Bava Batra 24

Chapter 24

א משמיה דר' עקיבא בר יוסף כוותיה אמר רב אשי ומאי קושיא דלמא להא מילתא בר מזליה הוא
1 in the name of R. Akiba b. Joseph.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who certainly was a much greater man, so that the explanation that they were born under one star will not hold. ');"><sup>1</sup></span> Said R. Ashi: What is there strange in this? perhaps in this matter he was born under the same star. No, said R. Ashi; the proof is that a great man makes a statement and then it is found that the same rule was a <i>halachah</i> communicated to Moses at Mount Sinai. But perhaps the wise man was no better than a blind man groping his way through a window?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he hit on the idea by chance. ');"><sup>2</sup></span>
ב אלא אמר רב אשי תדע דאמר גברא רבה מילתא ומתאמרא הלכה למשה מסיני כוותיה ודלמא כסומא בארובה ולאו טעם יהיב
2 — And does he not give reasons [for his opinions]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence we must say that his agreement with Moses was due not to chance but to the spirit of prophecy. [This is another way of expressing the belief that revelation did not cease with the extinction of prophecy. V. Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, 72ff.] ');"><sup>3</sup></span> R. Johanan said: Since the Temple was destroyed, prophecy has been taken from prophets and given to fools and children. How given to fools? — The case of Mar son of R. Ashi will illustrate. He was one day standing in the manor of Mahuza<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [A town on the Tigris, South of Bagdad. On the manor of Mahuza, Rostaka di Mahuza, v. Obermeyer, op. cit., 172.] ');"><sup>4</sup></span>
ג א"ר יוחנן מיום שחרב בית המקדש ניטלה נבואה מן הנביאים וניתנה לשוטים ולתינוקות לשוטים מאי היא כי הא דמר בר רב אשי דהוה קאי ברסתקא דמחוזא שמעיה לההוא שוטה דקאמר ריש מתיבתא דמליך במתא מחסיא טביומי חתים אמר מאן חתים טביומי ברבנן אנא שמע מינה לדידי קיימא לי שעתא קם אתא אדאתא אימנו רבנן לאותביה לרב אחא מדפתי ברישא
3 when he heard a certain lunatic exclaim: The man who is to be elected head of the Academy in Matha Mehasia<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A position previously held by his father. For Matha Mehasia v. p. 10 n. 1. ');"><sup>5</sup></span> signs his name Tabiumi. He said to himself: Who among the Rabbis signs his name Tabiumi? I do. This seems to show that my lucky time has come. So he quickly went to Matha Mehasia. When he arrived, he found that the Rabbis had voted to appoint R. Aha of Difti as their head. When they heard of his arrival, they sent a couple of Rabbis to him to consult him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In connection with R. Aha's appointment (Rashi). ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
ד כיון דשמעי דאתא שדור זוגא דרבנן לגביה לאימלוכי ביה עכביה הדר שדור זוגא דרבנן אחרינא עכביה גביה עד דמלו בי עשרה כיון דמלו בי עשרה פתח הוא ותנא ודרש לפי שאין פותחין בכלה פחות מעשרה
4 He detained them with him, and they sent another couple of Rabbis. He detained these also, [and so it went on] until the number reached ten. When ten were assembled, he began to discourse and expound the Oral Law and the Scriptures, [having waited so long] because a public discourse<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'a discourse in the kallah'. [Name given to an assembly at which the Law was expounded to scholars, as well as to the half yearly assemblies of the Babylonian Academies. The word has been variously explained as 'bride', because of the declaration of love and loyalty to the Torah, or from 'crown', with reference to the round formation of the sitting accommodation or again [G] = school. On further suggestions, v. Krauss, S., in Poznanski's Memorial Volume, 142ff.] ');"><sup>7</sup></span> [on them] should not be commenced if the audience is less than ten. R. Aha<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When he saw that he had lost his chance. ');"><sup>8</sup></span>
ה קרי רב אחא אנפשיה כל המריעין לו לא במהרה מטיבין לו וכל המטיבין לו לא במהרה מריעין לו
5 applied to himself the saying: If a man is in disfavour [with Heaven] he does not readily come into favour, and if a man is in favour he does not readily fall into disfavour. How has prophecy been given to children? A case in point is that of the daughter of R. Hisda. She was sitting on her father's lap, and in front of him were sitting Raba and Rami b. Hama. He said to her: Which of them would you like? She replied: Both. Whereupon Raba said: And let me be the second.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [This was fulfilled, v. Yeb. 34b.] ');"><sup>9</sup></span>
ו תנוקת מאי היא כי הא דבת רב חסדא הוה יתבה בכנפיה דאבוה הוו יתבי קמיה רבא ורמי בר חמא אמר לה מאן מינייהו בעית אמרה ליה תרוייהו אמר רבא ואנא בתרא
6 R. Abdimi from Haifa said: Before a man eats and drinks he has two hearts,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he finds it hard to make up his mind for one thing. ');"><sup>10</sup></span> but after he eats and drinks he has only one heart, as it says, A hollow [nabub] man is two-hearted,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Job XI, 12. E.V. 'Vain man is void of understanding.' ');"><sup>11</sup></span>
ז א"ר אבדימי דמן חיפה קודם שיאכל אדם וישתה יש לו שתי לבבות לאחר שאוכל ושותה אין לו אלא לב אחד שנאמר (איוב יא, יב) איש נבוב ילבב וכתיב (שמות כז, ח) נבוב לוחות ומתרגמינן חליל לוחין
7 the word nabub occurring also in the text nebub luhoth,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXVII, 8. ');"><sup>12</sup></span> which we translate 'hollow with planks'. R. Huna the son of R. Joshua said: If a man is a wine drinker, even though his heart<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Heart' here seems to have the sense of 'mind' or 'understanding'. ');"><sup>13</sup></span>
