Bava Batra 103

קבל מן הקטן יעשה לו סגולה ואם מת יחזיר ליורשיו

If one has taken a deposit from a child, he should invest it for him,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'make it a keepsake'. The expression is explained infra. ');">¹</span> or, if he dies, restore it to his heirs. If any of them at the time of his death says, The article belongs to so-and-so, he should act according to their intimation. Otherwise he should act according to his discretion.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'he should make an explanation to their explanation.' Rashb. explains this to mean that if he thinks they say this merely to hide the fact that they have stolen the article, he should restore it to the husband or master. ');">²</span>

וכולן שאמרו בשעת מיתתן של פלוני הן יעשה כפירושן ואם לאו יעשה פירוש לפירושן

When the wife of Rabbah b. Bar Hana was on her deathbed, she said: Those [precious] stones belong to Martha<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The brother of R. Hiyya. ');">³</span> and his daughter's family. He consulted Rab about it, and the latter said to him: If you think she was telling the truth, act according to her instruction, and if not, use your own discretion.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., keep it for yourself. ');">⁴</span>

דביתהו דרבה בר בר חנה כי קא שכבה אמרה הני כיפי דמרתא ובני ברתא אתא לקמיה דרב א"ל אי מהימנא לך עשה כפירושה ואי לא עשה פירוש לפירושה

According to another version, Rab said to him: If you think her a wealthy enough person,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To have acquired these things. ');">⁵</span> act according to her instruction, and if not, use your own discretion.

ואיכא דאמרי הכי א"ל אי אמידא לך עשה כפירושה ואי לא עשה פירוש לפירושה:

'If he has taken from a child, he should invest it for him.' How invest it? — R. Hisda said: He should buy with it a scroll of the Law;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that he may learn from it, and thus obtain a kind of interest on the investment while the principal is secure. ');">⁶</span> Rabbah son of R. Huna said: He should buy with it a date tree, of which the child can eat the fruit.

מן הקטן יעשה לו סגולה: מאי סגולה רב חסדא אמר ספר תורה רבה בר רב הונא אמר דיקלא דאכל מיניה תמרי:

A FATHER HAS NO <i>HAZAKAH</i> IN THE PROPERTY OF HIS SON NOR A SON IN THE PROPERTY OF HIS FATHER. R. Joseph said: This applies even if they have parted.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because we say that they are still not particular with one another, and therefore do not trouble to protest. ');">⁷</span> Raba,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [V.L. Rabbah.] ');">⁸</span>

ולא לאב בנכסי הבן ולא לבן בנכסי האב: אמר רב יוסף אפילו חלקו רבא אמר חלקו לא

however, said that if they have parted the rule no longer applies. R. Jeremiah of Difti said: In a case which occurred, R. Papi decided according to the ruling of Raba. R. Nahman b. Isaac said: I have been told by R. Hiyya from Hormiz Ardeshir,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ardeshir was a town not far from Ctesiphon. 'Hormiz Ardeshir' may have been a village in the neighbourhood. ');">⁹</span> who was told by R. Aha b. Jacob in the name of R. Nahman b. Jacob, that if they [the father and son] have parted, the rule [of the Mishnah does] not apply.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., they have hazakah against one another. ');">¹⁰</span>

אמר רב ירמיה מדפתי עבד רב פפי עובדא חלקו לא כרבא אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק אישתעי לי רב חייא מהורמיז ארדשיד דאישתעי ליה רב אחא בר יעקב משמיה דרב נחמן בר יעקב חלקו לא והלכתא חלקו לא תניא נמי הכי בן שחלק ואשתו שנתגרשה הרי הן כשאר כל אדם:

The law is that where they have parted they have no <i>hazakah</i> against one another. It has also been taught to the same effect: A son who has left his father's roof and a wife who has been divorced are on the same footing as strangers [in regard to the father or husband]. It has been stated: [If a number of brothers live together and] one of them has the management of the house,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., the brothers leave all the affairs of the joint property in his hands after the father's death. ');">¹¹</span>

איתמר אחד מן האחין שהיה נושא ונותן בתוך הבית והיו אונות ושטרות יוצאין על שמו ואמר שלי הם שנפלו לי מבית אבי אמא אמר רב עליו להביא ראיה ושמואל אמר על האחין להביא ראיה אמר שמואל מודה לי אבא שאם מת על האחין להביא ראיה

and if there are deeds<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of sale, to the effect that he has bought property. ');">¹²</span> and bonds<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To the effect that he has lent money. ');">¹³</span>

מתקיף לה רב פפא כלום טענינן להו ליתמי מידי דלא טען להו אבוהון והא רבא אפיק זוגא דסרבלא וספרא דאגדתא מיתמי בלא ראיה בדברים העשוים להשאיל ולהשכיר

current in his name and he asserts, 'They are mine,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the brothers have no share in them. ');">¹⁴</span> and I obtained them from the legacy of my maternal grandfather',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he obtained the money for buying the property or for lending not from the estate of his father or his father's father, in which case the other brothers would be entitled to share with him, but from the estate of the father of his mother, he and his brothers having been born from different mothers. ');">¹⁵</span> Rab says that the onus probandi lies upon him, and Samuel says that the onus probandi lies upon the brothers.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rab lays stress upon the fact that he usually disposes of the joint property in his own name, Samuel on the fact that the documents are made out in his name. ');">¹⁶</span> Said Samuel: Abba<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Rab's proper name was Abba Arika. ');">¹⁷</span> must at least admit that if he dies [and leaves children], the onus probandi lies on the brothers.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because his children cannot be expected to know so easily where to find proof. ');">¹⁸</span> R. Papa strongly questioned this. Do we ever, he said, advance a plea on behalf of orphans which their father could not have advanced [on his own behalf]?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Viz., in this case, that his name on the documents gives him a presumptive right to them. ');">¹⁹</span> And further, did not Raba order some orphans to return a pair of shears for clipping wool<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'Scissors of a woollen cloak'. [Var. lec. 'A pair of trousers'. V. Krauss, op. cit., I, 612.] ');">²⁰</span> and a book of <i>Aggadah</i> which were claimed from them, though the claimants adduced no proof [that they had lent them],<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The claimants asserted that the articles were lent, the orphans that they were bought, and Rab took the word of the former, as he would have done had the claim been made against the father. Hence a plea is not valid on behalf of an heir which is not valid on behalf of the testator. ');">²¹</span> these being articles which are commonly lent or hired,