2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

When is forgetting a mitzvah?

And Rav Huna says: A large sheaf of grain that contains two se’a has both the status of a sheaf and the status of a heap with regard to the halakhot of forgotten sheaves that must be left for the poor. It has the status of a sheaf, as the principle is that two sheaves that were inadvertently left in the field are considered forgotten sheaves that must be left for the poor, whereas three sheaves need not be left for the poor, but rather the owner of the field may go back and take them for himself. In this regard a two-se’a sheaf is considered one sheaf, so if one forgot two sheaves andalso this sheave that contains two se’a, the three together are three sheaves and are not considered forgotten sheaves that must be left for the poor. And it has the status of a heap, as we learned in a mishna (Pe’a 6:6): In the case of a sheaf that contains two se’a, if one forgets it in a field, it is not considered a forgotten sheaf that must be left for the poor, as its size and importance grant it the status of a heap, rather than a sheaf. 

One of the many ways that we take care of the poor is by leaving the corners of our fields for them, tithing a 10th of our produce for them, and when we harvested anything that we forget, we donate to the poor as well.

So, when is forgetting a mitzvah? When it benefits the poor, the foreigner, the widow and those who are vulnerable in society.

On the daf today we get a difference between when we buy something verses when it’s given.

In what case is this statement said? It is said with regard to one who sells a field, but with regard to one who gives it away as a gift, it is assumed that he gives all of it. Apparently, one who gives a gift gives generously. 

This has me thinking about the gift of life. It is completely an act of grace. We did nothing to deserve to win the lottery of probability and get born into this world, yet here we are. God has given and given generously.

While we did nothing to deserve life, not that we are here, but e can defiantly act in ways that make us worthy of this generous gift.

While it’s a mitzvah to care for orphans, today’s daf debates whether a money lender can take money from orphans, if he has a document saying their father owed him money.  there’s a possibility that the father repaid the money before he died, and yet the orphans would have no proof …

And here, they disagree about the following issue, as one Sage holds that if it is so that he had in fact repaid the money, he would have told his children that he repaid it. Since he did not tell them, it may be assumed that he never repaid the money. And one Sage holds that you can say that it was the Angel of Death that prevented him from telling them.

The daf today reminds us to have our affairs in order before we die. It’s so hard on the family to figure out all of the finances after somebody passes away. Do your family a blessing and allow them access to documents that they will need, and let them know where all of your accounts are, because you never know when the angel of death will come. 

Are you wild or cultivated?

Our Torah portion this week compares man to a tree of the field (as do many a psalm). Our daf today talks about how, in a sale, a wild tree is included, while a cultivated tree is not included in the sale.

These two together have me thinking about how we, as people, can be wild or cultivated (and a lot can be done withe the metaphor of having been trimmed, or grafted). Cultivated trees bear more fruit. Wild trees are hearty and strong. My guess is we are all products of both.

Today’s daf discusses what you get … when you buy a city! Okay money bags.

What comes with the purchase? Lots, clearly.

Rabbi Yehuda says that the santar, now understood to mean fields, is sold with the city, but the city scribe is not soldwith it.

The scribe! Here is our gem. The word for scribe comes from quill. In another masekhet we learn that the quill used to write holy items needs to be beautiful. Why? No one knows what the quill on their Torah scroll or mezuzah looks like – so why does it matter?

When we create something holy, we should use the best. The scribe should see beauty to create the beauty of God’s word.

So, aesthetics are not the most important thing – but they’re still important.

Did the rabbis know they were sexist and the laws weren’t fair to women? Yes! That’s why we learn of a little addition to the law that the rabbis instituted on our daf today. We have been taught that when a man dies, the property is split amongst his sons. Today we learn, that before anything at all is divvied up – the daughter gets 10% of the estate!

Rav Neḥemya, son of Rav Yosef, sent a message to Rabba son of Rav Huna the Short at Neharde’a: When this woman bearing this letter comes before you, collect for her one-tenth of her father’s estate, in keeping with the rabbinic ordinance that states that if a man dies, his sons are obligated to give his daughter a tenth of his landed properties as a dowry, and collect it even from his immovable lower millstones, as they too are considered landed property. Rav Ashi said: When we were students in Rav Kahana’s house we would collect for this purpose even from the rent of houses; since this money is earned from real estate, it too has the status of landed property and is included in the dowry calculations.

