Bava Metzia 29b — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara explains: that which we learned in our Mishna, “they were lost”—this means

according to

the words of

Rabba:

For Rabba said concerning that which we learned in the beraita: the inhabitants of the city who sent their half-shekels to the Temple, and they were stolen or lost.

«Были украдены» — имеется в виду, что они были украдены

“They were stolen”—

the reference is that they were stolen

by armed bandits,

which is coercion.

“They were lost”—

this means

that his ship sank in the sea,

which is complete coercion.

Here too, in our Mishna, that which we learned, “they were lost,” means that they were lost through coercion.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Shmuel: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Tarfon.

были

In the possession

of

Rabba [

the name of a person ],

there was that money of orphans

[money belonging to minor orphans had been deposited with him].

He came before Rav Yosef. He said to him,

he asked him:

What is the ruling concerning using them

[may I use this money]?

He said to him: Thus said Rav Yehuda in the name of Shmuel: The halakha is in accordance with Rabbi Tarfon,

who says that one may use the money of a lost item. And if so, the same law applies to this money, which you are guarding for the orphans.

Abaye said to him: But

did they

not say concerning it,

concerning this halakha:

Rabbi Helbo said in the name of Rav Huna: They taught

that it is permitted to use them

only with the money of

a lost item,

when he found a lost item, dealt with it in accordance with the enactment of the Sages, and ultimately sold it, since

because he toiled with it

they permitted him to use the money.

But the money of a lost item,

when he found the money itself, in a manner that obligates him to announce it,

since he did not toil with it—

he may not

use it.

And

behold,

these,

the money of the orphans deposited with Rabba—

are like money of a lost item,

since he did not toil with it!

Rav Yosef said to him,

to Rabba:

Go

[go]

! They did not allow me to permit it for you

[they did not allow me to permit it for you].

Mishna:

If

one finds

a person

books, he reads in them

the finder

once

every thirty days

[once in thirty days]. And he should conduct himself in this manner continually, until he returns them to their owners. Because books, if they are not opened from time to time, become moldy.

And if he does not know how to read

in books—

he rolls them

[all the books in their days were made as scrolls, like our Torah scrolls, and therefore the tanna used the expression “he rolls them”], from their beginning to their end, so that air will enter them, and he does so once every thirty days.

And that which we learned, “he reads in them,” means for the benefit of the books, as was explained. Therefore, he must exercise care when he reads in them, so that they are not damaged. Therefore:

But he may not study in them at first,

so that he should not study in them something that he is now learning for the first time, because we are concerned that, since he needs to examine the matter carefully, he will leave the book open before him for a long time, and the book may be damaged.

And

likewise

he may not read

a person

with another person

in the book. For we are concerned that one of them will pull the book in order to bring it closer to his side, so that he can look into it carefully, and the other will pull it toward the other side, and through this the book will be torn.

If he finds a garment, he shakes it out once every thirty days,

so that the dust that has accumulated in it will come out.

And

likewise

he spreads it out,

so that air will enter it—and it will not decay, and moths will not eat it.

And he should do this only

for its sake, but he may not

spread it out

for his honor,

to display the garment and derive honor from doing so.

If he finds

silver vessels and copper vessels,

whose law is that they must be preserved in the ground, as will be explained below in the Gemara,

he uses them

from time to time

for their needs,

so that they will not become moldy in the ground.

But he may not

use them for a long period, sufficient

to wear them out

through excessive use.

If he finds

gold vessels and glass vessels,

even though these too are to be preserved in the ground,

he may not touch them

any longer after he buries them—

until Elijah comes.

And the reason is: with gold vessels, he may not touch them because they do not become moldy in the ground. And with glass vessels, he may not touch them because we are concerned that they may break through use.

If he finds a sack or a basket

[a large basket],

and anything that it is not his practice to carry

in public even for his own needs, because he is an important person and it is degrading for him—

behold,

this

person

is exempt from the mitzva of returning a lost item in such a case, and

he may not take

the lost item.

And he does not transgress on account of “you may not disregard,” as the Gemara will learn below from what is stated concerning returning a lost item, “and you disregard it,” which implies: sometimes you disregard it.

Gemara:

Shmuel said: One who finds phylacteries in the marketplace estimates

[appraises]

their value

of the phylacteries and sells them,

and places them

[the money] in his possession until he finds their owners. And the finder may sell them

immediately,

at once after finding them, and need not wait at all.

