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Bava Basra 80

BAVA BASRA 80 (28 Sivan) - dedicated to the memory of Hagaon Rav Yisroel Zev [ben Rav Avrohom Tzvi] Gustman ZT'L (author of "Kuntresei Shi'urim" and renowned Dayan of pre and post-war Vilna) on his Yahrzeit, by a number of students who merited to study under him: Harav Lazar Stern and Harav Zalman Stern of Brooklyn; Yechiel Wachtel and Michoel Star of Yerushalayim.

1) [line 1] PEIROS SHOVACH - the birds (lit. fruits) of the coop (i.e. the birds that will be produced by the birds presently there)

2) [line 1] MAFRI'ACH BREICHAH RISHONAH - he must let the first pair of pigeons that are born remain with its mother in the coop (O.F. covede - brood)

3) [line 2] PERIOS KAVERES - the bees (lit. fruits) of the bee-hive (i.e. the bees that will be produced by the bees presently there)

4) [line 2] NECHILIM - swarms of bees
5) [line 3] MESARES - (a) he castrates (the bees, in the manner that the Gemara will explain) (1st explanation of the Gemara); (b) he alternates (the swarms that he and the buyer receive) (2nd explanation of the Gemara)

6) [line 3] CHALOS DEVASH - honeycombs
7) [line 3] ZEISIM LAKOTZ - [one who buys] olive trees for the purpose of cutting them down

8) [line 4] GROFIYOS - the shoots [of an olive tree; the owner of the tree leaves two such shoots (the size of a fist) on his tree in order for them to sprout branches and grow new olives]

9) [line 6] D'MITZTAVTA A'BERATA V'A'ZUGA D'SHAVKINAN LAH - for it finds companionship with its daughter and with its mate that we leave for it (RASHBAM; see RASHBA for an alternative approach in the Gemara)

10) [line 12] B'CHARDAL - with mustard
11) [line 13] PIHEN CHAD - their mouths are sour/sharp [from the mustard]
12) [line 14] B'SEIRUS - in an alternating manner (see above, entry #5:b)

13) [line 16] EINO YOTZEI M'YDEI MA'ACHAL L'OLAM - it does not lose its status of a food item, forever (TUM'AS OCHLIN)
(a) All foods become Tamei if they touch a source of Tum'ah, but only after they first become wet. From then on, even after they dry, they can still become Tamei.
(b) Seven liquids can enable foods to become Tamei: water, dew, oil, wine, milk, blood, and honey.
(c) The minimum amount of food that can become Tamei is a k'Beitzah.
(d) According to Rav Kahana, honey, even while still in the honeycomb, is considered a food which can become Tamei

14) [line 17] LO BA'I MACHSHAVAH - it does not require Machshavah (TUM'AS OCHLIN: MACHSHAVAH)
In order for something edible to receive Tum'as Ochlin (see previous entry), it has to be considered as food. A person's intention to eat the item and treat it as a food gives it the status of a food and it can receive Tum'as Ochlin.

15) [line 17] V'LO MASHKEH - it does not have the status of a liquid to make other items Tamei with a Revi'is, or to become Tamei itself.

80b---------------------------------------80b

16) [line 1] KAVERES DEVORIM - a bee-hive (which is attached to the ground with clay or cement)

17) [line 1] HAREI HI K'KARKA - it has the status of "Karka," "land" (for example, with regard to which Kinyan acquires it; see Backround to Bava Metzia 99:12, and Bava Basra 44:7)

18) [line 2] KOSVIN ALEHA PRUZBUL - a Prozbul may be written on the basis of it (the bee-hive) (PRUZBUL - A document allowing the collections of loans after Shemitah)
(a) The Torah requires that all loans shall be canceled every seventh year, as it states in Devarim 15:2, "Shamot Kol Ba'al Masheh Yado" - "Every creditor who lends anything to his neighbor shall release it." To demand payment of a loan after the Shemitah year is a violation of the prohibition of "Lo Yigos Es Re'ehu v'Es Achiv" - "he shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother" (ibid.) Most Rishonim rule that the Shemitah year cancels loans at the *end* of the year, on the last day of the month of Elul. (RAMBAM Hilchos Shemitah v'Yovel 9:1-4).
(b) Hashmatas Kesafim applies mid'Oraisa only when the Yovel year is in practice. Mid'Rabanan it applies today, whether inside or outside of Eretz Yisrael.
(c) Hillel the Elder saw that people stopped giving loans when the Shemitah year was approaching out of fear that that they would not get their money back because the debt would be annulled by the Shemitah year. By doing so, they were transgressing an express command of the Torah *not* to refuse to lend money prior to Shemitah (Devarim 15:9). Hillel therefore instituted the "Pruzbul" (from the Greek "Pruz" = benefit; "Buli" = [for] the rich), effectively creating a means to avoid having Shemitah annul one's debts, as long as the borrower owns some land, even the smallest amount (Shevi'is 10:3,6).
(d) In a Pruzbul document, one files a contract with Beis Din, before the end of the Shemitah year, stating that he is placing all debts owed to him into the hands of the Beis Din to collect them for him (Shevi'is 10:4). By doing this, the creditor will not transgress the prohibition of "Lo Yigos" when he collects the loan after Shemitah, since he will not have to approach the borrower to collect the loan; Beis Din will take care of the collection and he will approach Beis Din. Beis Din, too, does not have to approach the borrower to collect the loan, since Beis Din can simply collect it themselves using their power of "Hefker Beis Din Hefker" (RASHI to Kesuvos 89a DH Pruzbul, to Gitin 32b DH Mosrani and to Bava Basra 27a DH Pruzbul). A Pruzbul only allows a person to collect the loan after Shemitah if the borrower has land. It is unusual for a person to lend money to a person without land, and the Rabanan did not institute the use of Pruzbul for unusual loans (RASHI to Gitin 37a DH Ela and to Bava Basra 27a DH Pruzbul). Alternatively, Pruzbul permits a person to collect a loan after Shemitah because the moment one allows Beis Din to collect his loans, it is as if they are already collected, and in his possession, immediately (since nothing can stop Beis Din from collecting the loan). This is also the reason the borrower must own land in order for Pruzbul to permit the collection of the loan. It is only if he has land that Beis Din can easily collect the loan. If the borrower only has movable possessions, it is possible for him to prevent Beis Din from collecting them by hiding them from Beis Din. Therefore they are not considered to have entered the creditor's possession until they are actually collected as payment. (RASHI to Bava Kama 12a DH Chal)

