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BAVA METZIA 17
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BAVA METZIA 17 (18 Iyar) - Dedicated by Avi and Lily Berger of Queens, N.Y., in memory of Lily's father, Mr. Benny Krieger (Chananel Benayahu ben Harav Yisrael Avraham Aba), zt"l, who passed away six years ago on Lag ba'Omer 5763. Mr. Krieger exemplified Ahavas Chesed, Ahavas Torah and Ahavas Eretz Yisrael.

[a - 53 lines; b - 21 lines]

1) [line 1] NE'EMAN - he is believed (although he must take a Shevu'as Heses; see Background to 5:26)
2)
[line 1] BA MALVEH LI'CHTOV - if the lender comes [to Beis Din] to have [a Shtar Adrachta (see Background to 17:54)] written
3)
[line 2] CHAYAV ATAH LI'TEN LO - [if, however, the judges of Beis Din concluded their deliberation and said to one of the litigants,] "You are responsible to give it to him" [after which point the victor still must return to Beis Din with the loser in order for Beis Din to proclaim "Tzei Ten Lo"]
4)
[line 3] EINO NE'EMAN - he is not believed [to say that he has repaid since it is uncommon for one to repay before he has to, and the Malveh may therefore take a Shevu'ah and collect the debt (this is termed Hipuch Shevu'ah; see Background to 5:24)]
5)
[line 7] LI'FLUGEI - to differentiate
6)
[line 14] AD D'ME'AINU BI RABANAN B'DINI - [I will delay] until the Rabanan [of Beis Din] look into my judgment [and say, "Tzei Ten Lo"]
7)
[line 16] MANEH LI B'YADCHA - lit. I have a Maneh (100 Zuz) in your hand; i.e., you owe me a Maneh
8)
[line 16] HALAH - the other [litigant] (here, the alleged debtor)
9)
[line 18] HUCHZAK KAFRAN L'OSO MAMON - he has been established as a liar regarding that loan [such that he is not believed until witnesses testify that he repaid before them]
10)
[line 20] KALASEI - his daughter-in-law
11)
[line 20] ITZTELA D'MEILASA - a robe made of fine wool

12)
[line 20] BI'CHESUVASAH (KESUVAS ISHAH - The Jewish Marriage Contract)
(a) When a man marries (Nisu'in) a woman who was a Besulah (virgin) at the time of her Kidushin (betrothal), he must give her a marriage document stipulating that she is to receive 200 Zuz from him or his estate should he divorce her or die. 200 Zuz are equivalent to the value of 960 grams of silver. This document is called a Kesuvah (lit. "written"). Tana'im disagree as to whether this obligation is mid'Oraisa (Biblical) or mid'Rabanan (Rabbinic) in origin (Kesuvos 10a).
(b) If the bride had been widowed or divorced and is therefore a Be'ulah (not a virgin) than she receives a different Kesuvah. The Kesuvah of a Be'ulah guarantees only 100 Zuz to the bride in the case of the dissolution of the marriage. There is no question that the obligation to give this document is mid'Rabanan in origin (Kesuvos 10b). A widow is termed an "Almanah" due to that which her Kesuvah is written for the amount of a "Maneh" (one hundred Zuz) (ibid.).
(c) If a woman is younger than three at the time of her Kidushin, she always receives 200 Zuz. This is because her hymen grows back even when broken at this young age, and she is therefore by definition a Besulah.
(d) The amounts detailed above are only the minimum required to be written into a Kesuvah. One may voluntarily add any amount onto his wife's Kesuvah, and doing so is considered a way of honoring her.

13)
[line 20] KIBLAH ALEI (AREV - A Guarantor of a Loan)
(a) An Arev is a guarantor for a loan. There are differing levels of responsibility for the loan that an Arev can accept upon himself.
(b) A regular Arev is presumed to have accepted responsibility to pay the loan only if the borrower lacks the ability to do so. An Arev Kablan, however, goes one step further. He has agreed that the lender may approach him for repayment even before approaching the borrower (See Insights to Gitin 49:2.)
(c) As a general rule, an Arev of a Kesuvah need not pay in place of the husband or his heirs unless he agreed to be an Arev Kablan (Bava Basra 174b). If one signs as an Arev for his own son, however, as in the case described in our Gemara, then he is presumed to have committed himself even if he signed as a regular Arev (SHITAH MEKUBETZES).

