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Bava Basra 7a

בבא בתרא ז׳ ע״א

Bava Batra 7a

Learn Bava Basra 7a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Neighbors' rights when building: a sunken two-story house, a wall that blocks a neighbor's windows, and brothers who split an estate and argue over a hall's light.

Overview

This amud has three stories about neighbors and building. In the first, the lower floor of a house has sunk. רב חמא rules that the upstairs owner can stop the downstairs owner from rebuilding, unless the beams have sunk below ten טפחים or the two owners agreed ahead of time to rebuild. If they agreed, רבה says they rebuild once the space is no longer livable the normal way. רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע measures that as room to carry in a bundle of מחוזא reeds and turn around. In the second story, a man builds a wall that darkens his neighbor's windows. The neighbor turns down every offer the builder makes, and רב חמא rules that he can stop the wall, even if the room is used only for storage. In the third story, two brothers split an estate, and the one who got the garden builds a wall in front of his brother's hall. Here רב חמא lets him build. רבינא and רב אשי then debate why, and the גמרא ends by rejecting a proof from sales: brothers split an estate expecting to live as their fathers did. The amud closes as a new reply to רב חמא begins, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: ״אֶיסְתְּרֵיהּ אֲנָא וְאֶבְנְיֵיהּ״.

He said to him: "I will tear it down and rebuild it."

אֲמַר: ״לֵית לִי דּוּכְתָּא לְמֵידַר בַּהּ״.

He said: "I have no place to live in."

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: ״אֲנָא אוֹגַר לָךְ דּוּכְתָּא״.

He said to him: "I will rent a place for you."

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: ״לָא טָרַחְנָא״.

He said to him: "I don't want the bother."

The steps (29)

  1. StatementThe two neighbors argue over rebuilding the sunken house
  2. Statementרב חמא: the upstairs owner may legally block the rebuilding
  3. StatementFirst limit: only if the beams have not sunk below ten טפחים
  4. StatementSecond limit: unless they agreed ahead of time to rebuild
  5. QuestionHow far must the ceiling sink before the agreement applies?
  6. ResponseAn answer quoted in רב נחמן's name: height is half the length plus half the width
  7. Rejectionרבה rejects that quote: רב נחמן said 'as people normally live'
  8. QuestionHow much space is 'as people normally live'?
  9. Conclusionרב הונא: enough height to bring in a bundle of מחוזא reeds and turn around
  10. StatementA wall built behind the neighbor's windows
  11. RejectionFirst offer: new windows higher up
  12. RejectionSecond offer: rebuild the top of the wall
  13. RejectionThird offer: rebuild the whole wall
  14. RejectionFourth offer: rebuild the whole house
  15. RejectionLast offer: renting him a place
  16. Conclusionרב חמא: the neighbor may stop the wall
  17. ChallengeWhy do we need this story?
  18. ResolutionEven a storage room counts
  19. StatementTwo brothers: a hall and a garden
  20. Conclusionרב חמא: the brother may build
  21. ChallengeWhy is this different from the vineyard and grain field case?
  22. ResolutionIn the vineyard case, they priced it in
  23. ChallengeSurely they priced the hall and garden too
  24. ResolutionThey priced the building, not the air
  25. ChallengeYou gave me a hall and now it's a dark room
  26. ResolutionHe only got the name 'hall'
  27. ProofSales that go by name only
  28. RejectionA sale is not like brothers splitting an inheritance
  29. ChallengeSetting up a new reply to רב חמא