Bava Batra 17a (יז.) — the Talmud in English

The Sages taught: The Holy One, blessed be He, allowed three people to experience in this world a taste of the World to Come:

They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And the Gemara explains: From where do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He, allowed

Abraham

to experience a taste of the World to Come?

As it is written concerning him: “

And the Lord blessed Abraham

with everything.”

And “with everything” includes a taste of the World to Come as well.

Likewise,

Isaac

was allowed by the Holy One, blessed be He, to experience a taste of the World to Come,

as it is written concerning him: “

And I eat

of everything.”

Likewise,

Jacob, as it is written concerning him: “

For I have

everything.”

Three were not ruled over by the evil inclination. They are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

For

it is

written concerning them

that they were blessed with “

everything, from everything, and having everything,”

as explained above. And since they were blessed with everything, we learn that they were also blessed in that they were not ruled over by the evil inclination.

And some say: David as well,

the king was not ruled over by the evil inclination.

As it is written

in Psalms [chapter 109]: “

And my heart is slain within me.”

The evil inclination is dead within me; it is therefore slain [dead] within me.

But the other one,

the one who holds that the evil inclination ruled over David—how does he interpret the verse, “And my heart is slain within me”?

He is recalling his suffering.

King David is expressing his pain and saying: My heart has died and become like a corpse within me, because of the abundance of troubles.

The Sages taught: Six were not ruled over by the Angel of Death,

but died by the death of a kiss at the word of the Divine Presence.

And they are: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

And the Gemara explains: From where do we know that the Angel of Death did not rule over

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

As it is written concerning them

that they were blessed with “

everything, from everything, and having everything,”

as explained above. From this verse we learn that all the blessing and all the honor in the world rested upon them. And from this we may infer that they died by the death of a kiss. For Moses, Aaron, and Miriam died by the death of a kiss, as will be explained below; and if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not die by the death of a kiss, it would follow that there is an honor in the world with which they were not honored.

And from where do we know that the Angel of Death did not rule over

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam?

As it is written concerning them

that they died

“at the word of the Lord,”

as it is stated with regard to Aaron [Numbers 33:38], “Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the word of the Lord and died there,” and with regard to Moses it is stated [Deuteronomy 33:5], “And Moses, servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab at the word of the Lord.”

And we raise an objection:

But with regard to Miriam it is not written, “at the word of the Lord,”

so from where do you learn that she died by a kiss?

Rabbi Elazar said: Miriam also died by a kiss, as it is derived

through a gzera shava,

“there” and “there” from Moses.

For at Moses’ death it is stated, “And Moses died there,” and likewise at Miriam’s death it is stated [Numbers 20:1], “And Miriam died there.” From this we learn: Just as Moses died by a kiss, so too Miriam died by a kiss.

And

if you ask,

Why was it not stated concerning her,

with regard to Miriam, that she died by a kiss

at the word of the Lord?

The answer is:

Because it would be degrading to say

that a woman died by a kiss at the word of the Lord.

The Sages taught: Seven were not ruled over by worms and maggots

after their deaths,

and they are Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and Benjamin, son of Jacob.

And the Gemara explains: From where do we know that worms and maggots did not rule over

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? As it is written

concerning them

that they were blessed with

everything, from everything, and having everything.

Included in this is the blessing that worms would not rule over them.

Likewise, worms did not rule over

Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, as it is written

concerning them

that their deaths were

“at the word of the Lord,”

and it was explained above that they died by a kiss. From this it follows that worms did not rule over them, for worms result from the bitter drop that drips from the knife of the Angel of Death. As explained in tractate Avoda Zara [20b], from that drop a person dies, from that same drop he decomposes, and because of it his face turns green. But they died by a kiss and not through the Angel of Death, and therefore worms and maggots did not rule over them.

And from where do we know that worms and maggots did not rule over

Benjamin, son of Jacob? As it is written: “

And concerning Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord shall dwell

securely beside Him.”

And this is how the verse is expounded: Benjamin shall dwell securely when he is close to the beloved relationship with the Divine Presence.

And some say: David as well

was not ruled over by worms and maggots,

as it is written

in Psalms [chapter 16]: “

Even my flesh shall dwell securely.”

But the other one,

the one who does not derive from this verse that worms and maggots did not rule over David—how does he interpret the verse?

That verse is a request for mercy.

In this verse David requested mercy that worms and maggots should not rule over him, but there is no proof from here that his prayer was accepted.

The Sages taught: Four

men were not at all deserving of death, because they had never sinned, and

died

only

because of the serpent,

on account of the curse with which the Holy One, blessed be He, cursed the offspring of the man who heeded the serpent’s counsel, at which point death was decreed upon the world.

