Bava Kamma 96b

בבא קמא צ״ו ע״ב

Learn Bava Kamma 96b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

שינוי in גזילה: which changes make a stolen item the robber's, and when he pays the original value versus returning the item as it is

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question about a stolen לולב whose תיומת split. One version leaves the proof rejected. A second version brings רבי יהושע בן לוי, who says a split תיומת counts as removed, so the robber acquires the לולב. רב פפא then teaches that a change counts as שינוי only if the item cannot return to its original form: earth made into a brick or a bar made into coins can go back, but a brick crushed into earth or coins melted into a bar cannot, since rebuilding makes פנים חדשות. The משנה's 'זה הכלל' adds רבי אלעא's rule that a lamb that grew into a ram belongs to the thief. In the story of stolen oxen, רב נחמן makes a habitual robber pay half the land's improvement as a קנס, even though by strict law robbers pay according to the time of the robbery. A new משנה then separates two groups. When the item itself got worse (aged, cracked, rotted, soured), the thief pays the old value. When only its status changed, he returns it as it is. The גמרא explains that permanent weakening counts like aging. It then shows how רב can rule like רבי מאיר on slaves: in his version of the משנה, backed by ברייתות, the view that slaves are like land belongs to the majority.

Opening lines

The steps (42)

1. ProofTrying to learn the split leaf from the removed leaf
2. RejectionA removed leaf is different because something is missing
3. ProofSecond version: a split leaf is like a removed one
4. StatementEarth made into a brick is not acquired
5. StatementA brick made into earth is acquired
6. ChallengeBut he could rebuild the brick
7. ResolutionA rebuilt brick is a brand-new brick
8. StatementA silver bar made into coins is not acquired
9. StatementCoins made into a silver bar are acquired
10. ChallengeBut he could mint coins again
11. ResolutionNew coins are a new entity
12. StatementCleaning old coins versus blackening new coins
13. ChallengeBut he can clean the blackened coins again
14. ResolutionThe blackening still shows
15. QuestionWhat does 'this is the principle' add?
16. ResponseA stolen lamb that grows into a ram
17. StatementThe stolen oxen used for plowing
18. ChallengeDid only the oxen improve the land?
19. ResolutionOnly half the improvement
20. ChallengeA robber only returns what he took
21. Resolutionרב נחמן: My ruling was a fine on a known robber
22. Statementמשנה: A stolen animal or slaves that grew old
23. Statementמשנה: A cracked coin, rotted fruit, soured wine
24. Statementמשנה: Cases where the thief returns the item as it is
25. Statementרב פפא: Weakening Also Counts Like Aging
26. ChallengeBut the משנה Said Aged
27. ResolutionWeakness That Never Goes Away
28. StatementA Lamb That Grew Into a Ram Belongs to the Thief
29. Rejectionרב אשי Corrects Who Said It
30. Statementרב Rules Like רבי מאיר on Slaves
31. ChallengeWould רב Leave the Majority
32. ResolutionA ברייתא Has the Opinions Reversed
33. ChallengeWould רב Leave the משנה for a ברייתא
34. Resolutionרב Reads the משנה Reversed Too
35. ChallengeWhy Not Fix the ברייתא Instead
36. Resolutionרב Was Taught the משנה That Way
37. Resolutionרב reverses a משנה when two ברייתות disagree with it
38. ProofThe second ברייתא: who owns the newborn after a trade or sale
39. ProofWhen both claim the birth: רבי מאיר says the seller swears
40. ProofThe חכמים: no oath on slaves or land
41. Challengeרב's wording does not fit his own version
42. Resolutionרב was speaking in terms of his listeners' version