Bava Batra 75b — the Talmud in English

And

this is what he said

to him:

“I looked at you” ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location")

“and I imposed”

a punishment of

“death upon the first man.”

Now the Gemara returns to explain the verse in Isaiah that speaks of the canopies in which the righteous will merit in the future, and at the beginning of the verse it is said: “And the Lord will create over every dwelling-place of Mount Zion and over its convocations a cloud by day,” etc.

And we explain:

What is the meaning of “and over its convocations,”

which the verse says?

Rabba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan:

In the World to Come, only those invited and designated for Jerusalem will enter it.

For

not like

the

Jerusalem of this world,

so is

the Jerusalem of the World to Come.

In

the Jerusalem of this world, everyone who wishes to ascend

and enter it—

ascends

and no one prevents him.

But Jerusalem

of the World to Come, one does not ascend

to it

except those designated for it,

as it is said: “And over its convocations”—those invited and designated for it will enter and merit all those canopies of honor that the verse enumerated; but whoever is not invited to enter will not ascend to it.

And Rabba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: In the future the righteous will

be

called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He.

As it is said

Isaiah 43:7]:

“Everyone who is called by My name and for My glory, I created him, I formed him, indeed I made him.”

And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: Three were called

by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and these are they: the righteous, the Messiah, and Jerusalem,

and he proceeds to explain it:

1.

The righteous

were called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,

as we said,

as it is said: “Everyone who is called by My name and for My glory,” etc.

2.

The Messiah

was called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,

as it is written [(

Jeremiah 23:5–6)]: “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous sprout, and he shall reign as king and prosper, and shall perform justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely,

and this is his name by which he shall be called: The Lord is our righteousness.”

3.

Jerusalem

was called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be He,

as it is written [(

Ezekiel 48:30)]: “And these are the exits of the city: from the northern side, four thousand five hundred measure.” [The length of the northern side of the city of Jerusalem will be four thousand five hundred “reeds”; each “reed” is six cubits.] And likewise the length of the eastern, southern, and western sides of the city will each be four thousand five hundred reeds.

And it is written [there, verse 35]:

“Around,”

the circumference of the entire city,

“eighteen thousand”

reeds,

“and the name of the city from the day”

from that day,

“the Lord is there.” Do not read “shamah” [(

with the shin bearing a kamatz)],

but rather

the

“Lord is there” [(

with the shin vocalized with a sheva)].

Rabbi Elazar said: In the future the righteous will have “Holy” said before them,

the angels will say “Holy” concerning them and before them,

in the manner in which

the angels say “Holy”

before the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said [(

Isaiah 4:3)]:

“And it shall be that whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem, ‘Holy’ shall be said of him.”

And Rabba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will raise Jerusalem three parasangs upward,

for benefit and distinction,

as it is said [(

Zechariah 14:10), concerning Jerusalem]:

“And it shall rise up and remain in its place,”

Jerusalem will rise and remain “in its place,” and he proceeds to explain it:

What

does

“in its place” mean?

Like its place—

just as “its place,” the site of Jerusalem, was three parasangs, so Jerusalem will rise and be three parasangs high.

The Gemara asks:

And from where,

from where do you know,

that this “in its place”

indeed

was three parasangs?

He said,

he replied,

Rabba: A certain old man said to me,

that old man:

“I myself saw the original Jerusalem,

the ancient one,

and it was three parasangs.”

The Gemara adds:

And perhaps you will say,

if Jerusalem is so high above all its surroundings, then

there is distress in ascending

to it, and what importance is there in its height!?

The verse teaches us.

One must learn from Scripture that at that time they will be able to ascend to Jerusalem without exertion, as it is said [Isaiah 60:8]:

“Who are these, like a cloud

like a cloud

that fly,

with ease,

and like doves

returning

to their dovecotes?”

Rav Pappa said: Learn from this:

from the fact that Scripture compared the cloud to the ascent toward the height of Jerusalem, one must learn:

this cloud

a cloud

rises three parasangs

from the earth.

