Bava Metzia 11a

בבא מציעא י״א ע״א

Learn Bava Metzia 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bava Metzia 11a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Whether a minor acquires through his חצר, and the rule that an unguarded field acquires for its owner only when he stands beside it.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question from the page before: why do אבא כהן ברדלא and רבי ינאי disagree about whether a minor acquires through his חצר? The גמרא gives three answers. The first is that they argue whether we learn מציאה from גט. The second is that they argue whether a קטן is learned from a קטנה. The third is that there is no argument at all. Then a new משנה teaches that a person's field acquires an ownerless animal for him only if the animal cannot escape, like a deer with a broken leg or baby birds that cannot fly. שמואל adds that this works only when the owner is standing next to his field. The גמרא explains that a guarded חצר acquires even without the owner knowing, but an open, unguarded field acquires only when he is beside it. It proves this from a ברייתא about a forgotten sheaf (שכחה) and defends the proof through a back-and-forth over words in the פסוק. רב אשי settles it with the word 'יִהְיֶה'. עולא and רבה בר בר חנה agree with שמואל, and רבי אבא begins challenging עולא from a story about רבן גמליאל on a ship. That challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. ResponseFirst answer: can we learn found objects from divorce?
2. ResponseSecond answer: everyone agrees about a girl, they argue about a boy
3. ResponseThird answer: no argument at all
4. StatementA field acquires an animal only if it cannot escape
5. StatementThe owner must be standing next to his field
6. ChallengeA courtyard acquires even without the owner knowing
7. ResolutionGuarded versus unguarded courtyards
8. QuestionAsking for a source for the unguarded-field rule
9. ProofA ברייתא about a forgotten sheaf
10. ChallengeThe ברייתא seems to contradict itself
11. ResolutionRereading the ברייתא: standing in the field makes it his חצר
12. ProofIn town the sheaf is forgotten because the owner is not next to his field
13. RejectionMaybe the field and town difference is just a Torah decree
14. ResolutionThe פסוק includes sheaves forgotten in town
15. ChallengeThat phrase is needed for the prohibition
16. ResolutionThe extra words 'do not go back' include forgetting in town
17. ChallengeThe words 'do not go back' are needed for the front-and-behind rule
18. Resolutionרב אשי learns the town case from the word 'it shall be'
19. StatementTwo more אמוראים agree: the owner must be standing next to his field
20. Challengeרבי אבא challenges עולא from רבן גמליאל on the ship