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Bava Basra 91a

בבא בתרא צ״א ע״א

Bava Batra 91a

Learn Bava Basra 91a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Food prices and profit in ארץ ישראל, leaving the Land, and stories about רות, בעז and אברהם

Overview

This amud opens with the last words of a ruling from the previous page about taking food out of ארץ ישראל. A ברייתא forbids buying and reselling basic foods in ארץ ישראל for profit, and the גמרא explains why רבי אלעזר בן עזריה could still profit from wine and oil. Another ברייתא forbids profiting 'twice' from eggs, and רב and שמואל disagree about what that means. The גמרא then teaches that a community cries out in prayer, even on שבת, when the price of its main product crashes badly. Next, a ברייתא rules when one may leave ארץ ישראל in a famine, and רבי שמעון limits this to someone who cannot afford food. The punishment of אלימלך and his sons, who left ארץ ישראל, supports this, and the גמרא brings a series of stories about רות, בעז (identified with the judge אבצן) and his sixty children. Finally, רב חנן בר רבא brings a list of teachings in the name of רב: the family of נחשון, the names of the mothers of famous figures, אברהם's ten years in prison, and the world's mourning when אברהם died, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מֵהִיפַּרְכְיָא לְהִיפַּרְכְיָא.

From province to province.

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן:

The Rabbis taught:

אֵין מִשְׂתַּכְּרִים בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל

One may not make a profit in ארץ ישראל

בִּדְבָרִים שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶן חַיֵּי נֶפֶשׁ,

with things that people need to live,

The steps (32)

  1. StatementClosing words of the earlier ruling about moving food between provinces
  2. StatementNo middleman profit from basic foods in the Land
  3. ChallengeA report that a great sage profited from wine and oil
  4. ResolutionWhy wine and oil were allowed for him
  5. StatementNo profiting twice from eggs
  6. Statementרב and שמואל disagree on what 'twice' means
  7. StatementCrying out in prayer when merchandise prices collapse
  8. StatementWhich merchandise the ruling means
  9. StatementHow big the price drop must be
  10. StatementWhen one may leave ארץ ישראל in a famine
  11. Statementרבי שמעון limits the permission to leave
  12. Proofאלימלך and his sons were punished for leaving
  13. QuestionWhat does 'Is this נעמי' mean?
  14. Responseרבי יצחק: See what happened to נעמי
  15. Statementבעז's wife died the day רות arrived
  16. StatementThe judge אבצן is בעז
  17. QuestionWhat does this identification teach us?
  18. Responseבעז made 120 feasts for his children
  19. ResponseTwo feasts per wedding, and מנוח was never invited
  20. StatementAll sixty children died in his lifetime
  21. StatementA memory aid for the coming teachings
  22. StatementFour figures in מגילת רות all descend from נחשון
  23. QuestionWhy does this family fact matter?
  24. Responseזכות אבות does not protect one who leaves ארץ ישראל
  25. StatementThe names of the mothers of אברהם and המן
  26. StatementThe names of the mothers of דוד and שמשון, and שמשון's sister
  27. QuestionWhat difference do these names make?
  28. ResponseTo answer the heretics
  29. Statementאברהם was imprisoned for ten years
  30. Statementרב דימי's reversed version
  31. Statementאור כשדים is a small area of כותא
  32. StatementThe world's leaders mourn אברהם on the day he died