The Weekly Daf #46 Bava Basra 65-71 Week of 17-23 Teves 5755 / 20-26 December 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions =========================================================================== The Mind of the Kind The Case: Reuven made a deathbed gift of a house to Shimon. He described this house as being large enough to contain 100 barrels. When the executors of his will measured the house they found that it was large enough to contain 120 barrels. The Question: Do we award Shimon the entire house or only that portion (5/6) of it which is the area required for 100 barrels? The Ruling: Rabbi Ashi argued in favor of giving Shimon only the area required for 100 barrels. But he was overruled by the Sage Mar Zutra on the basis of a law found in the Mishnah. When one sells a field the purchaser does not acquire items such as a cistern or aviary which are installed in the field but are not an integral part of it. When he presents a field as a gift, however, even these items are included because we assume that one who gives something away does so in a generous spirit and intends to include them as well. In similar fashion, he concludes, we assume that Reuven intended to give Shimon the entire house but was unaware of its exact measurements and only mentioned the figure of 100 barrels to stress that he was giving a major gift. Bava Basra 71a =========================================================================== One World One of the kinyanim -- symbolic expressions of acquired ownership -- which make a transaction of land irrevocable is chazaka -- making some physical improvement in the acquired property. Does each property purchased require a separate chazaka? If the two properties are of a diverse nature, such as a quarry for extracting sand and a riverbed for finding precious metals, a separate chazaka is required for each. But if one purchases ten fields for agricultural purposes he acquires all of them by making a chazaka on just one of them even if they are all in different parts of the world. The explanation for this rule finds expression in an oft-repeated Talmudic dictum: "All parts of the world are connected to each other." Bava Basra 67a =========================================================================== Can't make it to Israel for the Winter JLE program? THERE IS STILL TIME LEFT TO SIGN UP FOR: The Ohr Somayach WINTER LEARNING RETREAT held in our Monsey New York campus from December 22-29. This FREE program is open to college students who are interested in experiencing a taste of Jewish learning. For information, speak to Rabbi Zalman Corlin E-Mail: ny000586@mail.nyser.net Voice: 800-431-2272 (212-344-2000) =========================================================================== SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion. dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi. ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism. 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 the Parsha & Judaism. There is NEVER a charge for any of the above lists (though your local information provider, such as AOL, 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, and then send us a sample of an issue.