Talking Talmud
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Bava Metzia 40: Shrinking Produce
April 08, 2024 05:30 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MBTwo mishnahs detail how a shomer may deduct from the quantity of produce or liquids left with the shomer when it is returned to the owner.
Bava Metzia 39: Apotropos - Guardian and Custodian
April 07, 2024 05:24 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBMore on the property of captives. When it's time to harvest from a captives crops, the court appoints a supervisor to take care of that, and then a relative takes care of future planting, and so on. But that kind of administrator would rarely be appointed for an adult. Also, the story of an old woman who has 3 daughters, and she and one of the daughters are taken into captivity. One of the other daughters has died, and left a minor heir. How does the old woman's property get handled? How does...
Bava Metzia 38: The Property of Captives
April 06, 2024 21:49 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBA new mishnah! One who gives produce to another to watch - if it's lost or off, etc., the guardian can't touch the produce because he doesn't own it. But if he can sell it beforehand, he can preserve the value. But why can't he touch it? Plus, one small discussion about the tzedakah collectors when they don't have any poor people in need. Also, what are the responsibilities with regard to the property of those who have been taken captive.
Bava Metzia 37: The Thief Who Admits He Stole
April 05, 2024 11:52 - 21 minutes - 20 MBA new mishnah! When a thief acknowledges the theft, but he's not sure from whom. Likewise, a deposit. Plus, a discussion of how far can one take the deceit? Also, what how can a thief pay back when he doesn't know from whom he stole?
Bava Metzia 36: When a Guardian Hands Off to Another Guardian
April 04, 2024 11:53 - 18 minutes - 17.5 MBWhen a guardian transfers the item he's watching to another guardian, without the knowledge or permission of the owner. Plus, a story about an elderly woman who watches the gardener's hose - how long does it take to establish trust for a second shomer? Also, a guardian who loses an animal, which then dies of natural causes. Is the guardian responsible for paying? It's a clear and clean dispute between Abaye and Rava.
Bava Metzia 35: Of Jewels and Cows and Land Transactions
April 03, 2024 12:33 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBThe guardian who has lost something left in his protection can take an oath or pay back the value of the item that's been lost. Or in this case, when there are witnesses that the watched item was stolen. The burden of oath switches parties - and sometimes, they both swear. And then the question is, which swears first. Plus, the case of giving jewels to another person for safekeeping. Which carries its own drama. Also, a series of interesting cases once the property is seized. For example, cre...
Bava Metzia 34: HaMafkid
April 02, 2024 05:25 - 17 minutes - 16.2 MBThe third perek of Bava Metzia is a classic yeshiva perek of HaMafkid. The perek deals laws of watching or borrowing someone’s object and what happens if that object is lost, stolen, or broken. The halachot of this perek are based on verses in Exodus chapter 22:6-14.
Bava Metzia 33: Your Father, Your Teacher
April 01, 2024 07:57 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MBA mishnah asks whose lost item is more important for one to return - your father or your teacher. The Gemara discussed the merits of studying mikra, mishnah, and talmud and where one should concentrate one’s learning.
Bava Kamma 32: The Ban on Animals' Suffering
March 31, 2024 06:22 - 19 minutes - 18.3 MBIf one finds an animal's in a barn... when is one obligated to return it to the owner of the barn. Plus, a kohen doesn't have to become impure for returning a lost object. Plus, nobody needs to listen to parents who are instructing their children not to follow through on a Torah commandment. Also, take the burden off the overloaded animal. Also, "tza'ar ba'alei chayim" - the prohibition against causing harm to animals. But if the animal's well-being is the issue, what happens when there's als...
Bava Metzia 31: You Can Say That Again
March 30, 2024 21:04 - 16 minutes - 15.7 MBWhen you've returned a lost animal, and the animal runs away again, and you find it again, you have to return it multiple times - as understood from the biblical verse. Plus, the fact that the person who finds answers returns the lost item or animals doesn't have to make his identity known. Plus, the doubling of verbs in many cases in the Torah, and how the sages relate to that compound verb.
