For the source text click/tap here: Bava Batra 108
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Our new Perek begins with the following question regarding inheritance priorities:
A new Mishna teaches us that some people are permitted to inherit from and bequeath to others. Others are permitted only to bequeath to someone or to inherit from someone. One group of people are not permitted to inherit to or bequeath from anyone.
The Gemara begins by clarifying the order of the list in the mishna. What is different, i.e., what is the reason, that the mishna teaches: A father with regard to his sons, as the firstexample? Let it teach: Sons with regard to their father, as the first example. The Gemara explains why this would be preferable: One reason is that we do not want to begin with a calamity, as the death of a son during his father’s lifetime is a calamity; therefore, it would have been appropriate to begin with the example of sons inheriting from their father.
We explore the laws of inheritance.