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Bava Metzia 107b

בבא מציעא ק״ז ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 107b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

רב and the עין הרע; five views of 'כל חלי'; the praise of פת שחרית; measuring land by water; clearing riverbank trees

Overview

The amud opens by settling a contradiction in רב's views. He praises land near a city, yet he worries about the עין הרע; the answer is that a wall and a partition around the field protect it. The גמרא then brings five explanations of 'כל חלי' in the פסוק. רב says it is the עין הרע, שמואל the wind, רבי חנינא the cold, רבי יוסי בר חנינא bodily waste, and רבי אלעזר the gall. Each view is tied to that אמורא's wider teaching. A ברייתא then praises פת שחרית, a simple morning meal, and רבה and רבא בר מרי each bring a פסוק as its source. Next, רב יהודה teaches a surveyor to measure carefully, except for the strips of land along a channel or a river. The amud ends with stories about clearing trees from riverbanks for the boat-pullers, and the explanation of the last story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לָא קַשְׁיָא:

This is not difficult:

הָא דִּמְהַדַּר לֵיהּ

this is where there surrounds it

שׁוּרָא וְרִתְקָא,

a wall and a partition,

הָא דְּלָא מְהַדַּר לֵיהּ

that is where there does not surround it

The steps (28)

  1. ResolutionA wall and partition protect the field
  2. Statementרב: 'All sickness' means the evil eye
  3. Proofרב's graveyard visit shows his view
  4. Statementשמואל: 'All sickness' means the wind
  5. Proofשמואל says everything comes from the wind
  6. ChallengeWhat about people executed by the king?
  7. ResolutionWithout the wind, even they could be healed
  8. Statementרבי חנינא: 'All sickness' means the cold
  9. ProofEverything is from Heaven except cold and heat
  10. Statementרבי יוסי בר חנינא: the sickness is bodily waste
  11. ProofSupport: too much nose and ear waste is harmful
  12. Statementרבי אלעזר: the sickness is the gall
  13. ProofA ברייתא supports רבי אלעזר
  14. StatementMorning bread with salt and water cancels these diseases
  15. StatementA ברייתא lists the benefits of morning bread
  16. StatementSome add: morning bread removes jealousy and brings love
  17. Questionרבה asks for the source of a popular saying about eating early
  18. Responseרבא בר מרי brings a verse from ישעיהו
  19. Responseרבה brings a different verse from שמות
  20. StatementMeasure land carefully because every bit is valuable
  21. StatementStrips beside a channel or a river need less exact measuring
  22. Statementרב יהודה is consistent with his own view on channel and river strips
  23. Statementרבי אמי orders trees cut along both riverbanks
  24. Statementרב נתן בר הושעיא cuts sixteen אמות and is beaten
  25. RejectionWhy sixteen אמות was a mistake
  26. Statementרבה בר רב הונא waits for his neighbors to cut first
  27. ChallengeShouldn't he fix himself before others?
  28. ResolutionThe neighbor was a powerful Persian officer