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Bava Basra 91b

בבא בתרא צ״א ע״ב

Bava Batra 91b

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

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Topic

Leaders, leaving ארץ ישראל in famine, the names of אלימלך's sons and רות's legacy, and the blessing of old produce

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a lament over losing a great leader, and then teaches that even the smallest official is appointed by Heaven. רבי יהושע בן קרחה says אלימלך and his sons were not punished for leaving ארץ ישראל. Their sin was failing to pray for their generation. רבי יוחנן rules that if money itself is scarce, one may leave ארץ ישראל even when food prices are fairly low. He backs this with a memory of starvation in טבריה, then adds more memories of hunger, plenty and holiness. The גמרא then discusses the two sets of names for אלימלך's sons, מחלון and כליון or יואש and שרף, where רב and שמואל disagree. Two ברייתות on פסוקים in דברי הימים support one view and teach that רות lived to see the kingdom of שלמה. The פרק ends with the blessing of plenty: old grain that lasts without worms or blight and improves with age, and רב פפא's rule that old things are better except dates, beer and small fish.

Opening lines

מַנְהִיגוֹ,

its leader,

וְאוֹי לָהּ לַסְּפִינָה שֶׁאָבַד קַבַּרְנִיטָהּ.

and woe to the ship that has lost its captain.

״וְהַמִּתְנַשֵּׂא לְכֹל לְרֹאשׁ״ –

"And You are exalted as head above all":

אָמַר רַב חָנָן בַּר רָבָא אָמַר רַב:

Rav Chanan bar Rava said in the name of Rav:

The steps (33)

  1. StatementWoe to the ship that lost its captain
  2. StatementEven a minor official is appointed by Heaven
  3. RejectionThey would never have left over hunger alone
  4. QuestionSo why were they punished?
  5. ResponseThey failed to pray for their generation
  6. StatementWhen one may leave even at lower food prices
  7. ProofFood was cheap, but people starved because no one had a coin
  8. StatementLaborers refused to work on the east side of the city
  9. StatementMemories of great plenty: honey-filled carobs and a fat-dripping raven
  10. StatementTeenagers walked together in the market and did not sin
  11. StatementA saying from the בית מדרש about trusting the authorities
  12. Questionאלימלך's sons have two different sets of names
  13. ResponseOne view: their real names were מחלון and כליון
  14. ResponseOther view: their real names were יואש and שרף
  15. ProofA ברייתא supports the view that מחלון and כליון were the real names
  16. Statementיוקים is יהושע and the men of כוזבא are the people of גבעון
  17. Proofיואש and שרף are nicknames for מחלון and כליון
  18. StatementThey married Moabite women, and רות returned to בית לחם
  19. StatementThese matters were planned by ה׳ from long ago
  20. StatementThe next פסוק: the potters are the sons of יונדב בן רכב
  21. StatementThe plantings are שלמה and the fence is the סנהדרין
  22. Statementרות lived to see the kingdom of שלמה
  23. StatementThe old grain will be eaten without סלמנטון
  24. QuestionWhat does 'without סלמנטון' mean
  25. ResponseWorms or blight
  26. ProofA ברייתא that supports רב נחמן
  27. ProofA ברייתא that supports רב ששת
  28. StatementOlder produce will be better
  29. QuestionWhat about foods that are not usually aged
  30. ResponseThe doubled wording includes everything
  31. StatementSo much produce that there is no room for the new
  32. StatementOld things are better, except for three
  33. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter of 'One who sells a ship'