14)
[line 21] IRCHAS - it was lost
15)
[line 21] LO HAYU DEVARIM ME'OLAM! - lit. these things never existed! i.e., This is a false claim!
16)
[line 22] ASU SAHADEI - witnesses came
17)
[line 22] IN - indeed
18)
[line 26] EDIM ME'IDIM OSO SHE'LO NISHBA - witnesses testified that he did not swear [a) when asked to in front of them, in which case we may assume that he has not done so since then either (RASHI); b) at the time that he claimed to have done so (most Rishonim)] (see Insights)
19)
[line 30] CHIYEV ATZMO SHEVU'AH - if he had [voluntarily] obligated himself to take an oath
20)
[line 30] AVID INISH D'MIKRI V'AMAR - it happens that people will sometimes say [that they are uninterested in that which they have not been obligated in by Beis Din, and their intention is merely to defer their action until a later time]
21)
[line 30] AHADRUHA - [the students] returned [this qualification of Rebbi Avahu]
22)
[line 36] PERI'AH BAS YOMA - repayment [of a loan] on the day [upon which it was extended]
23)
[line 38] KVAR NIMCHAL SHIBUDO - the lien [upon the property of the borrower put in place by the recording of the loan in the document] has already been forgiven [and if the borrower defaults on the second loan, then the lender may not collect from property that had been sold after the loan was extended]
24)
[line 38] EIMAS? - when [is it that if such a document would be found then the ruling of Rebbi Yochanan would be necessary]?
25)
[line 38] L'MACHAR UL'YOMA CHARA - the day following [the date written upon the Shtar] or the day after that
26)
[line 39] MAI IRYA ...? - Why specify ...
27)
[line 39] TEIPOK LEI - lit. and bring it out from ...; i.e., let him give the more basic explanation of ...
28)
[line 40] MUKDAM - pre-dated
29)
[line 41] MI KA AMINA ...? - did I say ...?
30)
[line 41] LO SHECHICHEI - it is uncommon
31)
[line 42] KESHE'CHAYAV MODEH - [the case in which Rebbi Yochanan ruled that one should return a bill of debt when the date written upon it is the same day that he found it is one] in which the debtor admits [that he has not yet paid]
32)
[line 44] KA'BA'I MIHADER L'MIZFA BEI - he wishes to reuse it to borrow [a loan with the same terms]
33)
[line 44] L'FESHITEI D'SAFRA CHAYASH - he is concerned with the few small coins of the scribe's fee [for writing the document to begin with, which is incumbent upon the borrower to pay]
34)
[line 45] LO SHAVAK - would not allow [him to do so]
35)
[line 45] SHAM'EI BI RABANAN U'MAFSEDEI LI - the Rabanan will hear of [what] I [did] and cause me a loss [by prohibiting me from collecting property sold by the borrower since the loan was extended as repayment]
36)
[line 46] ACHRAYUS NECHASIM - [a stipulation] that [the] property [of the borrower] should insure [the loan, which means that even if the property is sold after the loan, the lender may collect his loan from it if the borrower does not have enough property remaining in his possession]
37)
[line 47] OKIMNA - we have established [that the case in that Mishnah is one]
38)
[line 48] V'ASI L'MITRAF LEKUCHOS (MI'NISAN V'AD TISHREI) - and he will come to appropriate [property sold to] purchasers (between Nisan and Tishrei). The words "mi'Nisan v'Ad Tishrei" were mistakenly added to our Girsa.
39)
[line 50] AMREI - [the scholars in the Beis ha'Midrash discussing this question] said
40)
[line 50] IS LEI RAVCHA - [the lender] stands to profit
41a)
[line 51] MEINACH NEICHA LEI - he is pleased with it
    b)
[line 51] V'LO AMAR V'LO MIDI - and he will not say anything
42)
[line 52] HA'IDNA - now; i.e., the same date as the first loan
43)
[line 52] MAI IKA DEKA'TARIF LEKUCHOS? - what [additional ability] is there [for the lender in the second loan] to appropriate [property sold to] purchasers?
44)
[last line] HA'TO'EN ACHAR MA'ASEH BEIS DIN - one who claims that he has paid a document required by Beis Din (such as a Kesuvah; see above, entry #12) [not in front of witnesses]


