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Bava Metzia 117a

בבא מציעא קי״ז ע״א

Learn Bava Metzia 117a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Upper and lower residents of one house: the tenant's rights after a collapse, who supplies the ceiling and plaster, who fixes leaking water, and rebuilding a collapsed house.

Overview

The amud opens with a chain of questions about a tenant whose rented upper story collapsed and who moved down into the owner's house. Does he live there alone or share it? Does he enter through the doors or by way of the roof? If there are two upper stories and the lower one breaks, must he climb to the top one? Each question asks what the tenant agreed to when he rented, and all of them end in תיקו. Next the גמרא explains the word תקרה (ceiling) in רבי יוסי's ruling: mats and beams, or wide planks, each following local building custom. It then brings a case of broken floor plaster that let water drip downstairs, where two אמוראים argue whether the upper or the lower resident must repair it. The גמרא first tries to tie their argument to רבי יוסי and the רבנן in our משנה, but the tree-and-pit משנה shows that cannot work. So it ties the אמוראים to the tree-and-pit dispute, and explains that our משנה argues about what the plaster is for: strengthening the ceiling or leveling the floor. Finally a new משנה teaches that when a house and its upper story collapse, the upper owner may rebuild and live downstairs until repaid, while רבי יהודה says he must first rebuild both floors so he owes no rent.

Opening lines

כְּשֶׁהוּא דָּר, לְבַדּוֹ הוּא דָּר כִּדְמֵעִיקָּרָא,

When he lives there, does he live alone, just as at the beginning,

אוֹ דִלְמָא שְׁנֵיהֶם דָּרִין,

or perhaps both of them live there,

דַּאֲמַר לֵיהּ:

because he (the owner) says to him:

אַדַּעְתָּא לְאַפֹּקִינַן לָא אֹגַרִי לָךְ.

"I did not rent to you with the intention that I be pushed out."

The steps (22)

  1. QuestionDoes the tenant live downstairs alone or together with the owner?
  2. QuestionIf they share, does the tenant enter through the door or by way of the roof?
  3. QuestionTwo upper stories: if the lower one breaks, must he climb to the top?
  4. QuestionThe two sides: did he agree to "an upper story" or to just one flight up?
  5. ConclusionThe questions remain unanswered
  6. QuestionWhat does 'ceiling' mean in רבי יוסי's ruling?
  7. ResponseTwo definitions of 'ceiling'
  8. ConclusionNo real argument: each follows his local custom
  9. QuestionBroken floor plaster: water leaks from upstairs to downstairs
  10. ResponseTwo אמוראים argue over who repairs
  11. QuestionIs this the same argument as רבי יוסי and the רבנן?
  12. ChallengeBut we know רבי יוסי and the רבנן hold the opposite
  13. ProofThe משנה of the tree and the pit
  14. Proofרבי יוסי's view in the tree-and-pit case
  15. ChallengeSo the positions are the reverse of what was suggested
  16. ResolutionThe אמוראים follow the tree-and-pit dispute instead
  17. QuestionThen what is our משנה arguing about?
  18. ResponseThey argue about what the plaster is for
  19. Challengeרב אשי: רבי יוסי agrees when the damage is like his own arrows
  20. ResolutionThe water stops first and only then drips down
  21. StatementNew משנה: the upper owner may rebuild the house and live in it until repaid
  22. Statementרבי יהודה: living in the house needs rent, so build both floors first