Bava Kamma 160

שמואל לא עייל קמיה דרב אסי רב אסי לא עייל קמיה דרב אמרי מאן נתרח נתרח שמואל וניתי רב ורב אסי

nor Samuel before R. Assi,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On account of seniority. ');">¹</span> nor R. Assi before Rab.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Whose disciple he was. ');">²</span>

ונתרח רב או רב אסי רב מילתא בעלמא הוא דעבד ליה לשמואל משום ההוא מעשה דלטייה אדבריה רב עליה

They therefore argued who should go in last, [and it was decided that] Samuel should go in last, and that Rab and R. Assi should go in [together]. But why should not either Rab or R. Assi have been last? — Rab [at first] was merely paying a compliment to Samuel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who was the youngest of them. ');">³</span> to make up for the [regrettable] occasion when a curse against him,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., Samuel. ');">⁴</span>

אדהכי והכי אתא שונרא קטעיה לידא דינוקא נפק רב ודרש חתול מותר להורגו ואסור לקיימו ואין בו משום גזל ואין בו משום השב אבידה לבעלים

escaped his lips;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For which cf. Shab. 108b. ');">⁵</span> for that reason Rab offered him precedence.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [But not because he considered Samuel his superior, with the result that, were they to go in together, they would be faced with the dilemma as to which of the two was to enter first; v. Shittah Mekubezeth a.l.] ');">⁶</span>

וכיון דאמרת מותר להורגו מאי ניהו תו אסור לקיימו מהו דתימא מותר להורגו איסורא ליכא קמ"ל

Meanwhile a cat had come along and bitten off the hand of the child. Rab thereupon went out and declared in his discourse: 'It is permissible to kill a cat, and it is in fact a sin to keep it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Sanh. 15b and supra p. 67. ');">⁷</span> and the law of robbery<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XIX. 13. ');">⁸</span>

אמרי וכיון דאמרת אין בו משום גזל מאי ניהו תו אין בו משום השב אבידה לבעלים אמר רבינא לעורו

does not apply to it, nor that of returning a lost object to its owner.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As required in Deut. XXII, 1-3. ');">⁹</span> Since you have stated that it is permissible to kill it, why again state that it is a sin to keep it? — You might perhaps think that though it is permissible to kill it, there is still no sin committed in keeping it; we are therefore told [that this is not so]. I could still ask: Since you have said that the law of robbery<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XIX. 13. ');">⁸</span>

מיתיבי רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר מגדלין כלבים כופרין וחתולין וקופין וחולדות סנאים מפני שעשויין לנקר את הבית לא קשיא הא באוכמא הא בחיורא

does not apply to it, why again state that the law of returning a lost object to its owner does not apply to it?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That it need not be returned. ');">¹⁰</span> — Said Rabina: This refers to the skin<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That it need not be returned. ');">¹⁰</span>

והא מעשה דרב אוכמא הוה התם אוכמא בר חיורא הוה והא מבעיא בעיא ליה רבינא

of the cat [where it was found dead]. An objection was raised [from the following]: R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: It is permissible to breed village dogs, cats, apes and porcupines, as these help to keep the house clean. [Does this not prove that it is permissible to breed cats?] — There is, however, no contradiction, as the latter teaching refers to black cats, whereas the former deals with white ones.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which constitute a danger. ');">¹¹</span> But was not the mischief in the case of Rab done by a black cat? — In that case it was indeed a black cat, but it was the offspring of a white one. But is not this the very case about which Rabina raised a question? For Rabina asked: What should be the law in the case of a black cat which is the offspring of a white one? — The problem raised by Rabina was where the black was the offspring of a white one which was in its turn a descendant of a black cat, whereas the accident in the case of Rab occurred through a black cat which was the offspring of a white one that was similarly the offspring of a white cat.

דבעי רבינא אוכמא בר חיורא מהו כי קמבעיא ליה לרבינא באוכמא בר חיורא בר אוכמא מעשה דרב באוכמא בר חיורא בר חיורא הוה

(Mnemonic: <i>HaBaD BiH BaHaN</i>).<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' An aid to recollect order of names of the sons of R. Papa that follow in pairs. ');">¹²</span> R. Aha b. Papa said in the name of R. Abba b. Papa who said it in the name of R. Adda b. Papa, or, as others read, R. Abba b. Papa said in the name of R. Hiyya b. Papa who said it in the name of R. Aha b. Papa, or as others read it still differently, R. Abba b. Papa said in the name of R. Aha b. papa who said it in the name of R. Hanina b. Papa: 'It is permissible to raise an alarm [at public services]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On the lines described in Ta'an. 1, 6 and III, 1 etc. ');">¹³</span>