Bava Metzia 30: Taking Care with Others' Stuff
March 29, 2024 08:27 - 19 minutes - 18.4 MBFound items of different materials - silver, copper, wood, and so on - can be used by the finder in different ways, depending on the substance. Plus, when can a finder disregard the lost item? Also, the sages' discussion of acting beyond the letter of the law, and why people should do so. Plus, relevance for agunot. Also, a new mishnah - with animals who have moved out of their usual spaces.
Bava Metzia 29: Lost Tefillin and More
March 28, 2024 08:06 - 20 minutes - 18.9 MBA dispute between Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva, about whether one can use the funds from the sale of a found animal that isn't monetarily helpful. Also, one who finds scrolls... read them! Or roll them, if need be. Plus, what to do with things made from different materials. Plus, what to do with found tefillin? And what is one's responsibility to a Torah scroll?
Bava Metzia 28: Lost & Found
March 27, 2024 18:19 - 23 minutes - 22.1 MBMore on distinguishing marks - and whether they are a Torah requirement or a rabbinic one. Also, how long must one hold on to a lost object? Also, pilgrims to Jerusalem could reclaim their lost items from a particular place. Plus, the formal lost and found location and process for the 3 pilgrimage festival - and why Jerusalem is special in this regard. Also, the process of declaring and proclaiming that you've found a lost object, and how Jewish history (and the rule of Persia and Rome) chang...
Bava Metzia 27: Returning Lost Objects Is a Mitzvah (But Not Quite Always)
March 26, 2024 07:30 - 19 minutes - 18.1 MBThe biblical text for the requirements of returning lost objects, including which objects require returning. How, then, does the question of distinguishing marks come into play? The discussion begins with the documents of divorce, which may or may not be bound by the rabbinic enactment of distinguishing marks (when the divorce is a Torah command).
Bava Metzia 26: A Few Considerations
March 25, 2024 12:34 - 16 minutes - 15.6 MBThe daf has a few mishnahs dealing with a few halachot around lost objects? Does the location where a lost object is found determine ownership or if it lost? Does a lost object need a minimum value for it to be considered worthy of returning? Rava finally explains which mitzvot in the Torah are involved with a lost object.
Bava Metzia 25: Dropped Coins
March 24, 2024 15:10 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBA new mishnah - with a list of when a finder has to proclaim and declare the found item(s), so that the original owner can come forward. With debates over whether an item has a siman (demarcating the item) is near an item that doesn't have the mark. How did they settle these relatively ordinary cases? One example being a basket with or without a rim. Also, when one drops coins, and they are in a small (very small) organized pile of coins - vs. a scattered pile of kinds. Plus, a whole lot of c...
Bava Metzia 24: Be Nice and Give It Back
March 23, 2024 22:03 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBA story about Mar Zutra the Pious, when a silver cup was stolen, and Mar Zutra finds the guilty party. Unidentifiable items go to the finder - if the finder found isolated objects, but several together require declaring the find in the hopes of the original owner coming forward. Someone who saves an object from wild animals - keeps it, because it would have been lost anyway. Likewise, finding an item in a public thoroughfare where hopes of recovery are immediately dashed. 5 questions are aske...
Bava Metzia 23: Incidental Simanim
March 22, 2024 06:08 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBThe daf discusses objects found that may or may not have a purposeful siman.
Bava Metzia 22: Hospitality
March 21, 2024 13:59 - 12 minutes - 12 MBSeveral sages were in an orchard, and a worker there gave them samples of fruit, but Mar Zutra did not eat. And then it seems that the orchard owner (Mar bar Isak, for a mini-Who's Who) may not really have wanted to provide fruit for his guests after all. Also, if one finds small sheaves in the public domain, the finder can keep them - even if they have an identifying mark. But when does the ye'ush - that despair of ever getting your lost object back - kick in?
Bava Metzia 21: Ye'ush and Siman
March 20, 2024 05:55 - 18 minutes - 16.9 MBThe daf begins the second perek of the masechet which starts with a mishnah discussing lost objects and when the finder does or does not have to find the owner. Two key concepts are involved: ye'ush and siman. The Gemara presents a fundamental machloket between Abaye and Rava.
