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Bava Metzia 83b

בבא מציעא פ״ג ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 83b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A worker's travel time, a דרשה on תהלים 104, and the story of רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון arresting thieves for the government

Overview

ריש לקיש teaches that a פועל walks home from work on his own time, but walks out to work on the בעל הבית's time, learning it from a פסוק in תהלים. The גמרא asks why a פסוק is needed when local custom decides. It answers that the rule is for a brand-new city, for workers gathered from many towns, or for an employer who hired 'by Torah law.' Next comes a דרשה on the same chapter of תהלים: night is this world, where the רשעים roam like forest animals, and sunrise is עולם הבא, where the צדיקים receive their reward. This leads to a story. רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון teaches an officer how to recognize thieves, and the government then appoints him to do the job himself. רבי יהושע בן קרחה rebukes him as 'vinegar son of wine' for handing Jews over to be killed. After רבי אלעזר has an insolent laundryman executed, he regrets it, until he learns the man was truly wicked. To be sure he is righteous, he has his belly opened, and even the red veins in his fat do not rot. The amud ends as a similar story begins about רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי.

Opening lines

פּוֹעֵל בִּכְנִיסָתוֹ מִשֶּׁלּוֹ,

A worker, in his coming in, is on his own [time];

בִּיצִיאָתוֹ מִשֶּׁל בַּעַל הַבַּיִת,

in his going out, it is on the employer's [time],

שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר:

as it is stated:

״תִּזְרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵאָסֵפוּן

"The sun rises, they slink away

The steps (26)

  1. StatementTravel home is on the worker's time; travel to work is on the employer's time
  2. ChallengeWhy not just follow local custom?
  3. ResolutionA new city with no custom yet
  4. ChallengeWhy not follow the workers' hometown custom?
  5. ResolutionA mixed group from many towns
  6. ResolutionThe employer hired them 'by Torah law'
  7. StatementNight is this world; wild animals are the wicked
  8. StatementSunrise for the righteous, גיהנם for the wicked
  9. StatementThe righteous go out to receive their reward
  10. Challengeרבי אלעזר challenges the officer: how do you know you have the right people?
  11. ResolutionThe officer answers that it is the king's order
  12. Statementרבי אלעזר teaches a test: look for the man dozing in the tavern
  13. StatementHow to judge the dozing man: scholar, worker, night worker, or thief
  14. StatementThe king appoints רבי אלעזר himself to catch thieves
  15. Challengeרבי יהושע בן קרחה rebukes him: vinegar son of wine
  16. Resolutionרבי אלעזר defends himself: removing thorns from the vineyard
  17. RejectionLet the Owner of the vineyard remove His own thorns
  18. StatementThe laundryman insults רבי אלעזר and is arrested
  19. Statementרבי אלעזר regrets, fails to save him, and weeps at the gallows
  20. ResolutionThey comfort him: the laundryman was truly wicked
  21. ProofIf his guesses are right, his certainties surely are
  22. ProofThe surgery: his fat does not rot in the summer sun
  23. ChallengeFat never rots, so what was proven?
  24. ResolutionThe red veins should have rotted, but they did not
  25. Conclusionרבי אלעזר applies a verse about his flesh to himself
  26. StatementA similar story begins with רבי ישמעאל ברבי יוסי