Bava Basra 6b

בבא בתרא ו׳ ע״ב

Bava Batra 6b

Learn Bava Basra 6b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How far a renter may use the outside of a large building; when resting a beam on a neighbor's wall becomes a חזקה; and אביי's rule about roof fences for two houses facing each other across a רשות הרבים

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a ruling about what a renter in a large building may use: its walls and projections, but not the front garden. רב נחמן in his own name and then רבא each widen this, first to the front garden and then to the back yard. רבינא teaches when a beam resting on a neighbor's wall becomes a חזקה: after 30 days, after 7 days for a סוכה, and right away if it is set in clay. אביי rules that two houses facing each other across a רשות הרבים must each fence half a roof. The גמרא explains why the public street matters and why the rule is not obvious. Next, שמואל requires a four-אמות fence between a roof and a neighbor's courtyard, while רב נחמן requires only a ten-טפחים partition. The גמרא explains that this partition marks a theft boundary and defends it against a ברייתא. רב הונא and רב חסדא then argue about who builds the wall between courtyards at different heights, and a ברייתא supports רב חסדא. The amud ends with a story of a collapsed lower floor whose owner asks the upstairs neighbor to rebuild. The ruling comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. StatementWhat a renter may use in a large building
2. Statementרב נחמן in his own name allows the front garden
3. Statementרבא allows even the back yard
4. StatementA shade beam on a neighbor's wall becomes a right after thirty days
5. StatementA סוכה beam takes seven days, and a beam set in clay is a right at once
6. StatementTwo houses across a public area each fence half a roof
7. ChallengeWhy mention a public area at all?
8. ResolutionA public area was needed to block a possible excuse
9. ResolutionWhy a neighbor's view is worse than the public's
10. ChallengeIsn't the half-roof fence rule obvious?
11. ResolutionWhen one neighbor already built his half
12. StatementA roof next to a neighbor's courtyard needs a four-אמות fence
13. Statementרב נחמן's own view: ten טפחים is enough
14. ChallengeWhat is the ten-טפחים partition for?
15. ResolutionThe partition removes the excuse of a trespasser
16. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to require no fence at all
17. ResolutionOnly the four-אמות fence is not required
18. Statementרב הונא: each owner builds from his own level
19. Statementרב חסדא: the upper owner helps from the bottom
20. ProofA ברייתא supports רב חסדא
21. StatementThe lower floor collapses and its owner asks for help rebuilding
22. StatementThe upper owner refuses because he is living comfortably