Bava Metzia 20: Lost & Found: The Documents Edition
March 19, 2024 06:18 - 22 minutes - 20.7 MBA new mishnah, still on returning lost documents. Beginning with letters that attest to a commitment of obligation or a repossession of property by the court, and more. Plus, when the matters are not clear and they will be set aside until Elijah the Prophet returns. Also, two towns of the same name - which is intended on a document?! Also, what happens when you find more than one document, whether in a bundle or a cluster? Whom do you return it to, and why?
Bava Metiza 19: What is the Norm?
March 18, 2024 10:04 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBThe daf describes a variety of scenarios where documents are found and the different types of fraud that can be committed with a found document
Bava Metzia 18: Lost (and Found) Documents
March 17, 2024 10:43 - 15 minutes - 14.1 MBA new mishnah! One who finds documents - bills of divorce, papers that free slaves, receipts, etc. - don't return them to the apparent recipient, in case they weren't actually given. Also, when the documents include names belonging to more than one couple - especially in a place where the caravans pass frequently vs. a place with few travelers, and less likely to find two couples of the same name. Plus, the question of whether she has received the ketubah... did she already receive her get? T...
Bava Metiza 17: Can a Ketubah Be a Get?
March 16, 2024 20:37 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBBringing property disputes to court, especially when one part denies part of the terms or what is owed. Plus, the role of witnesses. But we do people trust that the disputant/denier isn't lying? Plus, a concrete case. Also, if one claimed that there were no witnesses, then the claim is fundamentally (likely to be) meaningless. Plus, the role of the ketubah, in an era when it wasn't yet universal. Plus, how the ketubah functions in the discussion of debts, denials, and other economic transacti...
Bava Metzia 16: People Share the World... And Stuff Happens
March 15, 2024 10:44 - 29 minutes - 26.9 MBA robber who wants to go back and uphold the sale - so that he'll no longer be called a robber. Or so he'll be known as reliable and trustworthy). The question is what is the practical difference between these expressions of his goal? Also, if one finds a document of acquisition, one should return it to the owner, not the debtor. Plus, a payment plan as required in Neharde'a.
Bava Metzia 15: So Much Unfairness of a Robber's Payback
March 14, 2024 07:26 - 15 minutes - 14.4 MBThe case of one who buys land from a robber - what happens when the land has been improved? Who pays for that? Note that the robber may be able to pay back his theft with his land. Also, what if the buyer knows that the land itself does not belong to the seller (and then the owner comes to reclaim his or her land).
Bava Metzia 14: Protecting Your Property Purchases
March 13, 2024 13:55 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBThe case of repossessing property that has been sold, with or without a guarantee to the buyer. Plus, two accounts of each case, each of which turns the case around. Also, to what extent does the seller have the responsibility to ensure that the funds reach the right people, but don't look like interest. Plus, making sure that the buyer can legitimately buy the property without having to give it back to the seller's creditor.⁰
Bava Metzia 13: When Promissory Notes Don't Clarify Matters
March 12, 2024 08:18 - 20 minutes - 19.4 MBFound documents (eg, promissory notes) that show a lien on property - in the Gemara's commentary on the mishnah, trying to determine the specifics of the case of the mishnah. Plus, the impact of the case of the loan - where the document calls it into question. Plus, R. Eleazar and R. Yochanan dispute how to understand the dispute between R. Meir and the sages, about the promissory note.
Bava Metzia 12: Household Acquisition
March 11, 2024 11:01 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBTwo mishnahs on this daf. The first deals with children, slaves, and one’s wife finding an ownerless object and to whom does it belong. The second deals with the case of a found document with a loan and to whom is it returned.
Bava Metiza 11: The Will to Acquire
March 10, 2024 07:53 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBA new mishnah - on the acquisition effected by a courtyard. How does the transfer of ownership take effect? What if the "courtyard" is an open field? What if the owner isn't present to demonstrate intent and/or to guard it? Plus, the case of a divorce, where the husband's intent acquires the bill of divorce to the woman - unless her courtyard is sufficient.
Bava Metzia 10: Falling On What You Want to Acquire
March 09, 2024 21:52 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBOne who does a formal act of acquisition to acquire something for someone else - the Gemara now says that won't work, in contrast to the previous Gemara. The comparison to a debtor and creditor explains why. Plus, a rider asking for the reins of the animal he's riding - where the language used makes the difference. Also, a new mishnah: one finds an item and another party seizes it - who has acquired it? Plus, proximity isn't enough to acquire an object. The illustration case is pe'ah, acquiri...
