The Weekly Daf #36 Bava Metzia 114-119 Week of 7-12 Cheshvan 5755 / 12-17 October 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ========================================================================= When UPSTAIRS Becomes downstairs The Case: A landlord says to his tenant when they make a lease: "I am renting you the upstairs which is on top of this house which I live in." During the period of the lease the ceiling between them collapses. The landlord refuses to make the repairs necessary for the upstairs to be habitable again and offers instead to provide the tenant with living quarters in one of his other houses. The Ruling: The tenant has the right to move in downstairs with the landlord until he makes the necessary repairs for enabling him to return upstairs. The Reason: Had the landlord only been obligating himself to providing living quarters for the tenant it would have sufficed for him to say "I am renting you the upstairs of the house," since he pointed out the upstairs of the house he lives in. By adding the words "which is on top of the house which I live in" he placed a legal claim on his downstairs apartment to serve as a base for his tenant's living quarters. He must therefore make the necessary repairs for it to support the upstairs apartment or to allow his tenant to utilize it as temporary quarters until such repairs are made. Bava Metzia 116b ========================================================================= When Reason is NOT Enough The Torah's prohibition to take anything of value from a widow as security for a loan extended to her, says Rabbi Shimon, is limited to a poor widow. Since you must return this item to her when she needs it and reclaim it when she does not, you will be seen regularly entering her home and thus giving her a bad reputation. This, he concludes, is inapplicable to a widow of means who is not in need of the collateralized item. The prohibition therefore does not relate to her. Rabbi Shimon's approach of limiting the application of Torah law in accordance with our understanding of the law's reason is _not_ accepted by the majority view and the ruling is that the aforementioned prohibition applies to any widow, rich or poor. Bava Metzia 116a ========================================================================= Spend this coming Winter Break in Israel for as little as $599 -> JLE Israel Winter Seminar '94/'95 <- For information write to Rabbi Zalman Corlin or in the U.S. call toll-free 800-431-2272 (212-344-2000) ========================================================================= SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi Shiur. ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism. weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion. parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion. os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach. os-alum - "Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter. judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on Parsha & Judaism. There is NEVER a charge for any of the above lists (though your local info provider, such as Prodigy or CompuServe, might charge a nominal fee). To subscribe to any of these lists, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name} to: listserv@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= Dedication opportunities are available for The Weekly Daf Please contact us for details. ========================================================================= Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= (C) 1994 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission.