Bava Batra 11a — the Talmud in English

It was taught: They said about Benjamin the Righteous, who was appointed over the charity box: Once a woman came before him during years of famine and said to him, “My master, support me.” He said to her, “By the Temple service

an expression of an oath,

there is nothing at all in the charity box.”

She said to him, “My master, if you do not support me, then a woman and her seven children will die.”

He arose and supported her from his own funds.

After some time he became ill,

Benjamin the Righteous

and was nearing death. The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed is He: “Master of the Universe, You said, ‘Whoever sustains one person

of Israel, it is as though he sustained an entire world.’

for that reason man was created alone, to teach you that whoever sustains one person of Israel, it is as though he sustained an entire world. And further, we find that the Holy One, blessed is He, said to Cain, who killed Abel, “The voice of the bloods of your brother cries out to Me.” It does not say “the blood of your brother,” but “the bloods of your brother”—that is, his blood, and the blood of his offspring, and the blood of his offspring’s offspring, forever. And from here: whoever destroys one person of Israel, it is as though he destroyed an entire world, and whoever sustains one person of Israel, it is as though he sustained an entire world—and the ministering angels pleaded before the Holy One, blessed is He—

And

for

Benjamin the Righteous, who sustained a woman and her seven children, should die within these few years?

Immediately, they tore up his decree of judgment!

And

the tanna taught: They added twenty-two years to his years.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving King Monobaz

who squandered his treasuries and the treasuries of his fathers during years of famine,

for he would take out all his money and his fathers’ money in order to feed the poor

and his brothers and his father’s household gathered against him

they assembled against him

and said to him: “Your fathers stored away

treasuries

and added to

the treasuries

of their fathers, and

you

are squandering them!” He said to them:

“My deeds are superior to the deeds of my fathers, for

my fathers stored away

treasuries

below,

in this world.

But

I

stored away above,

for the World to Come.

As it is stated: ‘

Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven,’

that is to say, when “truth shall spring up from the earth,” when Israel perform acts of charity, then “righteousness shall look down from heaven” to repay a good reward to those who perform charity.

And further, that

my fathers stored away in a place over which the hand has control,

and their treasuries are in danger,

but

I

stored away

in a place over which the hand has no control, as it is stated: “

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne,

that is to say, the acts of righteousness and justice are stored beneath the Throne of Glory.

And further, that

my fathers stored away something that produces no fruit, whereas I stored away something that produces fruit,

for acts of loving-kindness are among the things that produce fruit in this world, while the principal remains for the World to Come .

As it is stated: “

Say of the righteous that it is good, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds,”

that is to say, the righteous shall eat the fruit of their righteousness in this world.

King Monobaz further added—

My fathers stored away

treasuries

of money, whereas I stored away treasuries of souls, as it is stated: “

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life

the reward of the fruits of the righteous man’s deeds is like a tree of life that endures forever ,

and one who takes souls is wise,”

thus, one who performs charity and sustains souls is called “one who takes souls.”

And further, that

my fathers stored away for others, but

I

stored away for myself, as it is stated: “

And it shall be charity for you”

for charity is attributed to those who perform it.

And further, that

my fathers stored away for this world, whereas I stored away for the World to Come, as it is stated: “

Your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall gather you in,”

that is to say, after a person goes to his eternal home, his acts of righteousness go before him .

We learned in the Mishna: One who rents a dwelling in a city is not obligated to participate in the city’s expenses unless he has resided there for twelve months—

but if he purchased a dwelling-house there, he is immediately like the people of the city

at once.

What is explained in the

Mishna

that one residing in the city is not immediately considered like the people of the city, unless he purchased a dwelling there, is

not in accordance with Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel.

For it was taught: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: If he purchased there

in the city, even

any amount of land, he is like the people of the city

immediately, and he is obligated to participate in the city’s expenses. Thus, according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, purchasing any amount of land is sufficient to be considered one of the people of the city.

And we raise an objection:

But

is

it not taught

that

Rabban Shimon ben

Gamliel says

that

if he purchased there

in the city

land suitable for a dwelling-house, he is like the people of the city?

And it is clear that in order to be considered one of the people of the city, one must purchase land suitable for building a dwelling upon it, whereas in the earlier beraita they said that even if he purchased any amount of land, he is immediately like the people of the city.

And we answer:

There are two tannaim, and they differ according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel;

the tannaim differed concerning the words of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel. Some said in his name that one must purchase in the city land suitable for building a dwelling-house upon it. And some said in his name that even if he purchased any amount of land, he is considered like the people of the city.

Mishna:

Partners in a courtyard, when one of the partners wishes to dissolve the partnership and divide the courtyard,

they do not divide the courtyard until there is

after the division

four cubits for this one and four cubits for that one.

But if the courtyard is smaller than eight cubits, and after the division four cubits will not remain in the possession of each one of them, one cannot compel the other to divide the courtyard—

The reason for this law is explained later in the Mishna: a partner cannot compel his partner to divide unless even after the division the name of the thing being divided will not change. And the Sages assessed that as long as there are four cubits in the courtyard, it is still called a “courtyard.” But an area smaller than four cubits is not called a “courtyard,” and one cannot compel his partner to take a portion that is not called a courtyard .

And

likewise

not

can one compel his partner to divide

the field until there is in it

after the division

nine kav for this one and nine kav for that one .

Rabbi Judah says:

It is not necessary that there be nine kav for each one of them, but

until there are nine half-kav for this one and nine half-kav for that one!

And

likewise

not

can one compel his partner to divide

the garden until there is in it

after the division

half a kav for this one and half a kav for that one.

For this is the smallest measure for an area to be called a “garden” .

