Gemara Clarity

Bava Kamma 66a

בבא קמא ס״ו ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 66a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How a thief acquires a stolen item: שינוי קונה and its sources, how the fines are valued, and whether יאוש acquires.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the discussion of אתנן. It shows how בית שמאי and בית הלל read the words "הם" and "גם" in the פסוק, and the word "גם" stays a difficulty for בית הלל. The גמרא then says their argument is only about whether שינוי קונה. Everyone agrees that כפל and ארבעה וחמשה are paid based on the item as it was when stolen. This seems to refute רב, who values those fines at the time of trial. רבא answers by separating a physical change in the animal from a change in its market price. Next, רבה shows that שינוי קונה comes from the פסוק "אשר גזל" and from a משנה. One משנה is about wood made into vessels; the other is about first-shearing wool that was dyed before it was given to the כהן, which makes the owner exempt. רבה then says the owner's יאוש also lets the thief acquire, but he is unsure whether this is דאורייתא, like a found lost item, or only דרבנן because of תקנת השבים. רב יוסף disagrees and holds that יאוש does not acquire at all. He then begins challenging רבה from a משנה about stolen חמץ after פסח, and the challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

״הֵם״ וְלֹא וַלְדוֹתֵיהֶם

"These," but not their offspring

הוּא דַּאֲתָא.

is what it comes to teach.

וּבֵית הִלֵּל –

And בית הלל?

תַּרְתֵּי שְׁמַעִית מִינַּהּ:

Learn two things from it:

The steps (16)

  1. ResolutionWhat בית שמאי learn from the word "הם"
  2. Responseבית הלל learn two lessons from "הם"
  3. ChallengeWhat do בית הלל do with "גם"?
  4. Conclusion"גם" stays a difficulty for בית הלל
  5. StatementThe argument is only about ownership, not about payment
  6. ChallengeDoes this ברייתא refute רב?
  7. Resolutionרבא: a change in the animal versus a change in its price
  8. Statementרבה: שינוי קונה is both in the Torah and in a משנה
  9. ProofThe proof from the פסוק "אשר גזל"
  10. ProofProof from a משנה about wood made into vessels
  11. ProofAnother משנה: dyed wool is exempt from the first-shearing gift
  12. StatementDespair also acquires, but is it Torah or rabbinic law?
  13. ProofIf it is Torah law, it works like finding a lost item
  14. RejectionThe rabbinic side: a stolen item is not like a lost item
  15. Statementרב יוסף: יאוש does not let a thief acquire at all
  16. Challengeרב יוסף begins a challenge to רבה from a case of stolen חמץ