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Bava Kamma 66b

בבא קמא ס״ו ע״ב

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

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Topic

Does יאוש make a thief the owner? Challenges from both sides, and רב יוסף's rule that a change in name counts like a physical change.

Overview

This amud asks whether an owner's giving up hope (יאוש) makes a thief the owner of what he stole. רב יוסף challenges רבה with the case of stolen חמץ after פסח. רבה answers that יאוש works only when the thief wants the item, and nobody wants forbidden חמץ. אביי then challenges רבה from the word קרבנו, which excludes a stolen animal. רבא answers that the ברייתא can be about an animal that was already a קרבן when it was stolen. Next אביי challenges רב יוסף from a משנה in which a thief's or robber's decision about hides makes them able to become impure. That would show יאוש קונה. רב יוסף first answers that the hides were trimmed, but רבה בר רב חנן shows that a table-top cover needs no trimming. So רבא reports רב יוסף's final answer: a change in name counts like a physical change. The גמרא then challenges this from a stolen beam built into a building, where the owner gets money only because of תקנת השבים.

Opening lines

אוֹמֵר לוֹ: ״הֲרֵי שֶׁלְּךָ לְפָנֶיךָ״.

He says to him: "Here is yours in front of you."

וְהַאי, כֵּיוָן דִּמְטָא עִידָּן אִיסּוּרָא –

But in this case, once the time of the prohibition has arrived,

וַדַּאי מִיָּיאַשׁ;

the owner certainly gives up hope;

וְאִי סָלְקָא דַעְתָּךְ יֵאוּשׁ קוֹנֶה,

and if you think that giving up hope makes the thief the owner,

The steps (17)

  1. ChallengeThe stolen חמץ case: why may the thief just hand it back?
  2. Resolutionיאוש only gives ownership when the thief wants to own the item
  3. Challengeאביי cites "his offering, not a stolen one" and rules out the case before יאוש
  4. ProofSo the ברייתא is after יאוש, which proves that יאוש does not give ownership
  5. Challengeרבא points to a parallel case about stolen bedding
  6. RejectionThe stolen item was already finished when it was stolen
  7. Challengeאביי begins a new challenge from a משנה about hides
  8. ChallengeThe quoted משנה continues: a thief versus a robber
  9. ChallengeSo giving up hope makes the stealer the owner
  10. ResolutionThe case is where the stealer trimmed the hides
  11. ChallengeA table-top cover does not need trimming
  12. ProofProof that the table-top cover needs no more work
  13. Resolutionרבא reports רב יוסף's answer: a change in name counts like a physical change
  14. QuestionWhy does a physical change work?
  15. ResponseBoth changes give the item a new identity
  16. ChallengeChallenge from the stolen beam built into a building
  17. ChallengeThe only reason is the enactment for those who repent