Bava Kamma 90a

בבא קמא צ׳ ע״א

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Topic

Whether owning the use of something counts as owning it, and רבי אליעזר's rule that 'his' means 'only his'; then a new משנה on fixed payments for humiliating blows.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the discussion of a wife's slave whom she injures. One explanation uses רבא's rule that שחרור cancels a שעבוד. The גמרא asks whether this makes רבא's rule a dispute between תנאים, and it gives two answers. The first answer says חכמים made a husband's lien extra strong. The second says the real argument is whether קנין פירות כקנין הגוף דמי. That question is tied to a ברייתא about a slave sold on condition that he serve the seller for thirty days, where four תנאים argue about who gets the exemption of יום או יומים. רבא explains that רבי אליעזר reads כספו as 'only his', so neither owner is exempt. The גמרא then uses this idea to explain אמימר's ruling on selling נכסי מלוג, and a ברייתא that a half-slave or a partners' slave does not go free through injury to his limbs. Finally, a new משנה begins, listing fixed payments for insulting acts, from a plain blow up to a backhand slap and other public humiliations.

Opening lines

The steps (18)

1. StatementThree things that cancel a lien
2. ChallengeIs רבא's rule a dispute between תנאים?
3. ResolutionEveryone agrees with רבא, but the husband's lien is stronger
4. ResolutionAnother answer: they argue whether owning the use is like owning the item
5. ProofLinking the argument to an older Tannaitic dispute
6. Proofרבי מאיר: the seller is the owner because he has the slave's work
7. Proofרבי יהודה: the buyer is the owner because the slave is his property
8. Proofרבי יוסי: both are exempt because the question is unsure
9. Statementרבי אליעזר: neither owner gets the exemption
10. Statementרבא gives the source for רבי אליעזר
11. QuestionWhose view does אמימר follow on selling נכסי מלוג?
12. Responseאמימר follows רבי אליעזר
13. QuestionWho taught the ברייתא about a half-slave and a partners' slave?
14. Responseרב מרדכי, quoting רבא: it is רבי אליעזר
15. Proof'His slave' also means a slave only he owns
16. StatementThe basic blow: one סלע, or one מנה according to רבי יוסי הגלילי
17. StatementA slap costs 200 זוז, and a backhand slap costs 400
18. StatementOther shameful acts that also cost 400 זוז