Bava Kamma 113a

בבא קמא קי״ג ע״א

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Topic

Court summonses and נידוי, heirs returning stolen items, and money from customs collectors under דינא דמלכותא דינא

Overview

The amud opens by limiting when a court may place someone in נידוי for ignoring a summons sent through a woman or a neighbor. If he was in town, passed by the courthouse, or did not come home that same day, the messenger may never have told him. רבא then teaches when a פתיחא is torn up, and רב חסדא rules that a court gives three dates, Monday, Thursday and Monday, before writing one. רב כהנא explains that a woman who is always in town and still does not come may get a פתיחא right away. רב יהודה and רב נחמן list times when no court date is set: ניסן, תשרי, ערב שבת and ערב יום טוב, and during Torah gatherings. Nowadays, because of tricksters, the court does summon people even during those gatherings. The גמרא then returns to the משנה: heirs must return even a well-known stolen animal, or a bed or table, for their father's honor. A new משנה forbids taking change or charity from the funds of customs and tax collectors. Each time the גמרא challenges a source with שמואל's rule דינא דמלכותא דינא, it answers that the collector had no fixed rate or appointed himself, and רב אשי adds that the collector was a non-Jew. That leads to a challenge, which continues on the next amud: רבי עקיבא himself teaches from a פסוק that גזל גוי is forbidden.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. StatementNo ostracism if the defendant is in the city
2. StatementNo ostracism if he passes by the courthouse
3. StatementNo ostracism if he does not come home that same day
4. Statementרבא: when a document of ostracism is torn up
5. RejectionA promise to obey is enough
6. StatementThree court dates before a פתיחא
7. Challengeרב אסי sees a פתיחא written after one missed date
8. ResolutionThree dates are for a man; a woman in town is a rebel
9. StatementNo court dates during ניסן, תשרי, or the day before יום טוב and שבת
10. StatementSetting a date for later: allowed in ניסן and תשרי, not on ערב שבת
11. ResponseWhy ערב שבת is different: people are busy and may forget
12. StatementNo court dates for people gathered to learn Torah
13. Statementרב נחמן sends away people who bring lawsuits during the kalla
14. ConclusionNowadays tricksters change the practice
15. StatementHeirs must return even a well-known stolen cow or donkey
16. QuestionWhat about a stolen bed or table?
17. Responseרב: a wise man can work it out
18. Statementמשנה: Do not take money from tax collectors' funds
19. StatementYou may pay with a coin and take back change
20. ChallengeIsn't the law of the kingdom binding?
21. ResolutionA collector with no set limit
22. ResolutionA collector who appointed himself
23. StatementSome attach this to the משנה about wearing כלאים
24. StatementThis משנה does not follow רבי עקיבא
25. ProofThe ברייתא: may one avoid customs?
26. StatementExplaining the כלאים dispute as a debate about unintended acts
27. ChallengeHow can evading customs be allowed if the king's law is binding?
28. ResolutionAnswer: the collector has no fixed rate
29. ResolutionAnother answer: the collector was never appointed
30. StatementAnother version: the משנה about vowing before customs collectors
31. ChallengeHow can one deceive customs collectors if the king's law is binding?
32. ResolutionAnswer: the collector has no fixed rate
33. ResolutionAnother answer: the collector was never appointed
34. Resolutionרב אשי: The משנה Is About a Non-Jewish Collector
35. ProofThe ברייתא About a Court Case Between a Jew and a Non-Jew
36. ProofEven רבי עקיבא Agrees When No קידוש השם Is Involved
37. ChallengeChallenge: Is Robbing a Non-Jew Really Allowed?