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Bava Basra 76b

בבא בתרא ע״ו ע״ב

Bava Batra 76b

Learn Bava Basra 76b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How a ship is acquired (משיכה or מסירה, depending on location and the seller's words), and the wording needed to sell a שטר.

Overview

The גמרא finishes pointing out a contradiction between two ברייתות about buying a ship. In one, רבי seems to hold that a ship is acquired by pulling (משיכה). In the other, he says handing over (מסירה) is enough. The גמרא first answers that the ברייתות speak of different places: the public domain and an alleyway. It then attacks that answer. No one owns the public domain to rent it out, and אביי and רבא rule that משיכה does not work there. So the גמרא re-reads the חכמים: pull the ship into an alleyway, or rent its spot if it sits in someone's private area. When this makes אביי and רבא seem to follow only רבי, רב אשי explains that everyone accepts מסירה. The dispute is only about a seller who said 'go pull and acquire': was he insisting, or just suggesting? Then a new topic begins. רב פפא rules that someone selling a שטר must write 'acquire it and all the liens in it.' Otherwise the buyer may get only the paper, even if all he could do with it is plug a bottle.

Opening lines

עַד שֶׁיִּמְשְׁכֶנָּה

until he pulls it

אוֹ עַד שֶׁיִּשְׂכּוֹר אֶת מְקוֹמָהּ!

or until he rents its place!

לָא קַשְׁיָא;

It is not difficult;

כָּאן בִּרְשׁוּת הָרַבִּים,

here, in the public domain,

The steps (12)

  1. ChallengeFinishing the quote that creates the contradiction
  2. ResolutionDifferent locations: public domain versus alleyway
  3. ChallengeWho can you rent from in the public domain?
  4. ChallengePulling does not work in the public domain
  5. ResolutionRe-reading the חכמים: pull it into an alley, or rent a private spot
  6. ChallengeDo אביי and רבא hold only like רבי?
  7. ResolutionIt depends on what the seller told the buyer
  8. ResolutionThe real dispute: was the seller insisting?
  9. StatementSelling a שטר needs special wording
  10. QuestionWithout that wording, does the buyer not acquire?
  11. ChallengeWould anyone buy a document just to plug a bottle?
  12. ResolutionYes, he may have bought it only for the paper