Above, the Gemara discussed the height of Jerusalem in the future; now it explains the measure of its breadth:

Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa said: The Holy One, blessed be He, sought to give Jerusalem,

so that it would be

measured

and bounded,

as it is said [(

Zechariah 2:5–6)]: “And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man [an angel], with a measuring cord in his hand.

And I said, ‘Where are you going?’ And he said to me, ‘To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long.’”

The ministering angels said before the Holy One, blessed be He: “Master of the world, many cities have You created in Your world belonging to the nations, and You did not give the measure of their length and the measure of their width; Jerusalem, within which is Your name, within which is Your Sanctuary, and within which are the righteous—You give

it a measure!?”

Immediately

it is said [there, verses 7–8]: “And behold, the angel speaking with me [the one who had the measuring cord] went out, and another angel went out to meet him.

And he said to him, ‘Run, speak to this lad,’

the prophet Zechariah,

‘saying, “Jerusalem shall dwell as open cities, because of the multitude of man and beast within it.”’”

Just as “open cities,” cities without a wall, have no limit to the construction of their settlement, but as much as people wish, they build, so will Jerusalem be.

Reish Lakish said: In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will add to Jerusalem:

One thousand tafaf gardens,

there will be many gardens in it, corresponding to one thousand times the numerical value of tafaf.

2. And likewise

one thousand kefel towers,

there will be two hundred and ten thousand towers in it, corresponding to one thousand times the numerical value of kefel.

3. And likewise

one thousand litzui citadels,

there will be one hundred forty-six thousand citadels in it, corresponding to one thousand times the numerical value of litzui.

4. And likewise

one thousand and two shila totfaraot,

there will be three hundred forty-five thousand six hundred ninety totfaraot [they are smaller than citadels] in it, corresponding to one thousand and two times the numerical value of shila .

And each and every one

of them

will be

will be

like

the city

of Tzippori in

the time of

its tranquility.

And how large was “Tzippori in its tranquility”?

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yose said: I saw

the

city of Tzippori in its tranquility, and there were in it one hundred eighty thousand markets of sellers of cooked-dish paste,

a type of food; and from this you may infer how large the city of Tzippori was.

It is said in Ezekiel’s prophecy [41:6]:

“And the side chambers, chamber upon chamber, three and thirty times.”

And we explain:

What is the meaning of “three and thirty times”?

Rabbi Levi said—and some say, Rav Pappi said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin: If there are three Jerusalems, each and every one of them has thirty chambers above. [

If the Jerusalem of the future will be greater in its length than the Jerusalem that already existed by a factor of three, then in every house there will be thirty chambers, stories, one above another, because of the multitude of people who will be in it —Rashbam. [Apparently “its length” is not specifically intended, for presumably its length and breadth are equal; if so, the two calculations are not equal, and perhaps the reference is to the area of Jerusalem.] The Maharsha wrote: the three Jerusalems correspond to the Jerusalem of the future and the two others corresponding to the two Jerusalems that were destroyed in this world; and the thirty chambers above will be considered like the constellations, which have thirty degrees, as we say in Berakhot 32a. And the Ritva wrote: “If there are thirty Jerusalems,” meaning that it will have below thirty large districts, there will be three chambers in one of them —Rabbenu Gershom.]

as the Jerusalem that already existed, then every house will have thirty chambers, or stories, one above the other, because of the great number of people who will be in it.

And

if there are thirty Jerusalems, each and every one of them has three chambers above. [

And if the Jerusalem of the future will be greater in its length by a factor of thirty than the Jerusalem that already existed, then in every house there will be three chambers, one above the other.]

We learned in the Mishna: “One who sells a ship,” etc.

It was stated:

One who sells the

ship,

and the buyer comes to acquire it through the acquisition of pulling: how much must he pull it for the ship to be acquired by him?

Rav said: Once he has pulled

the ship

any amount,

then he has

acquired it,

and he cannot retract.

