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Bava Metzia 72a

בבא מציעא ע״ב ע״א

Learn Bava Metzia 72a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Acquiring for a נכרי, רבית when a נכרי converts, fining a lender for a שטר with רבית, early-dated documents, and money paid for a void sale

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an argument that a Jew should be able to acquire for a נכרי, just as a קטן can acquire by rabbinic law. The גמרא rejects this comparison: a Jewish קטן will one day be eligible for שליחות, but a נכרי never will. Next, a ברייתא teaches that when a loan with רבית involves a נכרי who converts, the outcome depends on whether the interest was folded into the principal before or after the conversion. רבי יוסי says a convert borrower always pays the רבית, and the הלכה follows him. רבא explains the reason: so people will not say he converted to escape his debt. Then a ברייתא records a dispute about a שטר with רבית written in it: רבי מאיר fines the lender even the קרן, while the חכמים do not. This dispute is used to explain why early-dated loan documents are invalid, and ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן give two different reasons. Finally, a story about a mortgaged orchard raises a question: when a sale is void, is the buyer's money collected like a loan with a שטר or like an oral loan? אביי links this question to a statement of רבי אסי, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אִית לֵיהּ זְכִיָּה מִדְּרַבָּנַן.

he has the power to acquire by rabbinic law.

הָכָא נָמֵי לָא שְׁנָא.

Here too, it is no different.

וְלָא הִיא:

But it is not so:

יִשְׂרָאֵל אָתֵי לִכְלַל שְׁלִיחוּת,

a Jew will come into the category of agency,

The steps (19)

  1. ProofA minor can acquire by rabbinic law, so a gentile should too
  2. RejectionRejecting the comparison: a minor will grow up, a gentile will not
  3. StatementA Jew borrowed with interest from a gentile who later converted
  4. StatementA gentile borrowed with interest from a Jew and later converted
  5. Statementרבי יוסי: The lender always collects both principal and interest
  6. ConclusionThe הלכה follows רבי יוסי
  7. Questionרבא asks for רבי יוסי's reason
  8. ResponseSo no one says he converted to escape his debts
  9. StatementA loan document with interest written in it
  10. QuestionWhat is the basis of the disagreement?
  11. ResponseDo we fine the permitted part because of the forbidden part?
  12. StatementEarly-dated loan documents are invalid
  13. ChallengeWhy not collect from the real date?
  14. Resolutionריש לקיש: The משנה follows רבי מאיר
  15. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: Even the חכמים agree, because of a גזירה
  16. StatementA lender threatens to claim a mortgaged orchard as his own
  17. StatementThe borrower gives the field to his minor son, then sells it
  18. QuestionThe sale is void, but how is the money collected?
  19. Statementאביי links the question to רבי אסי