Bava Kamma 13a

בבא קמא י״ג ע״א

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Topic

Which holy animals count as their owner's property, and collecting damages from שלמים

Overview

The amud opens by asking why the earlier answer did not simply split the sources between רבי יוסי הגלילי and רבנן. The גמרא explains that a בכור is a מתנת כהונה, which the כהנים receive "from the table of the Most High," so it is different. Next the גמרא quotes the full ברייתא on "וּמָעֲלָה מַעַל בַּה׳". רבי יוחנן explains that בן עזאי's narrow wording leaves out מעשר בהמה, which can never be sold. In רבינא's version, the same analysis is placed on אבא יוסי בן דוסתאי's words, and the word "only" there ends in a קשיא. רבא then offers a different reading of the משנה: it means ordinary property of a הדיוט. That reading also meets an unanswered קשיא. Finally, רבי אבא rules that damages caused by שלמים are collected from the meat, not from the אימורין, and the גמרא shows how this ruling fits both רבנן and רבי נתן.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. ChallengeWhy not split the sources between two opinions?
2. ResolutionPriestly gifts are different
3. StatementThe ברייתא itself: three views on "וּמָעֲלָה מַעַל בַּה׳"
4. QuestionWhat does בן עזאי come to exclude?
5. RejectionSuggesting that בן עזאי meant to exclude בכור, and rejecting it
6. Responseרבי יוחנן: בן עזאי's wording leaves out מעשר
7. ProofA ברייתא shows that מעשר can never be sold, unlike a בכור
8. Questionרבינא's version: the question is asked on אבא יוסי בן דוסתאי's words
9. RejectionOnly a firstborn cannot mean to leave out peace-offerings
10. Responseרבי יוחנן: it leaves out animal tithe
11. ProofA ברייתא shows tithe can never be sold
12. ChallengeBut he said only a firstborn: left unresolved
13. Statementרבא: The phrase means ordinary, non-holy property
14. ChallengeThen the משנה should just say 'ordinary property'
15. Statementרבי אבא: Damages from שלמים come from the meat, not the altar parts
16. ChallengeIsn't that obvious? The altar parts go up to God
17. ResolutionThe meat does not cover the share of the sacrificial parts
18. QuestionWhich opinion does רבי אבא follow?
19. ChallengeAccording to רבנן, the ruling is obvious
20. ChallengeAccording to רבי נתן, the ruling seems wrong
21. Resolutionרבי אבא's ruling can fit either side
22. ResolutionAccording to רבנן: one body is different from two
23. ResolutionAccording to רבי נתן: the pit owner is a separate responsible party