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Bava Basra 94b

בבא בתרא צ״ד ע״ב

Bava Batra 94b

Learn Bava Basra 94b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Testing רב הונא's rule that a seller who mixes in more than a quarter-קב of טינופת per סאה loses all of it, using sources about כלאים, deposits, interest documents and extra land.

Overview

The גמרא keeps testing רב הונא's rule: if a seller mixes more than a quarter-קב of dirt (טינופת) into each סאה of produce, the buyer takes off all the dirt, not just the extra. First it asks how רבי יוסי can demand that all foreign seeds be picked out in the כלאים משנה. The answer is that his reason is special: leaving some would look like keeping כלאים on purpose. Next it brings the משנה of two people who deposited money with one person, along with רבי יוסי's view there. Then it brings the ברייתא about a loan document with interest, with both רבי מאיר's view and the חכמים' view. Each time the גמרא answers with הכי השתא: the cases are not alike, because with the seller we never know how much dirt, if any, he mixed in on purpose. Finally it brings רבין בר רב נחמן's teaching that a buyer who must return extra land returns all of it. The גמרא starts to reject that comparison, and the reason comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֵימָא סֵיפָא –

Say the last part of the משנה:

רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר: יָבוֹר.

Rabbi Yosei says: he must pick it all out.

אִי אָמְרַתְּ בִּשְׁלָמָא

It works well if you say

כְּיוֹתֵר מֵרוֹבַע טִנּוֹפֶת דָּמֵי,

that it is like more than a quarter of dirt,

The steps (13)

  1. ChallengeQuoting the end of the משנה: רבי יוסי says pick it all out
  2. ChallengeWhy would רבי יוסי demand full removal if it is only a quarter?
  3. Resolutionרבי יוסי's special reason: it looks like keeping כלאים
  4. ChallengeNew challenge: two depositors who both claim two hundred
  5. ResolutionThe deposits case is different: each person surely owns one hundred
  6. ProofA proof from רבי יוסי: hold everything until אליהו comes
  7. RejectionNo proof: there a cheat surely exists, here maybe not
  8. ProofA new proof: רבי מאיר penalizes a loan document with interest
  9. RejectionThe interest case is different because the lender clearly sinned
  10. ChallengeA challenge from the חכמים who let the lender collect the loan
  11. ResolutionThe loan amount is surely allowed, but the dirt may all be the seller's fault
  12. ProofProof from the field that was bigger than promised
  13. RejectionThe land case is not like the dirt case