Bava Metzia 9: Don't Push a Donkey
March 08, 2024 09:07 - 21 minutes - 19.7 MBHow does one NOT acquire an animal, using formal acts of acquisition that are effective in other circumstances. With a focus on animals. Also, how the formal act of acquisition for some property can be combined with the one for other property (for example, acquiring utensils together with the acquisition of an animal). Plus, the acquisition by one's property of other property, like a courtyard or a boat.
Bava Metzia 8: Taking Ownership from Someone or No One
March 07, 2024 12:12 - 14 minutes - 13.1 MBUsing a formal act of acquisition to take possession of an object on behalf of someone else - works! (Pending discussion whether it really does, and how that connects to the 2 who have taken hold of the talit in the first mishnah of Bava Metzia. Also, the formal kinyan of taking hold of an animal's bridle - which is complicated when that animal had been the property of a convert who didn't have heirs. Thus, the real difference between taking possession of something that had a previous owner, ...
Bava Metzia 7: Hekdesh and Reshut
March 06, 2024 08:59 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBThe daf continues to explore the question if one cab consecrate an item not in one’s reshut. A baraita has an opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel that explains how a document can be split.
Bava Metzia 6: The Burden of Proof
March 05, 2024 07:47 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MBWhat if one complainant grabbed more of the disputed object before the judges? It depends, to some degree, on the reaction of the other party. What if they are making other claims of ownership before the court? Can one be considered an owner if the item is not in that party's possession? The answer is no, the burden of proof falls on the one who can't lay physical claim. But what happens if one party consecrates the item? As it happens, one party consecrated a bathhouse, which led the sages t...
Bava Metzia 5: Why We Don't Trust Shepherds
March 04, 2024 06:46 - 25 minutes - 24.1 MBMore on Rabbi Hiya and the kal va-chomer of agreeing to part of a claim - with an actual case! (including a partial agreement to a claim as established by testimony, which would require him to swear... unless he's a thief, and therefore exempt from swearing). Plus, "shevuat heseit." Also, the potential of shepherds to steal, tacitly, while the flocks graze elsewhere (but that's a private shepherd, not a public shepherd). Also, the fact that one who is suspected of thievery is trusted to take ...
Bava Metzia 4: Determining Facts on the Ground
March 03, 2024 06:58 - 28 minutes - 26.7 MBDeriving the kal va-chomer reasoning got the stringent and lenient cases in testimony - and the strength of 2 witnesses (against the statement of the main person in question, eg, a defendant), in establishing the need for the party in question to take an oath regarding his claim. Also, different ways that one can confirm a partial claim and deny the rest - what happens then? When must an oath be taken? When must one may back what they've said they've paid (or the rest of it)? Plus, what happe...
Bava Metzia 3: Oaths vs. Testimony
March 02, 2024 22:45 - 22 minutes - 20.5 MBWhen two people claim ownership of an object, the "solution" is for both parties to swear an oath that each has nothing of the other's. Complicated by possible witnesses, and also the logic of a kal va-chomer. How much can testimony bring about - with regard to punishment and/or offerings on the part of the subject of the testimony.
Bava Metzia 2: It's Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!
March 01, 2024 06:47 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBAn introduction to Bava Metzia, and to the first chapter. Plus, the famous first mishnah - with 2 people laying apparently equal claim to a found object. Or two are riding on an animal and both claim ownership of the animal. They both swear and divide the item - to the extent possible, when there's no other way to ascertain the accuracy of each's claim.
Bava Kamma 119: Holding on to What Is Yours (Or Not)
February 29, 2024 11:21 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBStealing from another is like taking a part of the soul of the owner of the item stolen. With proof texts, of course - including the biblical term, "hamas," which is not the meaning we know nowadays. More, extortion. In the context of the story of King Saul, the city of Nov, and the killing of kohanim. [Where's Where: Mehoza] Also, a new mishnah, on who owns the remnants of things when handled by specialists (the launderer, the carder of wool, a carpenter or chiseler, for example). With possi...
