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Bava Metzia 99b

בבא מציעא צ״ט ע״ב

Learn Bava Metzia 99b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Acquiring a rental, and how to measure payment when an item's value depends on how or when it is sold

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a ברייתא: a rental is acquired the same ways land is, through money, a document, or taking possession. רב חסדא explains that this means renting land. Then שמואל rules on a robber who takes a cake of fifty dates, worth forty-nine together but fifty one by one. The robber pays an ordinary owner forty-nine but pays הקדש fifty plus a fifth, and a פסוק shows that someone who only damages הקדש pays no fifth. רב ביבי בר אביי asks why the owner can't claim the one-by-one price. רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע answers from a משנה that damage is valued as part of the whole. The גמרא then points to another ruling of שמואל, about courtyard rent, that seems to treat ordinary law like הקדש law. רבי יוחנן says שמואל took that ruling back, and רבא's principle shows why. Finally, רבא rules on porters who broke a wine barrel worth more on market day, and the גמרא adds limits on what they owe.

Opening lines

שֶׁקַּרְקַע נִקְנֵית

that land is acquired

בְּכֶסֶף וּבִשְׁטָר וּבַחֲזָקָה –

through money, a document, or taking possession

כָּךְ שְׂכִירוּת נִקְנֵית

so too a rental is acquired

בְּכֶסֶף וּבִשְׁטָר וּבַחֲזָקָה.

through money, a document, or taking possession.

The steps (16)

  1. StatementA rental is acquired the same ways land is
  2. QuestionWhy is rental mentioned here?
  3. ResponseIt means renting land
  4. Statementשמואל's case: a stolen cake of fifty dates
  5. StatementWhat the robber pays: ordinary owner vs. הקדש vs. a damager
  6. ProofThe פסוק that frees a damager from the fifth
  7. ChallengeWhy should the ordinary owner get only forty-nine?
  8. ResolutionDamage is measured as part of the larger unit
  9. ChallengeDoes שמואל really separate ordinary rules from הקדש rules?
  10. Challengeשמואל learns rent for a courtyard from the הקדש beam
  11. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: שמואל took that ruling back
  12. QuestionHow do we know which ruling he took back?
  13. ResponseThe courtyard ruling fails because of רבא's principle
  14. StatementPorters who broke a wine barrel before market day
  15. StatementLimit: only if the shopkeeper had no other wine to sell
  16. StatementSubtract the shopkeeper's saved effort and tapping costs