ח אמר רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע הרגיל ביין אפילו לבו אטום כבתולה יין מפקחו שנאמר (זכריה ט, יז) ותירוש ינובב בתולות:
8 is closed like a virgin, the wine opens<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'makes it open-eyed'. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> it, as it is said: New wine shall make open out [yenobeb] the maids.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., maiden-hearts, Zech. IX, 17. ');"><sup>15</sup></span>
ט אמר רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע פשיטא חלק בכור וחלק פשוט יהבינן ליה אחד מצרא יבם מאי
9 R. Huna the son of R. Joshua said: That the portion [of a field assigned to a first-born]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The first-born received a double portion in his father's inheritance, Deut. XXI, 16. ');"><sup>16</sup></span> as a first-born and the portion assigned to him as an ordinary son should be contiguous goes without saying. What is the rule in the case of a brother-in-law?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A man who marries his brother's widow if he has died without offspring, and who is also entitled to a double portion. The question is, can he claim that the two portions should be contiguous without making compensation to the other brothers? ');"><sup>17</sup></span>
י אמר אביי היא היא מאי טעמא בכור קרייה רחמנא רבא אמר אמר קרא (דברים כה, ו) והיה הבכור הוייתו כבכור ואין חלוקתו כבכור
10 — Abaye replied: It is just the same. Why so? Because the Divine Law calls him 'first-born'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XXV, 6: And it shall be that the first.born which she beareth. The Rabbis, however, translate for halachic purposes thus: 'And he (the brother) shall be the first-born; she shall be one capable of bearing'. ');"><sup>18</sup></span> Raba, however, said: The text says: And he shall be the first-born: this means that he is regarded as a firstborn, but the assignment is not made to him as to a firstborn.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'His being is as a first-born, but his assignment is not as a firstborn'. I.e., he receives a double portion as a first-born, but cannot demand that the two portions shall be contiguous like a first-born. ');"><sup>19</sup></span>
יא ההוא דזבן ארעא אמצרא דבי נשיה כי קא פלגו אמר להו פליגו לי אמצראי אמר רבה כגון זה כופין על מדת סדום
11 A certain man bought a field adjacent to the estate of his father-in-law.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Whom we must suppose to have had only daughters. Rashi, however, translates 'father', though this is not the usual meaning of [H]. ');"><sup>20</sup></span> When they came to divide the latter's estate, he said: Give me my share next to my own field. Rabbah said: This is a case where a man can be compelled not to act after the manner of Sodom.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., not to adopt a dog-in-the-manger attitude, refusing to confer a benefit which costs him nothing. ');"><sup>21</sup></span>
יב מתקיף לה רב יוסף אמרי ליה אחי מעלינן ליה עלויא כי נכסי דבי בר מריון והלכתא כרב יוסף
12 R. Joseph strongly objected to this, on the ground that the brothers<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to another reading, 'sisters'. V. Tosaf. s.v. [H] ');"><sup>22</sup></span> can say to him: We reckon this field as specially valuable like the property of the family of Mar Marion.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Rashi. This, however, does some violence to the word [H], and Tosaf. translates: The brothers can even say to him, We value this field like those of Mar Marion's (and demand compensation accordingly). ');"><sup>23</sup></span>
יג תרי ארעתא אתרי נגרי אמר רבה כגון זה כופין על מדת סדום מתקיף לה רב יוסף זמנין דהאי מדויל והאי לא מדויל והלכתא כרב יוסף
13 The law follows R. Joseph. If there are two fields<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Left by a father to two sons. ');"><sup>24</sup></span>
יד תרתי אחד נגרא א"ר יוסף כגון זה כופין על מדת סדום מתקיף לה אביי מצי אמר בעינא דאפיש אריסי והלכתא כרב יוסף אפושי לאו מילתא היא
14 with two channels [running by them],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And one brother demands the field adjoining land he already possesses. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> Rabbah said: This is a case where we can apply the rule that a man can be compelled not to act after the manner of Sodom. R. Joseph strongly objected to this on the ground that sometimes one channel may continue running while the other dries up.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence the other brother has a right to insist on having the fields equally divided so that he should have a field by each channel; seeing that each field has a channel, the other brother stands to lose nothing by acceding to the request. ');"><sup>26</sup></span> The law follows R. Joseph. If, however, there are two fields adjoining one channel, R. Joseph says that in such a case we do compel a man not to act after the manner of Sodom.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And to allow the other to have two fields contiguous to one another. ');"><sup>27</sup></span> Abaye objected to this strongly on the ground that the one [who has two fields in the middle] can say, I want you to have more metayers.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If his two fields are separated, he will want more men to work them, and therefore the fields of the other which are in between will be better guarded. ');"><sup>28</sup></span> The law, however, follows R. Joseph; the increase in the number of metayers is not a matter of consequence.
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