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Bava Basra 53a

בבא בתרא נ״ג ע״א

Bava Batra 53a

Learn Bava Basra 53a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Acquiring land through חזקה: the seller's permission ״לך חזק וקני״, whether a gift is different, and which small acts on a fence, gap or stone count as חזקה

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a ruling: if the buyer does the act of חזקה when the seller is not there, the seller must have told him ״לך חזק וקני״. רב asks whether a gift works the same way. שמואל says the answer is obvious by a קל וחומר: if a paying buyer needs permission, someone getting a gift surely does. The גמרא explains that רב was unsure because a giver gives with an עין יפה. Next, the גמרא explains the משנה's כל שהוא using שמואל's two cases: finishing a fence to ten טפחים, or widening a gap until a person can walk through. For each case it shows the small but real change involved: a fence that goes from easy to hard to climb, and a gap that goes from a squeeze to easy passage. רב אסי then quotes רבי יוחנן that placing or removing a stone that helps is a חזקה. The גמרא explains this means the stone brought water to the field, not just protected it from flooding, since saving a field is like chasing a lion off a friend's land. The amud ends with another ruling of רבי יוחנן about two fields with one boundary between them.

Opening lines

שֶׁלֹּא בְּפָנָיו –

Not in his presence –

צָרִיךְ לְמֵימַר לֵיהּ: ״לֵךְ חֲזֵק וּקְנִי״.

he must say to him: "Go, take possession and acquire."

בָּעֵי רַב:

Rav asked:

מַתָּנָה – הֵיאַךְ?

A gift – how does it work?

The steps (15)

  1. StatementWhen the seller is absent, he must tell the buyer to go take possession
  2. Questionרב asks how a gift is acquired
  3. Challengeשמואל says the answer is obvious: a gift needs it even more
  4. ResolutionWhy רב was unsure: a giver gives generously
  5. QuestionHow small is "any amount" of fencing?
  6. Responseשמואל's two examples: completing a fence or widening a gap
  7. ChallengeWhich fence case can this be?
  8. ResolutionThe fence went from easy to climb to hard to climb
  9. ChallengeWhat kind of gap-widening are we talking about?
  10. ResolutionFrom squeezing through to walking in easily
  11. StatementPlacing or removing a stone that helps
  12. QuestionWhat do 'placed' and 'removed' mean?
  13. RejectionNot protecting the field from water
  14. ResponseThe stone brought more water to the field
  15. StatementTwo fields with one boundary between them