביד: the top of the wall is sloped
  16. ChallengeBut the משנה said four cubits
  17. ResolutionOne side versus two sides
  18. ChallengeThe gutter rule seems to be about a ladder, not walking
  19. ResolutionIt means a sloping gutter that sticks out
  20. StatementNew משנה: ladder away from a dovecote, wall away from a gutter
  21. ChallengeDoes the משנה go against רבי יוסי?
  22. Resolutionרבי יוסי agrees about damage from 'his own arrows'
  23. ChallengeBut the ladder only causes damage indirectly
  24. ConclusionIndirect damage is forbidden
  25. StatementThe story of רב יוסף's small palm trees begins