Bava Basra 49b

בבא בתרא מ״ט ע״ב

Bava Batra 49b

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Topic

Giving up rights given by the חכמים, and whether a wife can claim she sold or gave a field only to please her husband

Overview

This amud first explains that a person can give up an inheritance he has not received yet. It ties this to the rule of רבא: anyone who turns down a תקנת חכמים made for his benefit is listened to. The גמרא asks which kind of תקנה רבא meant. It answers with the ruling of רב הונא in the name of רב: a wife may tell her husband, 'Don't support me, and my earnings stay with me.' Then the גמרא returns to the משנה's rule that a husband gains no חזקה in his wife's field, which implies that proof of a sale or gift would help him. It challenges this: why can't the wife say she only signed to please her husband? It supports the challenge with a משנה in גיטין, where a wife's sale is canceled for exactly that reason. The גמרא answers with רבה בר רב הונא, who limits that claim to three special fields. The first is a field the husband wrote into her כתובה, and the rest of the list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (6)

1. StatementA person can give up a future inheritance, following רבא
2. QuestionWhat does 'such as this' mean?
3. ResponseA wife may refuse support and keep her earnings
4. ChallengeWhy can't the wife say she only did it to please her husband?
5. ProofProof from a sale that is canceled because the wife was pleasing her husband
6. ResolutionThe wife's claim only works for three special fields