And Shmuel said: He did not acquire it

by a slight pulling of the ship,

until he pulls all of it,

until he uproots it entirely from the place where it had initially been, and it turns out that he pulled it the full measure of its width, so that the end of the ship comes to the place where its front had initially stood.

The Gemara asks:

Let us say,

is it possible to say that the dispute between Rav and Shmuel is

like

the dispute of

the tannaim

in the following beraita?

In tractate Kiddushin [25b] we learned: A large animal is acquired by “delivery,” and a small animal is acquired by “pulling

” For it was taught:

How

does one acquire a large animal

by

the acquisition of

“delivery”?

The purchaser grasps it

the purchaser, at the instruction of the seller,

by its hoof

its leg.

The first way: The Jerusalem Talmud was uncertain whether it is possible to divorce a woman by acquiring the bill of divorce for her through an acquisition, without placing the bill of divorce in her hand. [By means of acquisition by “delivery,” it certainly is not considered that the bill of divorce is “in her hand,” since she grasps only part of it and it is not entirely in her hand.] The second way: It is certain that it must be actually in her hand, as the Ran wrote plainly at the beginning of chapter “The One Who Throws”; rather, just as concerning delivery of an animal, when she grasps its hair or the halter tied to it, it is considered as though she is actually grasping part of the animal, so too with a bill of divorce, having the edge of the bill of divorce in her hand is effective, because acquisition by delivery is considered to be actually in his hand—or perhaps concerning divorce it is required that the bill of divorce be entirely in her hand—according to the responsa of Rabbi Akiva Eger [first series 222:23]. See what he wrote about this in “Eilat HaShahar.” [And Rabbi Yosef Migash (76a) wrote that the reason delivery is effective in the public domain is that it is like one who holds it in his hand; see there and in the commentary of Rabbenu Gershom 76b.] F. The Rosh wrote: We find acquisition by delivery with movable objects only with a ship and living creatures, because their delivery is like pulling, for when he grasps the ship by a rope and moves it even slightly, it goes by his force across the water; therefore, even if it did not move at all, he acquires it by delivery. And likewise with living creatures; but other movable objects are not acquired by delivery. [According to this reasoning, one must consider whether “delivery” is effective with a wagon and the like, which moves on its wheels through even a slight movement of the rope.] And Ritva wrote: Delivery was stated only for objects that are heavy even to pull, such as a ship or a large animal, and similarly objects that are very heavy, for according to some of my teachers their law is certainly like that of a ship; and even concerning these there are those who disagree and hold that it is specifically a ship, which is not normally moved onto dry land, or a large animal that drags its feet. And the Ran brought a third method: Delivery acquires in the public domain with every object, provided that it is not normally lifted, for anything that is normally lifted is acquired only by lifting; but since this is not normally lifted, even though it is normally pulled, it is acquired in the public domain by delivery. Since pulling does not acquire in the public domain, they did not trouble him to remove it from the public domain to a side-street. [The last two methods were brought by Ramban, s.v. “If”; see there Tosafot (s.v. “If”) hold that delivery is only with a ship and living creatures it is explained in Rashbam (76b, s.v. “And he said to me”) that delivery acquires with the paper of a document; and see what Rashash wrote (75b at the end of the page, 76a on s.v. “And documents”)]. Or the purchaser grasps it

by its hair,

or

by the saddle upon it,

or

by the load

cargo

upon it,

or

by the bridle

bridle

that is in its mouth,

or

by the bell

bell

that is on its neck,

in all these cases—

he acquires it

the purchaser, even though he did not move it from its place.

And

how

does one acquire a small animal

by

the acquisition of

“pulling”?

He calls it,

the animal,

and it comes

to him, and thereby he acquires it, even though he did not touch it; rather, the animal came to him of its own will.

Or,

and likewise, in a situation

that

he

struck it,

he hit it

with a stick, and

because of the blow, the animal

ran

ran

before him,

once it uprooted

itself, and even if it uprooted only

one

hand

and one foot,

one,

he acquired it

the purchaser.

