ועוד מאי אלא
and [wherever] an anonymous statement [is] followed by a dispute the law is not [decided] in accordance with the anonymous statement!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' What, then, is the object of our Mishnah?
');"><sup>35</sup></span> Furthermore, what [is the force of] EXCEPT?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. p. 506, n. 2.
');"><sup>36</sup></span> But, said Mar son of R. Ashi, it is this that was meant: Both a son and, [in the absence of a son], a daughter [have] equal [rights of succession] in the estate of a mother and in the estate of a father, except<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The force of 'except' is that while in the previous case there is equality in the loss' between the estate of a father and that of a mother, in the following case there is a difference between these two kinds of estate.
');"><sup>37</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
The following paragraph, dealing with the laws of inheritance, also contains allusions to the Ineffable Name of G–d. The Kabbalistic commentator Rekanati expresses it thus: "The verse commencing with: ואל בני ישראל תדבר לאמור, איש כי ימות ובן אין לו “Say to the children of Israel ‘if a man dies and he does not leave behind a son, etc.” (27,8), tells us that even laws covering such mundane matters as the inheritance laws and other laws concerning interpersonal relationships, depend on the מרכבה עליונה Divine entourage in the Celestial Regions. Their evolution and emanation are rooted in those regions. תפארת ישראל and שכינת עזו respectively, are called בן ובת, who inherit חכמה and בינה known as אב ואם. These four concepts are mystically part of the Ineffable four-lettered Name of G–d. Keeping this in mind you can understand why the בן, son, takes precedence over the daughter when inheriting the property of their father or mother, and why the son is obligated to provide for the daughter (his sister). Our sages called this system “the sons inherit, whereas the daughters are provided for” (Baba Batra 122b).
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