BAVA BASRA 157 - Dedicated by Uri and Aviva Sondhelm in memory of their parents; Avraham ben Menachem Mendel ha'Levi, Gella bas Ze'ev, and Sarah bas Tzvi.

[157a - 39 lines; 157b - 31 lines]

1)[line 1]קל וחומר לשבתKAL VA'CHOMER L'SHABBOS- and all the more so (that the words of a Shechiv Mera are binding) on Shabbos (since we are worried that the prohibition to record his instructions or to make an irrevocably-binding acquisition may cause his condition to worsen)

2)[line 2]זכין לגדולZACHIN L'GADOL- a non-appointed agent can make an acquisition on the behalf of an adult (see Background to Bava Metzia 10:6), since he has a "Yad" (lit. a hand) with which to make acquisitions, and they are binding even if he does not use his own Yad (RABEINU GERSHOM)

3)[line 3]קל וחומר לקטןKAL VA'CHOMER L'KATAN- all the more so for a minor (a non-appointed agent can make an acquisition on his behalf), since he does not have a Yad of his own (RABEINU GERSHOM)

4)[line 11]מורישיוMORISHAV- a person's relatives whose estates he is in line to inherit

5a)[line 11]והיתה עליו כתובת אשהHAYESAH ALAV KESUVAS ISHAH- it was [incumbent] upon him (i.e. his estate) [to pay the value of] the Kesuvah of his wife

b)[line 11]ובעל חובU'VA'AL CHOV- and [he was likewise obligated to repay a loan to] a creditor

6)[line 15]נכסים בחזקתןNECHASIM B'CHEZKASAN- those items of the father's estate stay in the possession of his heirs who have legal rights to them (and we do not consider that the son inherited them before his death)

7a)[line 17]מנכסים משועבדיםNECHASIM MESHU'ABADIM- property with a lien on it, such that a creditor can collect the money owed to him by taking the property even from those who bought it from the debtor

b)[line 18]מנכסים בני חוריןNECHASIM BENEI CHORIN- (lit. properties that are free) fields that do not have a lien on them (which have not been bought by purchasers from the debtor)

8)[line 18]"דאיקני", וקנה"D'IKNI," V'KANAH- if someone says that he will repay his creditor even with the items that he will buy in the future, and he then buys items

9)[line 19]אדם מקנה דבר שלא בא לעולםADAM MAKNEH DAVAR SHE'LO BA LA'OLAM

There is a Machlokes Tana'im as to whether "Adam Makneh Davar she'Lo Ba la'Olam" - "a person can acquire a thing that has not yet emerged into the world," or not (Kedushin 63a). Some examples of things that have not yet emerged into the world are the fruits that will grow on a tree, or the goods to be produced by one's wife.

10)[line 23]זה היה פיקח שמכר לו את הקרקע, מפני שהוא יכול למשכנו עליוZEH HAYAH PIKE'ACH SHE'MACHAR LO ES HA'KARKA MIPENEI SHE'HU YACHOL L'MASHKENO ALAV- this one (the creditor) was clever by selling him (his debtor) the land, since he is (now) able to take it as security. The Tana'im argue (Kesuvos 110a) about a case where a creditor demands repayment of a loan that the debtor claims to have repaid. As evidence, the debtor produces a bill of sale of land that that he bought from the creditor, in which the sale date is later than the date of the loan. The debtor claims that the creditor would never have sold him land while the loan was outstanding. Admon accepts the claim of the debtor, and absolves him of his obligation to repay the loan. The Chachamim reject the claim, defending the clever creditor who devised a plan to ensure that the debtor would possess land that he could later collect as security for the loan.

11)[line 25]"מיניה" קאמר?"MINEI" KA'AMAR?- (a) Did he (the debtor) say "From him[self]" (i.e. when he specified "d'Ikni" for the repayment of the loan)? (b) According to RASHBAM, Rava's question is addressed to Rav Yosef: Do you wish to bring a proof from collection of property from the debtor himself?

12)[line 26]מיניה, אפילו מגלימא דעל כתפיה!MINEI, AFILU MI'GELIMA D'AL KASPEI!- [the lender may collect] from him (the debtor himself) from any property, even if he has to take the shirt off of his back!

13)[line 27]"דאיקני", קנה ומכר; "דאיקני", קנה והוריש"D'IKNI," KANAH U'MACHAR; "D'IKNI," KANAH V'HORISH- if someone says that he will pay his creditor even with the items that he will buy in the future, and he then buys items and sells them; or he buys items, dies and leaves them to his heirs

14)[line 33]לא משתעבדLO MISHTA'ABED- they do not become Meshu'abad to his creditor, i.e. his stipulation does not work because "d'Ikni" is not Mesha'abed the possessions

15)[line 34]"דאקני" הוא!D'IKNI HU!- it is a case of "d'Ikni" (see above, entries #8, 13)

16)[line 35]זעירא חברין תרגמהZE'EIRA CHAVRIN TIRGEMAH- Ze'eira, our colleague, explained it