Rabbi Aḥai

disagrees, and

some say [

there are those who say: It is not Rabbi Aḥai who disagrees here, but rather

Rabbi Aḥa

is the one who disagrees and

says:

It is not sufficient to uproot one hand and one foot in order to acquire it, and he does not acquire it

until it walks the full measure of its height,

that is, until it uproots two hands and two feet.

And now the Gemara explains how the dispute of the amoraim is to be connected to the dispute of the tannaim:

Let us say,

shall we say:

Rav,

who holds that concerning pulling a ship it is sufficient to pull any amount, is

the one who says,

who holds concerning pulling an animal that it is sufficient for it to uproot one hand and one foot,

like

the words of

the first tanna.

And

likewise let us say:

Shmuel,

who holds concerning a ship that it is necessary to pull all of it, is

the one who says,

who holds

like

the view of

Rabbi Aḥa,

that concerning pulling an animal, he does not acquire it until it walks the full measure of its height.

And we reject this: There is no necessity to connect the dispute of the amoraim to the dispute of the tannaim. Rather, one may say that the words of the Sages are also compatible with Shmuel’s words concerning a ship, and Rabbi Aḥa’s words are also compatible with Rav’s words.

He said

he will answer,

Rav will say to you: I, who say

concerning a ship that once he pulls any amount he acquires it, can say this

even according to the

view of

Rabbi Aḥa.

For

Rabbi Aḥa said only thus far

that he does not acquire it until it walks the full measure of its height,

only with living creatures,

since

even though it uprooted

the animal

one hand and one foot,

it still

stands in its place [

it remains standing in its place].

But a ship,

for

once it moves slightly,

immediately—

all of it moves [

when a small part of the ship moves from its place, the entire ship moves and is pulled from its place]. Therefore, although with living creatures Rabbi Aḥa holds that one does not acquire it by uprooting one hand and one foot, but only by uprooting two hands and two feet, with a ship Rabbi Aḥa can hold like Rav, that pulling any amount is sufficient with a ship.

And

likewise

Shmuel will say,

he will answer you:

I, who say

concerning a ship that he does not acquire it until he pulls all of it, can say this

even according to

the view of

the first tanna.

For

the first tanna said only:

Once it uprooted one hand and one foot, he acquires it,

only with living creatures,

for

with living creatures,

once

there have been uprooted

one hand and one foot

of the animal,

the other,

the rest of the animal,

stands ready to be uprooted,

for it is entirely poised to be uprooted by this, and therefore the matter is considered as though the entire animal had already been uprooted from its place.

But a ship,

for when he uproots it partially, it does not on its own stand ready to be entirely uprooted from its place. Therefore,

if he pulls it

it

entirely—

yes,

the ship is indeed acquired by him. But

if he does not

pull all of it,

no,

he does not acquire it. But with living creatures, immediately when part of it is uprooted, it is as though all of it has been uprooted, and he acquires it, even though it has still uprooted only one hand and one foot.

And the Gemara discusses:

Let us say,

shall we say that the dispute between Rav and Shmuel is

like

the dispute of

these tannaim

below:

For it was taught

in a beraita:

A ship is acquired by

the acquisition of

pulling.

A. A person may sell or give as a gift to others a debt that so-and-so owes him, and from the moment that he transfers the debt to him, the debtor becomes obligated to repay his debt to that person.

B. It is possible to sell or give both a loan documented in a document and an oral loan. When a person sells or gives his fellow a debt document in order to transfer to him the document and the debt written in it, this is called transferring to him “documents

” C. Tannaim disputed how “documents” are transferred, and below in the Gemara the methods concerning this will be explained.

Rabbi Natan says: A ship and “documents”—

are acquired by pulling ![](pamud.bmp "(

exact location of the page)")

and by a document,

that he writes for him a deed of sale concerning them; and he proceeds to explain it.