Bava Metzia 89b

בבא מציעא פ״ט ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 89b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

A worker eating his employer's crops: may he improve the fruit, and when does dipping in salt turn snacking into a fixed meal that needs מעשרות?

Overview

The גמרא asks whether a פועל (worker) eating in the field may do things that improve the fruit itself, like singeing it. It first makes clear that the question is about preparing the fruit, not the worker's appetite. Two ברייתות that forbid singeing and similar preparations are pushed off: those bans could be about ביטול מלאכה (wasting work time). So the question is narrowed to a case where his wife and children do the preparing. A ברייתא that forbids dipping fruit in salt is also pushed off, because salt is like eating the fruit with another food. Next, another ברייתא that allows dipping in salt is set against that one. אביי answers by splitting ארץ ישראל from חוץ לארץ, but רבא rejects this. רבא rules that in every place, dipping one fruit at a time stays a snack, while dipping two makes a fixed meal that needs מעשרות, and he applies this to each kind of worker. רב מתנא gives a פסוק in מיכה as the source for the 'two' rule, and a new ברייתא about cows treading on grain begins.

Opening lines

The steps (19)

1. RejectionThe question is about preparing the fruit, not the man
2. ProofProof: workers may not singe grapes in fire
3. RejectionRejected: the reason is wasting work time
4. QuestionNarrowing the question: his wife and children do the preparing
5. ProofProof: no singeing, roasting in the ground, or cracking on a rock
6. RejectionRejected again: wasting work time
7. ProofSupport: a rock doesn't sweeten anything
8. RejectionEven a rock sweetens a little
9. ProofProof: workers may not dip fruit in salt
10. RejectionSalt is a clear case of adding another food
11. ChallengeA second ברייתא allows dipping in salt
12. ChallengeWhich worker is allowed to use salt?
13. Resolutionאביי: ארץ ישראל versus חוץ לארץ
14. Challengeרבא: Such a big gap between the two places makes no sense
15. Resolutionרבא's new rule: one fruit versus two
16. StatementApplying the rule to each kind of worker
17. QuestionWhat is the source that two make a fixed meal?
18. Responseרב מתנא's פסוק: gathered like sheaves
19. StatementA new ברייתא: cows treading on grain