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Bava Basra 63a

בבא בתרא ס״ג ע״א

Bava Batra 63a

Learn Bava Basra 63a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How to measure a sale or gift by its exact wording: boundary language in a field sale, giving someone a 'portion' (חֵלֶק) of property, and a לוי who keeps the מעשר ראשון when selling his field.

Overview

The amud opens by rejecting an earlier reading of the boundary phrases in a field sale. רב יימר בר שלמיה reports from אביי that the deciding factor is whether the seller said 'these are its boundaries.' If he did, the buyer gets half the field; if not, only nine קבין. The גמרא then asks how much someone gets when the giver says 'give so-and-so a portion (חלק) of my property.' רבינא בר קיסי answers with a ברייתא in which סומכוס rules that a plain 'portion' of a cistern is at least a quarter. Next, a ברייתא teaches that a לוי who sells a field can keep the מעשר ראשון for himself, or for himself and his sons. If he limited it to 'as long as the field is in your hand,' the right ends once the buyer sells it. The גמרא asks how this works, since nobody can transfer something that does not exist yet. It answers that the seller held back the part of the land that produces the tithe, and ריש לקיש learns from this that a seller can keep the upper story of a house he sells.

Opening lines

וְלָא הִיא,

But it is not so,

דְּאָמַר רַב יֵימַר בַּר שֶׁלֶמְיָה:

as Rav Yeimar bar Shelemya said:

לְדִידִי מִפָּרְשָׁא לִי מִינֵּיהּ דְּאַבָּיֵי:

To me it was explained by Abaye:

בֵּין ״מֶצֶר אַרְעָא דְּמִינַּהּ פַּלְגָא״,

Whether he wrote 'the boundary is the land from which it is halved,'

The steps (8)

  1. Rejectionאביי's rule: the words 'these are its boundaries' decide
  2. QuestionWhat does 'give so-and-so a portion' mean?
  3. Proofסומכוס on a 'portion' of a cistern
  4. StatementA לוי sells a field but keeps the מעשר ראשון
  5. StatementA condition that lasts only while the buyer holds the field
  6. ChallengeHow can he keep produce that does not exist yet?
  7. ResolutionHe held back the land where the tithe grows
  8. Statementריש לקיש: a seller can keep the upper story