17)[line 36]מצוה על היתומים לפרוע חובת אביהןMITZVAH AL HA'YESOMIM LIFRO'A CHOVAS AVIHEN- It is a Mitzvah for orphans to repay the debt of their father. Orphans do not have to repay the debts of their father with Metaltelin (movable goods) if the father did not leave them any land. If the loan was not recorded in a document (see next entry), then some maintain that the children do not have to repay the loan even if the father did leave them land. In all circumstances, it is a Mitzvah for them to do so, similar to the concept of Mitzvah l'Kayem Divrei ha'Mes (see Background to Gitin 40:4). (However, once the Gemara relegates their obligation to pay to a Mitzvah, it is no longer dependent upon whether "d'Iknei" was written in the Shtar. As such, it is equivalent to a loan that was made without a Shtar, as Rav Ashi proceeds to challenge.)

18)[line 37][אם כן,] מלוה על פה הוא![IM KEN,] MILVEH AL PEH HU! - [If so (this is the Girsa of the RASHBAM),] this is [equivalent to] a loan that was not recorded in a Shtar (a legal document)! (MILVEH BI'SHTAR / MILVEH AL PEH)

(a)A Milveh bi'Shtar is a loan agreement that is written in a contract and signed by witnesses. In such a loan agreement, the creditor is entitled to collect the money owed to him by taking Nechasim Meshu'abadim (see above, entry #7a), property mortgaged to the loan, even after it was purchased by others from the debtor. This is because the loan becomes publicized as a result of being written in a contract signed by witnesses, and thus it was the buyers' obligation to beware of buying land from the debtor.

(b)A Milveh Al Peh is a verbal loan agreement. In such a loan agreement, the creditor may only collect the money owed to him from "Nechasim Benei Chorin" (see above, entry #7b).

157b----------------------------------------157b

19)[line 2]מנהר פקודNEHAR PEKOD- a town in Bavel on the Pekod River

20)[line 3]שטרי חוב המוקדמין פסוליןSHETAREI CHOV HA'MUKDAMIN PESULIN- pre-dated loan documents (i.e. the date written in the document precedes the date that the document was actually signed) are invalid. The reason they are invalid is because the document asserts that the loan occurred on an earlier date than it actually occurred, thus entitling the bearer of the document (i.e. the lender) to collect from property that the borrower sold to buyers after that date. Since the loan did not actually occur until later, though, the lender would be collecting the property unlawfully from buyers who bought property between the date recorded in the Shtar and the actual date of the loan.

21)[line 4]והמאוחריןHA'ME'UCHARIN- post-dated (these documents are valid because the problem mentioned in the previous entry does not exist with regard to post-dated documents)

22)[line 9]לשבח קרקעות כיצדL'SHEVACH KARKA'OS KEITZAD?- how [does a person who purchased a field and spent his resources to improve the field get compensation] for the improvement of the land (after the field is repossessed by the seller's creditor)?

23)[line 11]וטרפהTARFAH- repossessed it

24a)[line 12]הקרןKEREN- the principle [value of the field]

b)[line 12]השבחSHEVACH- the [value of the] improvement

25)[line 18]הא לא משתעבדHA LO MISHTA'ABED- [according to this opinion,] the properties are not subject to the lien

26)[line 19]לוה, ולוה, וחזר וקנהLAVAH, V'LAVAH, V'CHAZAR V'KANAH- one who took a loan [and wrote "d'Ikni," that he will repay his creditor even with the properties that he will buy in the future] and then he took another loan [from a different creditor and he wrote that he will repay the second creditor even with the properties that he will buy in the future], and he then buys properties

27a)[line 20]לקמא משתעבדL'KAMA MISHTA'ABED- are the properties Meshu'abad to the first creditor's loan (since his loan was first)

b)[line 20]לבתרא משתעבדL'VASRA MISHTA'ABED- are the properties Meshu'abad to the last creditor's loan (since his loan was adjacent to the purchase of the properties - RABEINU GERSHOM)

28)[line 22]ושלחו מתםSHALCHU MI'TAM- the Chachamim sent [a teaching] from there (from Eretz Yisrael to Bavel)

29a)[line 24]מהדורא קמא דרב אשיMAHADURA KAMA D'RAV ASHI- (a) the first time that Rav Ashi taught this Halachah (RAV HAI GA'ON); (b) within the first thirty years of Rav Ashi's life. Rav Ashi lived for sixty years and completed learning all of the Torah that he was physically able to learn when he was thirty years old. He spent the next thirty years reviewing his Torah learning (RABEINU CHANANEL)

b)[line 25]מהדורא בתרא דרב אשיMAHADURA VASRA D'RAV ASHI- (a) the second time that Rav Ashi taught this Halachah (RAV HAI GA'ON); (b) within the last thirty years of Rav Ashi's life (see previous entry) (RABEINU CHANANEL)

30)[line 30]ואם איתא, חצי שבח מבעי ליהV'IM ISA, CHATZI SHEVACH MIBA'I LEI- and if this assertion is true (that the Halachah is "Yachloku"), the Beraisa should have stated that he collects half of the value of the improvements

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