Bava Basra 80b

בבא בתרא פ׳ ע״ב

Bava Batra 80b

Learn Bava Basra 80b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether a beehive counts as land, the impurity status of its honey, and how a buyer must cut down trees he bought for their wood.

Overview

The amud opens with a משנה about a beehive. רבי אליעזר says it is like land, so a פרוזבול can be written on it, it cannot become impure in its place, and taking honey from it on שבת earns a חטאת. חכמים disagree on every point. רבי אלעזר finds רבי אליעזר's source in the words 'יערת הדבש': honey is like a forest, so taking it is like picking from a tree. Two ברייתות then challenge רבא's explanation of honey that is 'not food and not liquid.' The first is answered by saying the honey flowed onto something disgusting or onto straw. The second is answered by reading the ברייתא the other way. A ברייתא is also brought that supports רב כהנא. The גמרא then returns to the משנה about buying trees for cutting and brings a ברייתא on how high the buyer must cut each kind of tree. אביי explains why a sycamore needs three טפחים, which does not clash with the rules of שביעית. Finally, the claim that a cedar does not regrow is challenged from a פסוק about the צדיק. The answer is that 'cedar' covers ten kinds of trees, and the list of them continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. Proofרבי אליעזר: a beehive is like land
2. StatementThe Sages: a beehive is not like land
3. QuestionWhat is רבי אליעזר's reason?
4. ResponseHoney is compared to a forest
5. ChallengeHoney that flowed out of the hive is still not food
6. ResolutionThe honey flowed onto a disgusting vessel
7. ResolutionThe honey flowed onto straw
8. ChallengeHoney in the hive becomes food once a person plans to eat it
9. Resolutionרבא rereads the ברייתא
10. ProofA ברייתא supports רב כהנא
11. StatementHow high to cut a tree bought for felling
12. ChallengeDoes a virgin sycamore really need three handbreadths?
13. ChallengeOnly cutting at ground level harms the sycamore
14. Resolutionאביי explains three levels of cutting
15. StatementPalms and cedars may be uprooted
16. ChallengeDoes a cedar's trunk really not grow back?
17. ChallengeThe cedar teaches that a צדיק grows back
18. ResolutionThe ברייתא means other kinds of cedar
19. ProofThere are ten kinds of cedar, learned from a פסוק
20. ChallengeBut the list has only seven
21. Resolutionרב דימי adds three more kinds