Ravina raised an objection

from our Mishna:

If he finds books—

he reads in them once every thirty days.

And if he does not know how to read

in them—

he rolls them.

It follows that specifically

to roll them—

yes,

it is permitted. But

he estimates their value and places them—

no,

rather, he must guard them for their owners!

Abaye said:

The law of phylacteries differs from the law of books, because

phylacteries

in

the house of Bar Ḥavu

[in the house of Bar Ḥavu, where they made and sold phylacteries ]—

are readily available

[they are common], and therefore the finder need not guard the phylacteries for their owners, since he can easily purchase other phylacteries for himself with the money.

But

books—

are not readily available,

and it is difficult to obtain them; therefore, the finder must care for them and guard them, so that their owners can receive them as they are.

The Sages taught: One who borrows a Torah scroll from another may not lend it to another

[the entire beraita will be explained below in the Gemara].

He opens it and reads in it, provided that he does not study in it at first, and

also

another person may not read with him.

And likewise, one who deposits a Torah scroll with another rolls it once every twelve months. He opens it and reads in it.

If he opened it for his own sake—

it is forbidden.

Sumakhos says: With

a

new

book—he rolls it every

thirty days.

But

with

a

worn

book—he rolls it every

twelve months.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Both this and that,

whether new or worn, he rolls it every

twelve months.

The Master said: One who borrows a Torah scroll from another may not lend it to another.

And we raised a question about it:

Why specifically

did the tanna teach this

with regard to a Torah scroll,

that he may not lend it to another?

Even any item as well

he may not lend to another!

For Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said

in tractate Gittin, with regard to the Mishna taught there: “One who sends a divorce document in the Land of Israel may send it through another. But if he said to him, ‘Take a certain object from her,’ he may not send it through another, because he does not want his deposit to be in the possession of another”:

Here,

in this Mishna,

Rabbi

taught

us

[who compiled the Mishnayot] that

a borrower is not permitted to lend

to another,

and a renter is not permitted to rent

to another without the owner’s permission, because a person does not want his deposit to be in the possession of another!

And the Gemara explains: Indeed, with regard to every item, a person does not want his deposit to be in the possession of another. Nevertheless, the tanna of the beraita needed

a Torah scroll—

it was necessary for him

to teach us that even it is forbidden to lend to another.

For

lest you say:

Behold,

a person is pleased that a mitzva be performed with his property

[a person is pleased that a mitzva be performed with his property], and if so, he is pleased that others study from his book—

it teaches us

that we do not say this with regard to a Torah scroll, since it is liable to be damaged through smudging and tearing.

We further learned in the beraita:

He opens it and reads in it.

And we wondered:

Is this obvious?

That the borrower can read in the book

! If so, for what purpose did he borrow it from him

if not in order to read in it? And the Gemara explains: Indeed, this matter is obvious, but

the latter clause was necessary for him

to teach us something new:

provided that he does not study in it at first

[that he does not study new subjects in it, as was explained above].

We further learned in the beraita:

And likewise, one who deposits a Torah scroll with another, he rolls it

the depositary

once every twelve months; he opens it and reads in it.

The Gemara now assumes that that which we learned, “he opens it and reads in it,” is for his own needs. For with regard to the needs of the book, we already learned that he rolls it once every twelve months. Therefore, we wondered:

What business does it have with him

[what is the book doing with him], and how is it permitted for him to read in it for his own needs?

And furthermore,

what is meant by that which is taught later in the beraita:

If for his own sake

[for his own needs]

he opened it—

it is forbidden; you said

earlier that the depositary

opens it and reads in it!

And the Gemara explains:

This is what he is saying:

He rolls it once every twelve months for the sake of the book. And

if, when he rolls it

for the sake of the book,

he opens it and reads in it

incidentally—

it is permitted.

But

if

only

for his own sake,

for his own needs,

he opened it

initially—

it is forbidden

to read in it.

Later in the beraita we learned that

Sumakhos

disputes the first tanna, and

says: With

a book that is

new—

he rolls it every

thirty days,

whereas

with

a book that is

worn—

he rolls it every

twelve months.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Both this and that,

whether new or worn, he rolls it every

twelve months.

And we wondered: The words of

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov—

are they

like the words of

the first tanna!

For the first tanna also said that he rolls it once every twelve months!

Rather, say

it as follows:

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Both this and that—

he rolls it once every

thirty

days.