(חב"ד בי"ח בח"ן סימן) אמר רבי אחא בר פפא משום רבי אבא בר פפא משום רבי אדא בר פפא ואמרי לה אמר ר' אבא בר פפא משום רבי חייא בר פפא משום רבי אחא בר פפא ואמרי לה אמר ר' אבא בר פפא משום רבי אחא בר פפא משום רבי חנינא בר פפא

even on the Sabbath day for the purpose of relieving the epidemic of itching; if the door to prosperity has been shut to an individual it will not speedily be opened; and when one buys a house in Eretz Yisrael, the deed may be written even on the Sabbath day. An objection was raised [from the following:] 'Regarding any other misfortune<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., other than those enumerated in Ta'an. III, 1-8. ');">¹⁴</span> that might burst forth upon the community, as e.g. itching. locusts, flies, hornets, mosquitoes, a plague of serpents and scorpions, no alarm was raised by [public service, on the Sabbath] but a cry was raised [by privately reciting prayers]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ta'an. 14a. ');">¹⁵</span>

מתריעין על החיכוך בשבת ודלת הננעלת לא במהרה תפתח והלוקח בית בארץ ישראל כותבין עליו אונו אפילו בשבת

[Does this not prove that no public prayers are to be held on this score on Sabbath?] — There is no contradiction, as the latter case refers to [the period when the plague is in] the moist stage whereas the former deals with dry itching,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which is more dangerous. ');">¹⁶</span> as R. Joshua b. Levi said:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Bk. 41a. ');">¹⁷</span>

מיתיבי ושאר פורעניות המתרגשות ובאות על הצבור כגון חיכוך חגב זבוב צירעה ויתוש ושילוח נחשים ועקרבים לא היו מתריעין אלא צועקים

'The boils brought upon the Egyptians by the Holy One, blessed be He,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. IX, 10. ');">¹⁸</span> were moist within but dry without, as it says '<i>And it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast</i>.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. IX, 10. ');">¹⁸</span>

לא קשיא כאן בלח כאן ביבש דאמר רבי יהושע בן לוי שחין שהביא הקב"ה על המצרים לח מבחוץ ויבש מבפנים שנאמר (שמות ט, י) ויהי שחין אבעבועות פורח באדם ובבהמה

What is the meaning of the words, 'if the door to prosperity has been shut to an individual it will not speedily be opened'? — Mar Zutra said: It refers to ordination.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [Once a man fails in his attempt to secure ordination he cannot obtain it so easily any more.] ');">¹⁹</span> R. Ashi said: One who is in disfavour is not readily taken into favour.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. B.B. 12b. ');">²⁰</span>

ודלת הננעלת לא במהרה תפתח מאי היא מר זוטרא אמר סמיכה רב אשי אמר כל המריעין לו לא במהרה מטיבין לו רב אחא מדיפתי אמר לעולם אין מטיבין לו ולא היא רב אחא מדיפתי מילתא דנפשיה הוא דאמר

R. Aha of Difti said: He will never be taken into favour. This, however, is not so; for R. Aha of Difti stated this as a matter of personal experience.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And it should therefore not necessarily be made a general rule. ');">²¹</span> 'In the case of him who buys a house in Eretz Yisrael the deed may be written even on the Sabbath day.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. Git. 8b. ');">²²</span>

והלוקח בית בארץ ישראל כותבין עליו אונו אפילו בשבת בשבת סלקא דעתך

You mean to say, on the Sabbath?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When it would be a capital offence; cf. Shab. VII. 2. ');">²³</span> — It must therefore mean as stated by Raba in the case mentioned there,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Shab. 129a and Bez. 22a. ');">²⁴</span>

אלא כדאמר רבא התם אומר לנכרי ועושה ה"נ אומר לנכרי ועושה ואע"ג דאמירה לנכרי שבות היא משום ישוב ארץ ישראל לא גזרו ביה רבנן

that a Gentile is asked to do it; so also here a Gentile is asked to do it. For though to ask a Gentile to do some work on the Sabbath is Shebuth,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'abstention', but which came to denote a matter of mere Rabbinic prohibition on Sabbath and festivals; v. Bez. V, 2. ');">²⁵</span> the Rabbis did not maintain this prohibition in this case on account of the welfare of Eretz Yisrael.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As they similarly dispensed with Shebuth in the case of Temple service; cf. Pes. 65a. ');">²⁶</span>

אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יונתן הלוקח עיר בארץ ישראל כופין אותו ליקח לה דרך מארבע רוחותיה משום ישוב ארץ ישראל:

R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan: He who purchases a town in Eretz Yisrael can be compelled to purchase with it also the roads leading to it from all four sides<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As transport affects vitally the progress and prosperity of a country. ');">²⁷</span> on account of the welfare of Eretz Yisrael.

ת"ר עשרה תנאין התנה יהושע

Our Rabbis taught:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Cf. 'Er. 17a. ');">²⁸</span> Joshua [on his entry into Eretz Yisrael] laid down ten stipulations: