Bava Batra 135: diathéké Διαθήκη

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If a person dies and a sickbed will is found tied to his thigh, so that there is no suspicion of forgery, the will still has no legal validity.

A new Mishna teaches that if a brother dies with documents tied to his thigh regarding gifts to be given after one's death, they should be ignored.

If the brother states that he wishes to give whatever is written in the note to someone, it is permitted even if that line of inheritance is not accepted. A healthy person's gift, however, might say: from today and after I die.

The rabbis are unclear about whether or not something can be a gift if it says, "from now". The rabbis continue to argue about whether or not we believe and follow the instructions that accompany a gift.

We explore the diatheke in and around the first 3 centuries including Dead Sea Scrolls.

Bava Batra 134: יוֹנָתָן בֶּן עוּזִּיאֵל

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Continuing their conversation about inheritance that is given as a 'gift', the rabbis discuss a case where people claim that they will consecrate gifted property. The Sages decided that any gift that cannot be consecrated to the Temple is not a gift at all.

The braisa says that Hillel had eighty students. Thirty of them reached the level of Moshe, fitting to receive the Heavenly presence. Thirty of them reached the level of Yehoshua, fitting for Hashem to stop the sun in their merit.

Twenty reached the level of outstanding students. The greatest of them was Yonasan ben Uziel, while the lowest was Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was fully versed in all aspects of Torah – Tanach, Mishnayos, Gemora (explanation of the Mishnayos), Halachos, derivations of halachos from verses, close inspection of the text of the Torah, enactments of the Sages, logical arguments, comparisons of halachos by similar language, astronomy, mathematical meanings of verses, parables, dialogues of sheidim (demons), trees, and angels, and large and small things.

We explore the life and works (Targum) of this famous convert.

Bava Batra 133: בֵּן שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה נוֹהֵג כַּשּׁוּרָה

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A new Mishna teaches us about the consequences of bequeathing inappropriately.

If one writes a document bequeathing his inheritance to a number of people and he leaves his sons with nothing, this is permitted to occur. However, such a person will be thought of negatively by the rabbis.

If he did this because his sons were behaving improperly, however, then this person is remembered positively.

We read of the story of Yosef ben Yoezer had a son who did not conduct himself in a proper manner and the design of the story raises a significant question regarding the decision to disinherit the son who does not conduct himself in a proper manner; the story demonstrates how the disinherited son turns out in the end to have conducted himself in proper manner.

Bava Batra 132: קֵרַחַת מִכָּאן וּמִכָּאן

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We learned in a mishna there (Pe’a 3:7): If a man writes a document granting his property to his sons, and he wrote a document granting any amount of land to his wife, she has lost her right to receive payment of her marriage contract. The Gemara questions this: Because he wrote a document granting her any amount of land, she has lost her right to receive payment of her marriage contract? Why should this be?

Many comments in the writings of the Rishonim and Acharonim indicate that while it is true that deference of amoraim for tannaim in deciding Halacha is a rule, Amoraim cannot disagree with Tannaitic sources in a direct manner, they can interpret those sources by proposing certain ukimtot, which allows them to disagree with the fundamental law appearing in the Tannaitic sources.

We review the literature on generational conflict and authority in rabbinic sources.

Bava Batra 131: שְׁכִיב מְרַע

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Steinsaltz opines: "Strange as this may sound, there does not seem to be a clear source in the Torah obligating a father to support his children, although it is certainly a mitzva for him to do so. In fact, the Mishna in Ketubot (52b) that is quoted in our Gemara teaches that if an agreement to support the children was not clearly written into the ketuba nevertheless the husband’s estate will be forced to support them after his death, because it is a tenai beit din – it is a required condition of marriage."

Rava inquired: Did Rabbi Yochanan ben Berokah state his halachah (that the Torah gave authority to a father to bequeath his estate to a particular son) by a healthy person as well?

The Gemora explains: Is it only regarding a deathly ill person, who is fit to bequeath immediately (for it is written: It shall be on the day that he bequeaths to his sons), that a father has that right, but not by a healthy person, or perhaps, it was stated even with regards to a healthy person?

We examine the laws of schechiv mera, a terminally ill person and the halachic gratuities allowed for in bequest.

Bava Batra 130: לֹא יוּכַל לְבַכֵּר

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If one says, "Let so-and-so inherit me," where there is a daughter who will survive him, or if he says, "Let my daughter inherit me," where there is a son who will survive him - he has said nothing, that is, his words are not effective, since he made a stipulation contrary to what is written in the Torah.

However, if he increased the portion of one son among the other sons, or one daughter among the other daughters, or completely eliminated the portion of one son, leaving everything for the other sons, his words stand.

We explore deathbed bequests and other disputes in jewish history.

Bava Batra 129: כׇּל תּוֹךְ כְּדֵי דִבּוּר כְּדִבּוּר דָּמֵי

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The Mishna (126b) teaches that as long as he says that what he is doing is a gift it will work, even if he also says that he means it to be an inheritance. The Gemara on our daf explains that this will work in all cases where the statements are made tokh ke-dei dibbur – when they are said “in the same breath.”

We approach the letter vs the law “FOR THE LETTER KILLS, BUT THE SPIRIT GIVES LIFE”: from two perspectives that of Pauline Theology and that of Kabbalah.

Bava Batra 128: שֶׁלֹּא נִסְתַּמֵּא, וְנִסְתַּמֵּא

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Rabbi Abba also sent a ruling to Rav Yosef bar Ḥama concerning testimony: If one knewinformation that could serve as testimony about the boundary of another’s land before he became blind, and then he became blind, he is disqualified from bearing witness in a dispute as to the boundaries of that person’s properties.

And Shmuel said: He is fit to bear witness, as it is possible for him to determine the boundaries of the fields despite his blindness.

The Gemara then brings a Baraisa which teaches a rule that a witness is only allowed to testify if he was eligible for testimony at the moment he witnesses the event, as well as at the moment he actually testifies. If he is in a state of disqualification at either of these points, he may not testify.

We review Rav Aharon Lichtenstein’s magisterial essay on blindness and Halacha as well as explore the notion of cortical blindness, a complex visual impairment that originates from damage to the brain's occipital cortex rather than the eyes themselves. This condition disrupts visual processing, leading to partial or complete loss of vision at times without the person being aware of it: and Visual agnosia a condition where individuals can see but cannot recognize or interpret visual information. This can manifest as difficulty recognizing faces, objects, or familiar places.

Bava Batra 127: זֶה בְּנִי בְּכוֹר

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The people of a town on a lake sent the following question to Shmuel: if we had known one son to be the bechor, and then the father stated that another son was the bechor, who gets the extra portion?

Shmuel answered that the two sons should grant each other right to representation, and between the two collect one extra portion, which they split.

The Gemora explains that Rabbi Yehudah says that a father is believed to identify a son as the bechor, even when we had known a different son to be the bechor, while the Sages say that a father is believed only when we had no prior knowledge who is the bechor.

We focus on the children of Asenath and Joseph :

Jacob says to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me ... in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’"

So, in fulfillment of the divine promise, Jacob "adopts" or "claims" his Egyptian grandkids:

"Now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

Any children born to you after them will be yours ; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers"

In this story, the two sons of Joseph and Aseneth are grafted into this divinely promised "community of peoples." As such, they are granted an inheritance along with Joseph's brothers, and they become the heads of two tribes of Israel.

Who authored the aprocyphal book about Asenath and how did it serve the diaspora Jews in Alexandria?

Bava Batra 126: מַסֵּי רוּקֵּיהּ

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A new Mishnah informs us that if a father says, “So-and-so, my firstborn son, shall not receive a double portion, or, if he says, “So-and-so, my son, shall not inherit with his brothers (and then he died), he has said nothing, for he has made a condition against what is written in the Torah.

The Gemara relates: There was a certain man who came before Rabbi Ḥanina and said to him: I know that this man is a firstborn. Rabbi Ḥanina said to him: From where do you know? He said to Rabbi Ḥanina: Because when people would come before his father to obtain a cure for their ailing eyes, he would say to them: Go to my son Shikhḥat, as he is a firstborn and his saliva heals this ailment.

We explore the history of spittle and the superstitions surrounding it to this day.

Bava Batra 125: מַאי סָבְתָּא?

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What rights does a person have to determine the ownership of an object after he has given it away?

Our Gemara tells the story of “grandma.” That is, someone announced that he was giving all of his money to his grandmother, stating that he did so with the proviso that after she died the money would go to his descendants rather than to the people who would inherit her.

We explore the definition of Savta (and Sabba!) as well as the archetype of “senex" in the writings of Jung and Hillman

Bava Batra 124: ״פִּי שְׁנַיִם״

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As we have learned, the Torah commands (see Devarim 21:15-17) that the firstborn son will receive a double portion of the estate left by his father at the time of his death. What if the estate grows after the father’s death, but before the children have had time to divide it up into the shares that they will receive? Will the firstborn get a double portion in those additional profits?

We explore the concept of firstborn and primogeniture and its repudiation in the writings of Adam Smith and the brith of the republic.

Bava Batra 123: וּמַאי צְנִיעוּת הָיְתָה בָּהּ בְּרָחֵל

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The Gemara discusses the double portion of the firstborn. There could be a number of ways to actualize a double portion. The considerations might be different if there were five brothers or only two brothers involved in the inheritance.

The rabbis consider the experiences of our forefathers - for example, Joseph. Although he was not the firstborn son, he was offered the birthright, which included all of the rights of the firstborn son. Many potential prooftext are offered to demonstrate that Joseph's portion was double the property received by one of the inheritors (his brothers).

We ask why Joseph received his brother's birthright. Is it because Joseph gave so much to his father Jacob that Jacob felt he must repay Joseph in this way? Is it because of Reuven's earlier sin that Jacob gave the double portion to Joseph?

Rabbi Yonatan tells us Leah's son with Jacob should have been given the birthright.

But Rachel's resulting patience and humility warranted Joseph receiving Jacob's birthright.

We explore the characters of these biblical figures.

Bava Batra 122: אֶחָד הַבֵּן וְאֶחָד הַבַּת לְנַחֲלָה

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A new Mishna informs us:

The son and daughter are the same in inheritance (the Gemora will explain this statement).

However, the firstborn son inherits a double portion of the father’s possessions but not his mother’s possessions.

Daughters are supported from the father’s possessions but not from the mother’s possessions.

We explore the notion of Eretz Yisrael with Rav Judah Goldberg’s analysis.

Bava Batra 121: יוֹם שֶׁנִּתְּנוּ הֲרוּגֵי בֵיתָר לִקְבוּרָה

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The Gemara on our daf brings the last Mishna in Massekhet Ta’anit, which closes with a discussion of two of the happiest days on the Jewish calendar – Yom Kippur and T”u b’Av, the 15th of Av, when the daughters of Jerusalem would go out to the dance in the vineyards in borrowed white clothing (so that girls who were poor would not be embarrassed), calling out to the young men suggesting that they choose wives from among them.

Rav Yehuda quotes Shmuel as saying that it was the day that women who had inherited land were released from the restrictions limiting them to marry only members of their tribe.

Rabba bar bar Ḥana suggests that it was the day that the tribe of Binyamin was permitted to marry. According to the story at the end of Sefer Shofetim (see Chapter 21) wives needed to be found for the remnants of the tribe of Binyamin, which had almost been wiped out.

We explore the wonderful roots of this holiday.

Bava Batra 120: בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד הוּתְּרוּ לְהִנָּשֵׂא לְכל הַשְּׁבָטִים

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If the daughters of Tzlofchad got married so late, how did they have children? A miracle happened to them and it is compared to Yocheved giving birth to Moshe at an old age.

The gemara explains the whole chronology of the Yocheved narrative and how it is clear she was so old when Moshe was born. In telling the narrative, they also resolve other difficulties in the verses. The daughters of Tzlofchad are mentioned twice in a different order each time.

