Study Guide Bava Metzia 44 Today's daf is sponsored by Ariella and Michael Radwin in honor of Sivan's bat mitzvah this coming Shabbat. "Mazel tov to Sivan! May you lead a life of Torah and ma’asim tovim, and may you someday be blessed to stand under the chuppah" Beit Shamai and Beit Hillel disagree about whether one is obligated in shlichut yad by merely intending to use the object. On what words in the Torah does each one rely upon to support his opinion? If one tilted the barrel and took...

If one gives money to a money changer, if it is not bound and sealed, the money changer is permitted to use it and is thereby responsible if the money gets lost. There is a debate whether the money changer is also responsible for oness (accidental damage). Regarding shlichut yad, if one decides to use an item they are watching and it then breaks, if the item changes in value from the time the shomer decides to use it until the time it breaks, what value is the shomer obligated to pay? Beit...

What level of shmira is needed for various items? How did people watch money? How did that change over time? Various cases are brought which relate to cases with different issues - tchilato b'pshia v'sofo b'oness, a shomer that gave to a family member to watch and did not tell them it was someone else's item, or a steward that bought an animal without teeth and gave it to a cowherd to watch without informing him that the animal had no teeth and could not eat.

If a shomer moves an item that he/she is watching and it subsequently breaks by unexpected circumstances (oness), is the shomer liable? Using an item that one is watching is called shlichut yad and the shomer is considered like a thief and becomes obligated even for oness until the item is returned. However, several factors determine whether or not the shomer is responsible. For what purpose did the shomer move the item - for the item or the shomer's use? Did it break before it was returned...

Today's daf is sponsored by Sara Berelowitz in honor of the engagement of Sara’s daughter, Estie Brauner, to Tina Lamm’s nephew, Jason Ast. May we have many more Hadran family smachot! After Mari bar Isak's 'brother' brought witnesses, Rav Chisda ruled that the brother could receive his portion. Rav Chisda also ruled that the brother could receive 50% of the profits from Mari's investment in the land after the father's death, based on a Mishna in Bava Batra 143b. Abaye and Rabbi Ami raised...

This week’s learning is dedicated to Dr. Joseph Walder z"l who supported Torah study across the Jewish world. A relative is supposed to take care of the property of a relative who is taken captive or abandons their land. However, it depends on how they abandoned the land. Upon their return, the relative who tended the land receives a percentage, like a sharecropper, of the produce that will grow from their investment. Why is this different from a husband with his wife's usufruct property...

If one is watching an item and it begins to rot, should the shomer sell it or leave it and return it in whatever condition it is? There is a debate in the Mishna regarding this issue and amoraim disagree about the reason for the rabbis' opinion. Rabbi Yochanan claims that the tannaitic debate is not relevant if the item has rotted. Two difficulties are raised against Rabbi Yochanan and are resolved. Is there a connection between this issue and whether or not one is allowed to go into a...

Rabbi Yosi holds that one cannot profit from someone else's object. Does he also disagree with the rabbis about the case in the first Mishna of the chapter regarding the shomer who pays for the item and acquires the double payment if the robber is found? The next Mishna raises cases regarding doubts about whose money was stolen from or who gave which amount of money to the shomer to watch. The Gemara raises contradictions between the two cases and with other mishnayot and other principles...

Study Guide Bava Metzia 36 Rabbi Yirmia brings various situations where one borrows and lends to another and they can both be obligated to bring either a sin or a guilt offering or one a sin and one a guilt. What are the various situations? Can a shomer give an item to someone else to watch? Different reasons are given to explain why this would be a problem. Some thought that Rav held it was permissible, but it was later explained that it was based on a misunderstanding of a situation where...

Rav Huna holds that the one who claims the item was lost or stolen, must swear that the item is no longer in their possession.  The Gemara raises a contradiction from a braita and suggests four, one of which is rejected.  A case is brought where one claimed jewels were lost and Rav Nachman's court seized his palace to replace the lost jewel. When he then produced the "lost" item which had gone up in value, Rav Nachman said to give him his palace back and return the jewels to the owner. Rava...

Study Guide Bava Metzia 34 Today's daf is sponsored by Rena and Mark Goldstein in loving memory of Rena’s father, Moe Septee, Moshe ben haRav Elazar Shmuel on his 27th yahrzeit. A shomer who can be exempt from payment and decides voluntarily to pay, acquires rights to the double payment (or the 4 or 5 payment for an animal that the robber slaughtered and sold) if the robber is later caught and returns the item. How does this mechanism work if the owner gives rights to the double from the...

Today's daf is sponsored by Rabbi Art Gould in loving memory of his beloved bride and best friend of 50 years, Carol Joy Robinson, Karina Gola bat Huddah v’Yehuda Tzvi, on the occasion of her first yahrzeit. "You will be in my heart forever."  There are two more attempts to prove that tza'ar ba'alei chayim is a rabbinic law, but they are rejected. Within what distance from the animal is one obligated to help load/unload? What is the order of precedence in dealing with people's lost items...