Nice! Is it fair, very unlikely. We imagine that, if the father had 3 children, 2 boys and one girl, that she gets 10%, the first born son then gets 2/3 which is 60% and the other son the remaining 30%. Not “equal” at all. (However, she gets 10% first and no matter what, so there are quite a few scenarios where she ends up doing pretty well for herself.)

The gem, though, is the reforming of the law to be more just!

Today’s daf debates the question of whether certain household objects are considered part of the house itself, and therefore would be sold with it, or if it is considered separate from the house, in which case we cannot assume that the seller meant to include it in the sale. It also matters when it comes to laws of movable property and Sabbatical year. The gem for me comes when they start debating if a beehive is movable property or not. Why? Because I love bees and saving the bees is such an important cause that very few people know about. We are stripping bees of their homes and we need them to polinate or we will not have food to eat.

Native and wild bees are going extinct primarily from habitat loss (and chemicals, monoculture farming and disease). Our daf discusses moving bee homes or if they’re permanent. We should treat them as fixed and sacred. No bees = no food.

Your PSA on the daf 🙂

Ever wonder what “Bava” means? What does “Bava Batra” even translate to? We get it on our daf!

Rav Naḥman, who was a disciple of Shmuel, said to Rav Huna: Is the halakha in accordance with our opinion, or is the halakha in accordance with your opinion? Rav Huna said to him: The halakha is in accordance with your opinion, as you are near the gate לְבָבָא of the Exilarch, where the judges are frequently found, and therefore you are more proficient in monetary law.

Bava means gate! Bava Batra means “the last gate.” We see from our daf that the gate is where the judges are found and therefore all three tractates – Bava Kamma (first gate), Bava Metzia (middle gate), and Bava Batra (last gate)  tell us of what the practical laws are in civil court. 

The tractaate has established that, when you sell a home, you cannot assume that the seller is selling you the shed, porch, cistern, well, etc that are also on the property unless those things are clearly delineated. Today’s daf questions – if Reuben sold Simeon the home, and Simeon still owns the well, how is it that Reuben will get to the well? Does he need to buy a path to it? Or can he just walk?

The mishna teaches: And the seller must purchase for himself a path through the buyer’s domain; this is the statement of Rabbi Akiva. And the Rabbis say: The seller need not purchase such a path. What, is it not about this issue, which will immediately be explained, that Rabbi Akiva and the Rabbis disagree?

. . . Rabbi Akiva holds that one who sells, sells generously, and therefore the seller must purchase for himself a path to his property, while the Rabbis hold that one who sells, sells sparingly.

Rabbi Akiva thinks you need to buy a path if you plan to keep using the well (or other item) because when we sell, we are generous and include everything. The rabbis disagree saying when we sell, we aren’t forfeiting our rights to access what is still ours. (The daf even says: And the Rabbis hold that a person does not want to receive money for the sale of his house and then have to fly through the air in order to reach his pit.)

The gem? Rabbi Akiva is the one who teaches “Love your neighbor as yourself” is the most important principal in the Torah. He is consistent in that he assumes the best out of people. If he sold, he would sell generously and not go walking through the house or field he sold without permission, so he assumes others should behave the same.

If only we all assumed the best out of one another. What a better world we would have.

Today’s daf is an interesting situation. Originally, in the land of Israel, the Levites had no portion of the land, and so the tithes went to them to help sustain them (and the Temple and poor). Here, a Levite is selling his land, but with a caveat – that the tithes go to him and no one else.

The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a Levite who sold a field to an Israelite and said to him: I am selling you this field on the condition that the first tithe from the produce growing in the field, which must be given to a Levite, is mine, and it will be given to me every year and not to any other Levite, the first tithe is his.

Kind of a sweet deal for the Letive seller. How much or the produce does he need? If 10% is enough, then he has set himself up to be sustained AND made money off the sale.

This made me think of a few of my colleagues who ended up selling their temple buildings to churches under the condition that they still have the rights to use the sanctuary on Shabbats and holidays. They still have what they need plus the money from the sale without the headache of upkeep. Not a bad deal.