17b----------------------------------------17b


45)
[line 2] K'MAN D'NAKIT SHETARA B'YADEI DAMI - it is as if [the recipient] is holding a document in his hand
46)
[line 4] HOTZI'AH GET - if [a woman] produces a bill of divorce
47)
[line 4] GOVAH - she may collect
48) [line 5] IY LAV D'DELA'I LACH CHASPA, LO MASHKACHAS MERGENISA TUSAH! - had I not lifted the shard of pottery for you, you would not have found the pearl beneath it! This is a parable in which Rebbi Yochanan claimed that Rebbi Chiya bar Aba would not have correctly understood the Mishnah had he not first heard Rebbi Yochanan's ruling. TOSFOS DH Iy explains that pearls are often found in the sea beneath large stones that resemble shards of pottery. The intent of Rebbi Yochanan was that there are other ways in which Rav and Shmuel explain this Mishnah (Kesuvos 88-89). Alternatively, Rebbi Yochanan meant that Rebbi Chiya bar Aba may have incorrectly learned that the Mishnah was discussing a place in which the custom was not to write a Kesuvah, as Abaye first suggests in the ensuing Gemara (SHITAH MEKUBETZES).
49)
[line 7] B'MAKOM SHE'EIN KOSVIN KESUVAH ASKINAN - we are dealing [in that Mishnah] with a place in which the custom is not to write a Kesuvah [document, but rather to rely upon Beis Din to collect it when necessary]
50)
[line 10] LAV MILSA HI D'AMRI - that which I suggested [that the Mishnah in Kesuvos is discussing a place in which the custom is not to write a Kesuvah] is incorrect
51)
[line 13] ALMANAH MIN HA'EIRUSIN - a widow from the time of betrothal (see Background to 16:38)
52)
[line 14] LI'TON - why does [the heir of her husband] not claim
53)
[line 15] MAH HO'ILU CHACHAMIM B'TAKANASAN? - what have the Chachamim accomplished with their enactment [that an Arusah receives a Kesuvah, if she may lose it at the whim of her late husband's heir]?
54)
[line 15] MAR KESHISHA BREI D'RAV CHISDA - a) the elder of Rav Chisda's two sons [who had the same name] (RASHI to Kesuvos 89b DH Mar Keshisha; see Bach ibid.); b) the younger of Rav Chisda's two sons [who was born in Rav Chisda's old age] (TOSFOS to Bava Basra 7b DH Mar Yenukah).
55)
[line 17] NIS'ARMELAH - if [a woman] is widowed
56)
[line 18] NISU'IN - see Background to 16:38
57)
[line 18] HA'KOL - all [of her Kesuvah (namely, both the basic sum of one or two hundred Zuz along with any additional amount promised to her)]
58)
[line 18] HEICHA D'CHASAV LAH - [this Mishnah discusses a case] wherein he wrote her [a Kesuvah, even though he did not have to]
59)
[line 19] L'AFUKEI - to exclude
60)
[line 19] LO KASAV LAH ELA AL MENAS L'KONSAH - he only wrote [the additional sum beyond the basic one or two hundred Zuz] for her [in her Kesuvah] on condition that he actually marry her
61)
[line 20] DEIKA NAMI - [this explanation is not only a logical deferral, but] it can be inferred [from the Mishnah] as well

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