And they are Benjamin, son of Jacob; Amram, the father of Moses; Jesse, the father of David; and Chileab, son of David.

And all of them,

all those listed above, have no source in the verses indicating that they died only because of the serpent; rather,

it is a tradition,

a received tradition that they had no sin and died because of the serpent,

except for Jesse, the father of David, concerning whom it is explicitly stated

in the verse

that he died only because of the serpent,

as it is written: “

And Absalom placed Amasa there instead of Joab over the army. And Amasa was the son of a man whose name was Ithra the Israelite, who had gone in to Abigail, daughter of Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, the mother of Joab.”

And this verse requires explanation:

But is

Abigail

the daughter of Nahash?

But she is the daughter of Jesse, as it is written

in Chronicles, where the verse lists the sons of Jesse and adds: “

And their sisters were Zeruiah and Abigail.”

It follows that Abigail was Jesse’s daughter.

Rather,

the verse means that Abigail was the

daughter

of

one who died because of the serpent.

From here it follows that Jesse died because of the serpent.

We will return to you, chapter HaShutafin.

One who has a courtyard or a field adjacent to the courtyard or field of another may not dig a pit near the boundary separating his domain from his fellow's domain, because by doing so he damages his fellow's pit, which he dug within his own domain.

The Gemara explains in what manner this prohibition applies: whether it is when he comes to dig after the other has already dug, or even when the other has not yet dug, since he has the possibility of digging, or whether the prohibition applies when both of them come to dig simultaneously.

Mishna:

A person may not dig a pit

in his own property,

near his fellow's pit

which is located in his fellow's property.

And not

dig

a trench,

a long or short excavation [a “trench” is like a pit, except that a “pit” is round, whereas a “trench” is long and narrow],

and not a covered cistern,

square and covered with a roof,

and not

channel the

water channel

near his fellow's pit, a ditch in the ground through which water flows from its source around the field and from one field to another,

and not

make a

launderer's pool,

a square excavation made in the ground into which rainwater collects, and in which garments are washed.

Unless:

a.

He distances

the excavation of his pit

three handbreadths from his fellow's wall.

The Gemara explains that he must distance his pit three handbreadths from the wall of his fellow's pit, and not merely from the cavity of the pit itself. Since the thickness of a pit's wall is three handbreadths, it follows that he must distance himself six handbreadths from the cavity of his fellow's pit: three handbreadths corresponding to the wall of his own pit, and another three handbreadths corresponding to the wall of his fellow's pit.

b.

And plaster it with lime,

he must plaster the inner walls of his pit, because the lime prevents the water in his pit from seeping through the walls into his fellow's pit.

The reason for distancing the pit and plastering it is because of “moisture,” the dampness of the water in the pit, which seeps through and damages the walls of his fellow's pit.

The Mishna now explains the law of distancing things that damage the walls of houses: a person must distance them, within his own property, from his fellow's walls [and from those located in his fellow's property].

And one distances olive waste,

the waste of olives after they have been crushed and pressed in the olive press; when this waste is gathered together, it emits a great deal of heat, and the heat can damage walls adjacent to it.

And

one distances

manure, salt, lime, and flints,

firestones from which fire emerges,

three handbreadths from his fellow's wall, and plasters it with lime.

Here the reference is to a brick wall built on the ground, and not to the wall of a pit in the ground. The reason one must distance all these things from his fellow's wall is that they emit vapor, meaning heat, which damages the wall.

One distances seeds, a plow, and urine three handbreadths from the wall.

All these damage the wall. Seeds do so by spreading, as their roots loosen the wall.

The plow damages it when it is struck against the ground, since the blows loosen the wall. Urine dissolves the bricks of the wall.

And one distances millstones

from the wall

three

handbreadths

from the lower stone, which are four from the upper stone.

The movement of the millstones shakes the ground and thereby loosens the foundations of the wall. Millstones are constructed of two parts, a lower and an upper one. The lower one is one handbreadth wider on each side than the upper one, which “rides” upon it. The lower one must be distanced three handbreadths from the wall, and it follows that the upper one is four handbreadths from the wall. The reason is that the upper part causes the damage: it is rotated, and the force of its impact shakes the ground beneath the wall. Therefore, the upper part of the millstone must be four handbreadths from the wall.

And an oven

must be distanced from the wall

three handbreadths from the base, which are four from the rim,

because the heat of the oven damages the wall.

The oven, too, is constructed of two parts. Its lower part is called the “base,” and serves as the foundation for its upper part, which is the main body of the oven. The base is one handbreadth wider on each side than the upper oven.

The base itself is sloped, wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, in accordance with the dimensions of the oven. One must distance oneself four handbreadths from the oven. Therefore, one must distance himself three handbreadths from the base, thereby distancing himself four handbreadths from the rim, which is the body of the oven.