We learned in our Mishna:

“But he may not study in it initially, nor may another read along with him.”

And he raises a contradiction:

one who finds a scroll,

may not read

in it

a passage—

and repeat it

again, because in that way he leaves the scroll before him for a long time.

Nor may he read a passage in it—

and translate it

for the same reason, because he leaves the scroll before him.

And he may not open it to more than three pages.

And three people may not read in it in one volume.

It follows:

two,

may read

in it together! Yet in our Mishna we learned that another may not read along with him!

Abaye said: It is not difficult: Here,

what we learned in our Mishna, that he may not have even one other person read along with him, refers to a case where both of them are reading

the same matter

[in one passage], and therefore even when only one other person reads along with him, there is concern that he will tear the scroll.

But

here,

in the beraita,

it refers

to their reading

two matters,

where each one reads on a different page; therefore, with two there is no concern that he will tear it, and only with three do we have concern.

We learned in our Mishna:

“If he found a garment, he shakes it out once every thirty days.”

And we raised a difficulty concerning it: From the fact that the Sages required him to shake it out,

does this mean,

it follows,

that shaking it out is beneficial

[effective]

for it,

for the cloak?

But Rabbi Yohanan said: One who has a skilled weaver

[a weaver]

inside his house,

who can weave new cloaks for him every day,

should shake out his garment every day!

That is, Rabbi Yohanan came to teach us that shaking out damages the cloak!

The Gemara answers this question with four answers:

a.

They say: If he shakes it out

every day,

it is difficult for it,

and Rabbi Yohanan spoke of such a case.

But if he shakes it out

once every thirty days,

it is beneficial for it,

as our Mishna states.

b.

Alternatively, it is not difficult. This,

what we learned—that shaking it out is good for the cloak—refers to

one

[one person] who shakes it out alone; in that case the shaking does not tear the cloak.

But this

which Rabbi Yohanan said, that shaking it out is difficult for it, refers to

two

[two people] who hold it at its two sides and shake it out. In that case they stretch it too much and damage it.

c.

Alternatively, it is not difficult. This

what we learned—that shaking it out is good for it—refers to his shaking it out

by hand

[with his hand].

But this

which Rabbi Yohanan said, that shaking it out is difficult for it, refers to his shaking it out

with a stick

[with a staff], as this damages it.

d.

Alternatively, it is not difficult. This

which Rabbi Yohanan said, that shaking it out is difficult for it, refers

to

a

cloak

of wool

[made of wool], for shaking it out damages it, since it is stretched and torn.

And

this

which we learned in the beraita, that shaking it out is good for it, refers

to a

cloak

of linen

[made of cotton].

Since the Gemara mentioned Rabbi Yohanan’s statement that one should not shake out his cloaks frequently, which concerns the laws of proper conduct, the Gemara brings further statements of Rabbi Yohanan concerning these matters:

Rabbi Yohanan said:

It is preferable to drink

a cup of sorcery,

belonging to witches,

rather than

to drink

a cup of lukewarm water

[a cup of lukewarm water], which is dangerous and liable to harm the body.

And

what we said, that lukewarm water is harmful,

we said it

only

when it is placed

in metal vessels. But

if it is

in earthenware vessels—

we have no concern

[there is no concern in this].

And

even if it is

in metal vessels as well, we said

that it is harmful

only when it was not heated

[when they did not previously boil it].

But when it was heated—

we have no concern.

And

even when it is in metal vessels and was not heated,

we said

that it is harmful

only when he did not put herbs in it

[when he did not put into it any of the things placed in liquids, herbs or spices or aromatic roots].

But

if he

put herbs in it—

we have no concern.

And

further,

Rabbi Yohanan said: One whose father left him a great deal of money—

and who wishes to squander it,

should conduct himself as follows:

He should wear linen garments,

and use glass vessels,

and hire workers and not sit with them.

Rabbi Yohanan wished to teach us through his words that a person should not accustom himself to these things, because through them he will lose great wealth in a short time.

And now the Gemara explains these matters:

What Rabbi Yohanan said,

“He should wear linen garments,”

means

in

garments of

Roman linen,

linen garments that come from Rome, whose price is high and which wear out quickly.

And what he said,

“He should use glass vessels,”

means

white glassware

[white glass, whose price is high and which breaks easily].

And

what he said,

“He should hire workers and not sit with them,”