Bava Basra 60a

בבא בתרא ס׳ ע״א

Bava Batra 60a

Learn Bava Basra 60a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Basra 60a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Neighbors' rights in shared and public space: sealing windows, openings and privacy in a partners' courtyard, and digging under or building over רשות הרבים.

Overview

This amud begins by finishing a rule about חזקה: if someone seals a neighbor's window in front of him and the neighbor stays silent, the right to keep it sealed is set right away. The גמרא then explains that a newly bought house may not open into a partners' courtyard because it adds traffic. רב הונא explains that the end of that משנה only allows dividing space the house already has. A new משנה forbids opening a door or window directly facing a neighbor's in a shared courtyard, or enlarging or adding openings, but allows all of this toward רשות הרבים. רבי יוחנן finds the source in בלעם praising ישראל because their tent doors did not face each other. רבא rejects רמי בר חמא's idea that the rule is about courtyard space and shows it is about privacy. Toward the public street the rule does not apply, because the neighbor already has to hide from passersby. Another משנה forbids digging under רשות הרבים or building projections out over it. In a story, רבי אמי orders a man to cut off his projection and explains that an alleyway's residents can give up their claim, but no one can give up the public's claim. A similar story about רבי ינאי and a leaning tree begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. StatementSealing a window creates an immediate right
2. QuestionWhy may a new house not open into the partners' courtyard?
3. ResponseBecause it adds traffic
4. ChallengeBut the end of the משנה allows building more rooms
5. Resolutionרב הונא: only dividing space that already exists
6. StatementNo facing doors or windows in a shared courtyard
7. StatementToward the public domain, everything is allowed
8. QuestionWhere does the rule against facing doorways come from?
9. Responseבלעם saw that the tents of ישראל did not face each other
10. Statementרמי בר חמא's first idea about enlarging a small doorway
11. Rejectionרבא: a bigger doorway takes away the neighbor's privacy
12. Statementרמי בר חמא's same idea about splitting one doorway into two
13. Rejectionרבא: two doorways take away more privacy than one
14. ResponseWhy opening toward the public domain is allowed
15. StatementNo digging pits or caves under the public domain
16. StatementNo projections or balconies over the public domain
17. ResponseWhy the Rabbis forbid digging even with a strong cover
18. Statementרבי אמי tells a man to cut off his projection
19. ChallengeThe man points to רבי אמי's own projection
20. ResolutionAn alleyway can give up its claim; the public cannot
21. StatementA second story: a tree leaning over the public street