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Bava Basra 7b

בבא בתרא ז׳ ע״ב

Bava Batra 7b

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

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Topic

Brothers' rights after dividing an estate, the orphans' document and receipt, and the משנה on sharing the cost of a gatehouse and a city wall

Overview

The amud opens with the sons of רב חסדא explaining that רב חמא followed the approach of נהרדעא. They show this from שמואל, who rules that brothers who divide an estate keep no path, window, ladder or water-channel rights over each other. רבא disagrees. רב חמא also rules that when a receipt is produced against an orphans' loan document, the court neither collects with it nor tears it up. רבינא follows רב חמא except in the receipt case, while מר זוטרא follows him there too. A new משנה then rules that neighbors can be forced to share the cost of a courtyard gatehouse and a city wall, and defines when a newcomer counts as a resident. The גמרא reconciles the gatehouse with a story about אליהו, giving four ways to tell a good gatehouse from one that blocks the poor. Next it explains the dispute with רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and brings two versions of how רבי יוחנן said the wall cost is divided. Finally ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן argue from פסוקים that Torah scholars need no wall, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מָר יָנוֹקָא וּמָר קַשִּׁישָׁא

Mar Yenuka and Mar Kashisha,

בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב חִסְדָּא לְרַב אָשֵׁי:

sons of Rav Ḥisda, [said] to Rav Ashi:

נְהַרְדָּעֵי לְטַעְמַיְיהוּ –

The Sages of Neharde'a follow their own reasoning,

דְּאָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל:

as Rav Naḥman said that Shmuel said:

The steps (27)

  1. Statementרב חמא follows the נהרדעא approach: brothers who divide keep no rights over each other
  2. Statementרבא disagrees: the brothers do keep these rights
  3. StatementOrphans' loan document challenged by a receipt: no collecting, no tearing up
  4. Questionרב אחא בריה דרבא asks רבינא for the practical law
  5. Responseרבינא: follow רב חמא, except in the receipt case
  6. Statementמר זוטרא rules like רב חמא in the receipt case too
  7. Statementמשנה: Forcing Neighbors to Build a Gatehouse and Door
  8. Statementמשנה: Forcing Townspeople to Build a City Wall
  9. Statementמשנה: When Someone Counts as a City Resident
  10. ChallengeIs a Gatehouse Really a Good Thing? The Story of אליהו
  11. ResolutionInside Versus Outside Gatehouse
  12. ResolutionSecond answer: a gatehouse with a door versus one without
  13. ResolutionThird answer: a door that needs a key versus one that does not
  14. ResolutionFourth answer: the key kept inside versus outside
  15. StatementWhich courtyards need a gatehouse
  16. ResponseWhy the רבנן say every courtyard needs a gatehouse
  17. StatementWhich cities need a wall
  18. ResponseWhy the רבנן say every city needs a wall
  19. QuestionHow is the cost of the wall divided?
  20. ResponseThe cost is divided by wealth, and this is firm
  21. QuestionSecond version: what is the basis for collecting wall money?
  22. ResponseCollect by how close the houses are
  23. StatementDo Torah scholars have to pay for the wall?
  24. ChallengeWho are the ones 'more than sand'?
  25. ResolutionIt is the deeds of the צדיקים that outnumber the sand
  26. ProofA קל וחומר: if sand protects, good deeds surely protect
  27. Proofרבי יוחנן suggests a better פסוק: 'I am a wall'