Rabbi Akiva says:

It is not necessary that after the division there be half a kav for each one of them; rather, it is sufficient that after the division each one have an area of

a quarter-bet

for this area too is still called a garden .

And

likewise

not

can one compel his partner to divide

the reception hall, nor the moren

a type of reception hall,

nor the dovecote, nor the cloak, nor the bathhouse, nor the olive press

in which olives are crushed ,

nor the irrigated field

a field that is watered from the spring adjacent to it ,

until there is in them

unless even after the division there will be in them

enough for this one and enough for that one,

that is to say, that a suitable portion of that thing will remain in the possession of each one of them, as the Mishna continues to explain.

This is the general principle: Anything that can be divided and its name remains upon it,

so that even after the division the name of that thing does not change,

they divide it,

one can compel the other to divide it with him.

But if not,

if after the division the name of the object changes [because of its smallness],

they do not divide it!

When

they said that if the name of the thing changes after the division, they do not divide it, this applies only

when both do not wish [to divide], but when both wish

to divide,

they divide even less than this! —

This law is obvious and need not be stated, for certainly, if both wish, they may divide in the manner upon which they agreed. This law was stated here only because of the following law —

And

if they were partners in

sacred writings,

a Torah scroll, or Prophets and Writings written on parchment and attached together like a Torah scroll , then

even though both wish

to divide,

they shall not divide,

because cutting them is disgraceful .

Gemara:

Rabbi Asi said that Rabbi Yohanan said: The four cubits that they stated

in the Mishna, that they do not divide the courtyard unless a courtyard four cubits in size will remain in the possession of each one of them, those four cubits are

apart from the entranceways,

apart from four additional cubits that each one must have at the entrance to his house. That is to say: Reuven and Shimon, whose houses opened into one courtyard, were partners in that courtyard, and now one of them wishes to divide it. Four cubits must remain in the possession of each one of them in the courtyard, as explained in the Mishna, and besides this each one must have four additional cubits at the entrance to his house, so that he can unload the load from the donkey. It follows that one cannot compel the other to divide unless there are sixteen cubits in the courtyard, for after the division each one must have eight cubits: four cubits at the entrance to his house and four additional cubits in the courtyard.

It was also taught so: They do not divide the courtyard until there are eight cubits for this one and eight cubits for that one.

But

is

it not the case that we learned: Four cubits for this one and four

cubits for that one?

Rather, infer from this in accordance with Rabbi Asi,

that besides the four cubits discussed in the Mishna, each one must have four additional cubits at the entrance to his house—

infer from this!

And there are those who present it as an objection

who brought the words of Rabbi Asi as an answer to a question -

We learned

in our Mishna:

one does not divide the courtyard until there are four cubits for this one and four cubits for that one. And

it is difficult:

is

it not

taught

in a beraita that there must be

eight cubits for this one and eight cubits for that one?

And concerning this difficulty

Rabbi Asi said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan,

that

the four cubits that they said

in our Mishna means four cubits

apart from

four cubits

of the entrances

that each one requires at the entrance to his house.

Rav Huna said,

if one had a courtyard in which there were two houses, one house having two entrances while the other house had only one entrance, and he divided these houses among his sons and gave each one of them a house in the courtyard, but did not specify for them how they should divide the courtyard, then

the courtyard is divided according to its entrances.

The one who has two entrances in his house takes two-thirds of the courtyard, and the one whose house has one entrance takes one-third of the courtyard .

And Rav Hisda said

the courtyard is not divided according to its entrances; rather,

they give four cubits for each and every entrance .

At first, each one takes four cubits opposite the entrance to his house [these four cubits are only in length, meaning from the entrance to his house and farther into the courtyard, but the width of the area that he takes is according to the measure of the entrance, as explained later in the sugya ],

and they divide the remainder equally!

It was taught

in a beraita

in accordance with Rav Hisda —

the entrances in the courtyard have

for the owners of the entrances

four cubits

in the courtyard opposite the entrance to their house. And if

this one had one entrance and that one had two entrances, the one who has one entrance takes four cubits

opposite the entrance to his house,

and the one who has two entrances takes eight cubits,

four cubits opposite each entrance,

and they divide the remainder equally!

And if

this one

one of the owners of the houses

had an entrance eight cubits wide, he takes eight cubits opposite the entrance and four cubits in the courtyard.

And he asks:

What is the function of the four cubits in the courtyard?

He has already taken eight cubits opposite the entrance to his house.

Abaye said: This is what it means: he takes eight cubits along the length of the courtyard,

corresponding to the width of his courtyard entrance,

and

the length of those eight cubits is

four cubits in the width of the courtyard.

According to the law of every entrance that requires four cubits opposite it.

Ameimar said: This pit of date pits,

which was in his courtyard a pit in which date pits are placed as food for an animal , then

he has

the one in whose domain the pit is

four cubits

in the courtyard

on every side

of this pit , because together with this pit he also acquired four cubits around it, so that he would be able to approach this pit from every side .

And we said this

but this law does not apply

except

in a situation

where he does not designate an entrance for it,

where there is no special entrance in the house through which one goes out to this pit; rather, he goes out through the regular entrance and proceeds to that pit. Since this is so, he acquired four cubits around the pit on every side -

And the prophet continues: “

And the Lord said to the Satan: Behold, all that is his is in your hand; only against him,”

against Job himself,

do not

stretch forth your hand, and so on.

And it came to pass one day, and his sons and daughters

of Job

were eating and drinking wine in the house of their firstborn brother, and a messenger came to Job and said: The cattle were plowing

and the she-donkeys were grazing beside them.”

What is “The cattle were plowing and the she-donkeys were grazing beside them”?