We explore the different genealogies of Menashe and the possible resolutions.

Bava Batra 119: שֶׁמְּגַלְגְּלִים זְכוּת עַל יְדֵי זַכַּאי

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If the daughters of Tzlofchad got married so late, how did they have children? A miracle happened to them and it is compared to Yocheved giving birth to Moshe at an old age.

The gemara explains the whole chronology of the Yocheved narrative and how it is clear she was so old when Moshe was born. In telling the narrative, they also resolve other difficulties in the verses. The daughters of Tzlofchad are mentioned twice in a different order each time.

We explore the different genealogies of Menashe and the possible resolutions.

Bava Batra 118: מִתְלוֹנְנִין וַעֲדַת קֹרַח

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The baraita teaches that the protesters and the assembly of Korah did not possess a portion of Eretz Yisrael. The Gemara asks: But isn’t it taught otherwise in a baraita: With regard to the spies, the protesters, and the assembly of Korah, Joshua and Caleb took their portions of the land? Apparently, the protesters and the assembly of Korah were assigned portions in Eretz Yisrael, which were then given to Joshua and Caleb.

The Gemara answers: It is not difficult: One Sage, the tanna of the baraita quoted earlier, juxtaposes the protesters to the spies, teaching that just as the spies were assigned a portion of Eretz Yisrael, so were the protesters.

And one Sage, the tanna of the baraita quoted here, does not juxtapose the protesters to the spies. Although the spies were assigned a portion, the protesters were not.

The source for these exceptions stems from the argument made by the daughters of Zelopheḥad who were appealing to receive their father’s portion.

We explore the claim of these daughters and the episode of Korach as a challenge to the literary strata and redaction.

Bava Batra 117: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וְכָלֵב נָטְלוּ חֶלְקָם

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The daughters of Tzelophchad took three portions of the inheritance of the Land of Israel. (1) the portion of their father, Tzelophchad, who was among those who left Egypt; (2) their father's portion among brothers in the estate of Chepher, his father; (3) an extra share in the estate of Chepher, to which their father was entitled because he was a firstborn.

Number (1) teaches that the Land of Israel was divided among those who left Egypt, even if they were not living at the time of the conquest of Israel; Number (2) teaches that the daughter of a son received a share even when her father's brothers are alive; Number (3) teaches that the Land of Israel is considered to have been in possession of those who left Egypt.

How was the Land of Israel divided up among the Children of Israel who arrived after the 40 year trek through the desert?

Two passages in the Torah appear to offer different versions of the method used for dividing the land –

The pasuk in Bamidbar (26:55) teaches that the land was divided according to “the name of the tribes of their fathers.”

Two pesukim before (Bamidbar 26:53) the Torah states that the land would be divided “among these…according to the number of names.”

Our Gemara quotes three different opinions about how to interpret these pesukim.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: to illustrate the point, I will tell you a parable. To what is this matter comparable? To two brothers who were priests and who were in one town…

We explore his life and legacy and the use of parables to illustrate legal principles and even Kafka’s debt to midrasnhic parables!

Bava Batra 116: כּלֹ שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַנִּיחַ תַּלְמִיד

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The Gemara focuses on how it has been determined that the daughter of a son will not inherit with her brothers. This was done after the war where few sons (b'nei Binyamin) survived; daughters would transfer their inheritances to other tribes if they married out of their tribe.

The Gemara relates that after the incident of Pilegesh b'Giv'ah when Shevet Binyamin was almost wiped out, a decree was established for Shevet Binyamin in order that its ancestral property remain in the ownership of the Shevet. The decree was that whenever there would be sons who are supposed to inherit from their father, along with a daughter of a deceased son, the daughter would not inherit.

This decree was made despite the Torah's law that a deceased son inherits from his father, and his daughter (if he had no son) subsequently inherits that portion of her grandfather's estate.

We explore the literary and historical drama behind the tragedy of pilegesh begivah in Judges 21.