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Bava Metzia 116b

בבא מציעא קט״ז ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 116b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Two-story houses: dividing the materials when a house owned by two people collapses, and the rights of an upstairs renter whose floor breaks.

Overview

The amud opens with a משנה about a two-story house owned by two people that collapses. The owners split the fallen materials, the court looks at which stones were likely to break, and a man who recognizes his own stones takes them as part of his share. The גמרא first narrows the even split to cases where nobody can know how the house fell or whose stones they are. It then explains that the partner who recognizes his stones wins only because the other partner says 'I don't know.' The גמרא shows this fits רב נחמן, because the case involves an oath that partner cannot take. רבא and אביי then argue over whether the recognized stones count against the broken stones or the whole ones. A second משנה rules that a renter whose upper story breaks may live downstairs until the owner repairs it, and רבי יוסי adds how two owners share the cost of the ceiling. The גמרא discusses how big the break must be, where רב and שמואל disagree, and what wording of the rental gives the renter a claim on the house below. רב אשי's answer is backed by a case about a vine sold 'on top of this peach tree.' The amud ends as רבי אבא בר ממל begins a new question.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳ הַבַּיִת וְהָעֲלִיָּיה שֶׁל שְׁנַיִם, שֶׁנָּפְלוּ –

MISHNA: The house and the upper story belonging to two people, that collapsed —

שְׁנֵיהֶם חוֹלְקִין

the two of them divide

בָּעֵצִים וּבָאֲבָנִים וּבֶעָפָר.

the timber, the stones and the earth.

וְרוֹאִין אֵלּוּ אֲבָנִים

And the court considers which stones

The steps (34)

  1. StatementThe משנה: Dividing a Collapsed Two-Story House
  2. StatementInference: The Court Can Sometimes Tell How It Fell
  3. ChallengeChallenge: Why Split Evenly in the First Clause?
  4. ResolutionAnswer: The House Fell at Night
  5. ChallengeChallenge: Look at the Stones in the Morning
  6. ResolutionAnswer: The Stones Were Cleared Away
  7. ChallengeChallenge: Ask Whoever Cleared the Stones
  8. ResolutionAnswer: Passersby Cleared Them and Left
  9. ChallengeCheck whose property the stones are lying on
  10. ResolutionThe stones are in a shared courtyard or the street
  11. ResolutionPartners don't mind each other's things on their side
  12. QuestionWhat is the other partner saying?
  13. ResponseHe says 'I don't know'
  14. ChallengeDoes this disprove רב נחמן?
  15. ResolutionThe משנה is a case where he already owes a שבועה
  16. QuestionWhat counts as a 'matter of an oath'?
  17. Responseרבא's case: admits fifty, doesn't know about the rest
  18. Statementרבא's first reading: the stones count against the broken ones
  19. Rejectionאביי: the partner who recognized stones is the weaker one
  20. Resolutionאביי's reading: the stones count against the whole ones
  21. ChallengeThen what does recognizing his stones gain him?
  22. ResolutionHe gets bigger or better-made bricks
  23. StatementUpstairs resident may move downstairs
  24. StatementHow two owners split the ceiling repair
  25. QuestionHow big must the break be?
  26. ResponseMost of the floor, or four טפחים
  27. Statementרב's reason: a person can live split
  28. Statementשמואל's reason: no one lives split
  29. ChallengeWhat case could the rule possibly be talking about?
  30. Resolutionרבא: The owner said 'go up with it and down with it'
  31. ChallengeThen why would the rule need to be taught?
  32. Resolutionרב אשי: 'This upper story on top of this house'
  33. ProofSupport: the vine sold on top of a peach tree
  34. Questionרבי אבא בר ממל introduces a new question