Bava Basra 55a

בבא בתרא נ״ה ע״א

Bava Batra 55a

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Topic

Acquiring ownerless land, שמואל's rules on government law and taxes, and what divides one field from another

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a court case about someone who hoed a field that a Jew had bought from a non-Jew. The judge follows רב, who says one hoe-stroke acquires the whole field, and רב הונא בר אבין sends a ruling that the second Jew keeps such a field. Next, רבה reports three rules of שמואל: דינא דמלכותא דינא, Persian sharecropping runs up to forty years, and land sold by tax officials for land tax (טסקא) may be bought. The גמרא limits the third rule to land tax and not head tax (כרגא), but רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע says everything a person owns is pledged even for head tax. אמימר challenges him from the בכור's double share, הונא בר נתן answers, and a report that the הלכה follows him is rejected. רב אשי then rules that an idler must help the town with its taxes when the town got him relief. Finally, two reports of רבי יוחנן disagree on whether a boundary strip or sea squill divides fields only for taking a convert's property or also for פאה and טומאה. The גמרא begins quoting a משנה that lists what divides a field for פאה, and the list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (18)

1. ChallengeThe litigant asks to use שמואל's narrow rule
2. ResolutionThe judge follows רב: one stroke acquires everything
3. Statementרב הונא בר אבין: the second Jew keeps the field
4. Statementשמואל's three rules about the government and land
5. StatementOnly for land tax, not head tax
6. QuestionWhy the difference?
7. ResponseHead tax sits on the person, not the land
8. Statementרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע: everything is pledged for head tax
9. Challengeאמימר's challenge: the בכור would lose his double share
10. Resolutionהונא בר נתן's reply: the father paid before he died
11. StatementReport that רבא's scribes ruled like רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע
12. RejectionThe גמרא rejects the report
13. StatementAn idler must help the town pay its taxes
14. StatementLimit: only when the town saved him
15. StatementA boundary or sea squill divides fields only for a convert's property
16. StatementA second report says they divide even for פאה and טומאה
17. QuestionWhat is the case of פאה here?
18. ResponseA משנה lists things that divide a field for פאה