Bava Kamma 80b

בבא קמא פ׳ ע״ב

Learn Bava Kamma 80b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

רב's rulings on dangerous cats, three teachings of the sons of רב פפא, and rules for settling ארץ ישראל

Overview

This amud opens with the end of a story about רב, שמואל and רב אסי. Each refused to walk in ahead of someone he honored, and the גמרא explains why שמואל was the one who waited. Meanwhile a cat bit off a baby's hand, and רב taught four rules about a dangerous cat: you may kill it, you may not keep it, it has no גזל, and it has no השבת אבידה. The גמרא explains why each rule is needed. It also settles a ברייתא that allows raising cats by saying black cats are harmless and white cats are dangerous, and it traces the cat's parents and grandparents to fit רב's story. Next come three teachings passed down by the sons of רב פפא: sounding the alarm over sores on שבת, a locked door that does not open quickly, and writing a deed for a house in ארץ ישראל on שבת. The גמרא explains each one, and shows that the Rabbis allowed asking a גוי to write the deed for the sake of settling ארץ ישראל. It adds that a buyer of a city must buy roads to it from all four sides. The amud ends by introducing a ברייתא about ten conditions יהושע made when he divided the land, and the list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. StatementNobody wants to walk in first
2. ChallengeWhy not have רב or רב אסי wait instead?
3. Resolutionרב's respect for שמואל was only a gesture
4. StatementA cat bites off a baby's hand
5. Statementרב's four rules about a cat
6. ChallengeWhy say both 'may kill' and 'may not keep'?
7. ResolutionKeeping a cat is a real איסור
8. ChallengeWhy say there is no returning a lost cat?
9. ResolutionThe rule is about the cat's hide
10. ChallengeA ברייתא says you may raise cats
11. ResolutionBlack cats versus white cats
12. ChallengeBut רב's cat was black
13. ResolutionA black cat born to a white cat
14. ChallengeBut רבינא was unsure about this case
15. ResolutionGoing back one more generation
16. StatementThree teachings passed down through the sons of רב פפא
17. ChallengeA ברייתא says we do not sound the alarm over sores
18. ResolutionMoist sores versus dry sores
19. ProofProof that sores can be moist or dry
20. QuestionWhat does the locked door mean?
21. Responseמר זוטרא: it means ordination
22. Responseרב אשי: bad luck doesn't turn quickly
23. Responseרב אחא מדיפתי: good never returns
24. Rejectionרב אחא's view was only personal
25. ChallengeWriting a deed on שבת?!
26. ResolutionA גוי writes it, and the Rabbis allowed this
27. StatementBuying a city: roads on all four sides
28. StatementIntroducing the ten conditions of יהושע