Bava Kamma 118: Count Your Sheep!
February 28, 2024 10:49 - 17 minutes - 16 MB4 mishnayot: Paying back an original owner should not take place in a deserted area. And: does one have to pay when one can claim ignorance of a need to pay back (certainty vs. unsure bring relevant). And: Stealing a lamb from a flock and returning it before anything happens to it - what happens if the owners knew? What happens if they didn't know? Rav, Shmuel, R. Yochanan, and R. Hisda has answers. And: The assumption that a wife isn't lying to her husband when selling animals in the marketp...
Bava Kamma 117: Comeuppance for R. Yochanan and the Resurrection of R. Kahana
February 27, 2024 06:13 - 30 minutes - 28 MBCase reports and the rabbis' rulings: what happens when one Jew turns in another Jew to the authorities (specifically, objects). [Who's Who: Rav Kahana] A story: one who wants to show another's straw to the authorities, against better advice, and pays for that intent with his life. Which leads to a discussion of why the harsh response, including a window into the ways of the rabbinic academy. Plus, the drama between R. Yochanan and R. Kahana. Also, more cases of informants and thieves and the...
Bava Kamma 116: The Laws of Caravans
February 26, 2024 07:56 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBThe daf discussed what are the obligations when traveling with a caravan. Bonus: the daf instructs us on what to do if your caravan is being trailed by a lion.
Bava Kamma 115: The Law of the Marketplace
February 25, 2024 10:09 - 30 minutes - 28 MBThe decree of the marketplace - takanat ha-shuk. Where something stolen in the marketplace leads to ye'ush (despair) and new ownership, and difficulty in requiring payback by the new owner to the original owner. Also, a new mishnah - when one has a barrel of wine and another has a barrel of honey, and the wine owner pours out the wine to offer the barrel to the slavage the honey. That wine owner can't claim the honey owner owes him for the wine, unless there was a stipulation and agreement in...
Bava Kamma 114: Go Tell the Bees That They Are Home
February 24, 2024 21:49 - 27 minutes - 25.9 MBA case of a Jew who is excommunicated because he's caused harm to another Jew, but via a non-Jew: selling a field that borders the property of Jew to a non-Jew. Plus, bees! And what happens when an aviary is on the border of one's property. Also, the Gemara's read of the mishnah's case of the bees. And to what extent casual conversation may count as testimony. And a second mishnah: When you see your stuff in someone else's possession. To what extent is robbery an issue in the place? That will...
Bava Kamma 113: Excommunication
February 23, 2024 07:51 - 23 minutes - 21.6 MBThe daf describes when and how people are excommunicated if they do not listen to the beit din. A new mishnah discussed using funds we assume are stolen. The daf discusses if one may steal from a non-Jew.
Bava Kamma 112: Merciful Halakhah
February 22, 2024 13:37 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBWhen a thief steals food and feeds it to his children... they don't have to pay back. If he leaves it to the children, and they haven't eaten it yet, the question of how much they have to pay, or return, is subject to a dispute. Also, the case with an urgency to be resolved, which provides exceptions for who pays what back to whom, with apparent compassion for the one(s) who has to pay back.
Bava Kamma 111: Never Ever Ever Getting (It Back)
February 21, 2024 08:16 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBMore on the priestly watch families - Yehoyariv and Yedaya - and why each gains or loses, in the event of a robber who swore falsely giving the guilt-offering via one family and the monetary payback via the other. Also, a new mishnah to start the final chapter, chapter 10: When one steals an object, and that object ends up with a third party - that third party doesn't owe the original owner. Plus, the relevance of ye'ush, despair, with regard to lost (or stolen) objects.
Bava Kamma 110: A Robbed Convert Without Heirs
February 20, 2024 09:08 - 21 minutes - 20.3 MBA new mishnah which discusses the case on a previous daf of a robbed convert and the asham, principal, and chomesh that mist be brought. The Gemara lists the 24 gifts that are given to the Kohanim.
Bava Kamma 109: Principal and Chomesh
February 19, 2024 07:12 - 16 minutes - 15 MBA new mishnah reviews cases where the principal and chomesh are paid. The daf later discusses the unique case of a thief who steals from a convert with no heirs.