19) [line 2] EINAH MEKABELES TUM'AH BI'MEKOMAH - it does not become Tamei in its place (while it is attached to the ground)

20) [line 3] HA'RODEH MIMENAH B'SHABBOS CHAYAV CHATAS - one who detaches [honey] from it on Shabbos is obligated to bring a Korban Chatas (for the inadvertent transgression of the Melachah of Tolesh (uprooting a plant from the ground) on Shabbos)

21) [line 7] "VA'YITBOL OSAH B'YA'RAS HA'DEVASH" - "And [Yonasan] dipped it (his staff) in a honeycomb." (Shmuel I 14:27) - Since the expression for honeycomb, "Ya'ras ha'Devash" (lit. forest of honey), is unusual, Rebbi Eliezer compares it to a forest with regard to Hilchos Shabbos. Just like in a forest, where tearing a branch off a tree is prohibited, so, too, is detaching a honeycomb from the hive.

22) [line 13] KLI MA'US - a repugnant (dirty) utensil
23) [line 14] KASKASIN - flakes (of wood)
24) [line 23] MAGBI'AH MIN HA'KARKA TEFACH - he must raise the point at which he cuts the tree by one Tefach from the ground (in order to leave enough of the tree so that it regenerates)

25a) [line 24] BESULAS HA'SHIKMAH - a sycamore tree that has never been trimmed
b) [line 24] SEDEN HA'SHIKMAH - a thick sycamore tree that has been trimmed at least once

26a) [line 24] KANIM - reeds
b) [line 24] GEFANIM - grapevines
27) [line 24] HA'PEKAK - the knot, joint (in the reed or vine)
28a) [line 25] DEKALIM - date-palms
b) [line 25] ARAZIM - cedar trees
29) [line 25] CHOFER U'MESHARESH - he may dig down and uproot it
30) [line 25] EIN GIZ'AN MACHLIF - their stumps do not grow new stems that regenerate

31) [line 26] SHEVI'IS
(a) The Torah requires that farmers desist from working the land every seventh year, as described in Vayikra 25:1-7. The fruits that grow during the seventh (Shevi'is) year are holy to the extent that 1. they must be considered ownerless; anyone may come into any field and pick the fruit that he intends to eat. 2. The fruits may not be bought and sold in a normal fashion (see Insights to Sukah 39:2). 3. The Torah requires that the fruits of Shevi'is be used only for eating or drinking (in the normal manner of eating for that type of fruit) or for burning to provide light (in the case of oil). They may not be wasted or used for medicinal purposes or animal fodder, etc.
(b) One may not do any work with the land or with trees growing from the land that makes improvements.
(c) The Shemitah year is meant to teach the Jewish people to rely on HaSh-m for their sustenance, a fact that is not always clear to them during the six years in which they work their own fields.

32) [line 27] GOMEM ME'IM HA'ARETZ - he may raze it entirely from the ground
33) [line 28] MA'ALI LAH - it is good for the tree (and improves it)
34) [line 29] MI'KAN V'EILACH - from here on (from the ground level until 3 Tefachim; see RASHBAM)

35) [line 32] "TZADIK KA'TAMAR YIFRACH, K'EREZ BA'LEVANON YISGEH." - "A righteous man will flourish like a date-palm, like a cedar in the Levanon he will grow." (Tehilim 92:13)

36) [line 32] ASARAH MINEI ARAZIM HEN - there are ten types of trees that are called Erez. (These trees are similar to a cedar tree in that the central trunk grows straight, the branches spread out without bending, and the leaves point upwards. As such, the cedar is a symbol of pride and haughtiness -- Ta'anis 20a and elsewhere)

37) [line 38] "ETEN BA'MIDBAR EREZ SHITAH VA'HADAS V'ETZ SHEMEN; ASIM BA'ARAVAH BEROSH TIDHAR U'SE'ASHUR YACHDAV." - "I will put in the desert the cedar tree, pine, myrtle and balsam tree; I will place in the valley the box-wood tree, the fir, and the cypress together." (Yeshayah 41:20)

38) [line 39] ARZA - (O.F. chesne) cedar tree
39) [line 39] TURNISA - (O.F. pin) pine tree
40) [line 39] ASA - myrtle tree
41) [line 39] AFARSEMA - the balsam tree
42) [line 40] BERASEI - (O.F. buis) the box-wood tree
43) [line 40] SHA'AGA - (O.F. sap) the fir-tree
44) [line 40] SHURIVNA - either the ebony, the box-wood or the cypress tree
45) [last line] ALONIM; BUTNEI/BUTMEI - (O.F. olme) the elm tree
46) [last line] ALMONIM; BELUTEI - (O.F. chesne) the oak tree [that produces acorns (O.F. glant)]

47) [last line] ALMOGIM; KASITA - (O.F. coral) coral, a hard red, pink, or white substance that is built by tiny sea creatures (the Gemara presumably refers to this as a type of cedar because of the shape of its growth and its strength; see above, entry #36)

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