(Permission is granted to print and redistribute this material
as long as this header and the footer at the end are included.)


REVIEW QUESTIONS ON GEMARA AND RASHI

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

Previous daf

Bava Basra 56

BAVA BASRA 56 (4 Sivan) - Dedicated by Rabbi Kornfeld's father, Mr. David Kornfeld, in memory of the members of his family who perished at the hands of the Nazi murderers in the Holocaust and whose Yahrzeit is observed today: his mother (Mirel bas Yakov Mordechai), brothers (Shraga Feivel, Aryeh Leib and Yisachar Dov, sons of Mordechai), grandfather (Reb Yakov Mordechai ben Reb David [Shpira]) and aunt (Charne bas Yakov Mordechai [wife of Reb Moshe Aryeh Cohen]).

1)

(a) We ask what the Din will be if, according to Rebbi Yochanan who said 'ha'Meitzar ve'ha'Chatzav Mafsikin be'Nechsei ha'Ger', there is no Meitzar or Chaztav.
What is the She'eilah?

(b) Why do we not simply give the Shiur as two rows of furrows, like Rav Papa explained earlier according to Rav?

(c) What Shiur does Rebbi Merinus give in the name of Rebbi Yochanan (in answer to our She'eilah)?

(d) How does Rav Papa define this further?

2)
(a) We already learned that Yehoshua used the Chatzav to divide Eretz Yisrael.
What sort of division are we talking about?

(b) Why did he use specifically the Chatzav for this purpose?

3)
(a) What did Rav Yehudah Amar Rav (who also made the previous statement) say about ...
  1. ... the cities that Yehoshua listed in his Seifer? How does he categorize them?
  2. ... the Keini, Kenizi and Kadmoni? What does he derive from the Pasuk in ve'Zos ha'Berachah "Zos ha'Aretz Asher Nishba'ati"?
(b) According to Rebbi Meir, these three nations are equivalent to Naftucha, Arva'ah and Shalma'ah; and according to Rebbi Shimon, they are Ardiskis, Asya and Aspamya (usually translated as Spain).
What does Rebbi Yehudah say?

(c) The exemption of these three countries from Ma'asros might refer to any of them that were captured after the death of Yehoshua.
What else might it refer to?

(d) Why does Rav not also preclude the Refa'im, who like the Keini, Kenizi and Kadmoni, are mentioned in connection with the promise given to Avraham Avinu?

4)
(a) What does our Mishnah say about two witnesses who testify that Reuven established a Chazakah by eating the Peiros of Shimon's field, who then became Zomemin?

(b) And what happens in a case where three pairs of witnesses testified the same thing, one each year?

(c) What does the Tana mean when he says that three brothers who testified on the three years of Reuven's Chazakah, each of whom was paired by a second witness ...

  1. ... 'Harei Eilu Shalosh Iduyos'?
  2. ... 've'Hein Eidus Achas le'Hazamah'?
Answers to questions

56b---------------------------------------56b

5)

(a) What did Rebbi Yochanan ben Nuri reply, when Rebbi Chalafta asked him what the Din will be if three pairs of witnesses testify that Reuven ate the fruits of Shimon's field (thereby establishing a Chazakah) for three consecutive years (one pair each year)?

(b) What did Rebbi Chalafta (some reverse the names) reply? What did Rebbi Akiva say?

(c) What does this have to do with our Mishnah?

(d) Who was Rebbi Chalafta?

6)
(a) We initially suggest that the Rabbanan learn from 'Davar ve'Lo Chatzi Davar' to disqualify witnesses one of whom testifies to one hair on a girl's back, and the other to one on her stomach (see Sugya Nidah 52b).
On what grounds do we refute this explanation?

(b) So what *do* the Rabbanan learn from 'Davar'?

(c) Why does this case fall under the category of 'Chatzi Eidus' more than the case in our Mishnah (which Rebbi Akiva disputes)?

(d) On what grounds then, do we not combine the testimony of one pair of witnesses saw a hair on her back the day before (which fell out and is no longer there), and a second pair who saw one hair on her stomach today?

7)
(a) What does Rav Yehudah say in a case where one witness testified that Reuven ate wheat for three years, and another, that he ate barley?

(b) Rav Nachman queries this from a case where one witness testified on the first, third and fifth years, and a second, on the second, fourth and sixth.
Why will this not constitute a Chazakah?

(c) Why not? In what way does this case differ from that of Rebbi Yehoshua ben Korcha, who ruled earlier that even if the two witnesses testified on two different days, their testimonies nevertheless combine (even though they are testifying on two different coins)?

8)
(a) What is then Rav Nachman's Kashya on Rav Yehudah? How did he understand his case?

(b) What is the basis of Rav Nachman's misunderstanding?

(c) What did Rav Yehudah reply? What did he really mean when he spoke about one witness testifying that the Machzik ate wheat, and the second witness, barley?

Answers to questions

Next daf

Index


For further information on
subscriptions, archives and sponsorships,
contact Kollel Iyun Hadaf,
daf@shemayisrael.co.il