If one who finds a lost item does not want to lose out on getting compensated for their full wages while attending to the lost item, one can stipulate this in front of a court (three men) and then the one who lost the item will need to compensate the finder the full amount. Raba bar Rav Huna wanted to apply this law to a case where Rav Safra took his half of a shared business deal in front of witnesses, but not three men.  Rav Safra rejected this proof, but Abaye brought proof from a...

Today's daf is sponsored by Malka Abraham in loving memory of her mother, Yehudit bat Mshalem Ziza v'Chanah. "My mom always encouraged women to be lifelong learners and a love of Yiddishkeit." If one finds an animal wandering, how does one determine if it is lost or if the owner knows its whereabouts? Rava explains that helping to protect another’s field from being destroyed is also included under the commandment to return lost items. Can this be proven from a braita? The Mishna which...

Today's daf is sponsored by Bat-Sheva Maslow in honor of her daughter Yakira becoming a Bat Mitzvah and making her first siyum. "I'm so proud of your dedication to learning and the amazing talmida chachama you are growing into."  Today's daf is sponsored by Lisa Kolodny in honor of Nancy Kolodny's milestone birthday tomorrow. "May you keep striving for personal and spiritual growth, reaching new heights, and enriching the lives of all of us around you!"   According to the Mishna one can...

What is a person's level of responsibility toward the lost item once one picks it up and begins searching for its owner? If it is an animal, the finder needs to feed the animal. But if the animal is not producing enough to cover its cost, the owner can sell the animal and will return the money when they find the owner. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva debate whether this money can be used or needs to be set aside - this then affects their level of responsibility for the money in the event of...

As another difficulty is raised against Rava's explanation for simanim being a rabbinic law, Rava concludes that one can retrieve a lost item by bringing simanim by Torah law. What if two people bring simanim or one person brings simanim and the other witnesses or the other one witness? Rava explains cases where two people bring different identifying details and explains which is the stronger one. For how long does the finder need to announce the lost object? Rabbi Meir holds until the...

The Mishna rules that if one finds money among fruits that one has purchased, one can keep the money. Rabbi Yannai limits this to what circumstances? A braita is brought which also corresponds to Rabbi Yannai's limitation. The verses in the Torah relating to lost items list several items that are lost that should be returned. What is derived from each of these terms? Rabbi Yehuda and Tana Kamma disagree about whether to derive the halakha that one does not need to return an item that is less...

Today's daf is sponsored in memory of haRav Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim ben Yaakov Yisrael, Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt"l. When one finds an object in a wall, what clues are there in the placement of the object that can attest to whether it belonged to the owner or to someone from the street who left it there? If the object was placed in a part close to the house, but the house was rented to others, there is no obligation to return the object. How does this halacha fit with the Mishna in Shekalim 19...

Today’s daf is dedicated in memory of Ilai David Garfinkel of the Duvdevan commando unit who was killed on Friday. The Mishna lists various items that if found, one should announce in order to return to its owner. The Gemara explains in more detail some of the cases and how the item needs to be found, i.e. fruits in a basket but not next to the basket, money in a particular formation. Contradictory sources are brought and resolved. The next Mishna describes various items that if found in a...

Shmuel listed three areas in which we can assume Torah scholars may be dishonest. Why? Can we assume they are honest in all other areas? Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says that if something is lost in a public place, we can assume the owner despaired (has given up hope of ever getting the item back) and the finder can take the item. The Gemara questions whether he meant this only in a place where the majority of the people are Gentiles or even in a place where the majority are Jews. If he included...

Study Guide Bava Metzia 23 Today's daf is sponsored in memory of Rav Moshe ben David, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l. Today's daf is sponsored by Terri Krivosha for a refua shleima for her husband Hayim Herring, HaRav Hayim Yehuda ben Tzippora.   Raba and Rava disagree about simanim - can the location be a siman, and is something a siman if it can be stepped on and ruined? How do they each explain the braita in which the law distinguishes between lost bundles and sheaves? Is the disagreement...

Study Guide Bava Metzia 22 Today's daf is sponsored by Nancy Kolodny in honor of the birthday of her daughter-in-law Lisa Kolodny. "Wife, mother, daughter, learner, teacher, athlete, friend extraordinaire."  Today's daf is being sponsored by Betsy Mehlman in loving memory of her father, Harold Mondshein, Zvi Menahem Mendel ben Shlomo, on his 40th yahrzeit.  "He would have been proud to see how his grandchildren and Israeli great-grandchildren are thriving in Israel." There are five more...

The Gemara raises two more difficulties against Rav's ruling that a receipt of payment is not returned to the borrower if found among documents of the creditor, and resolves them. The second chapter begins with a list of items that if one finds them on the street in a particular manner, they can assume the owner lost them and is not expected to retrieve them and can therefore keep them. One of the items listed is scattered fruits - how were they left? How many and in what size space is this...

A braita states that if a receipt is found saying that the husband (or his heirs) paid his ex-wife the money from her ketuba, , if the woman agrees, we return it to the husband as proof he paid. Why are we not concerned that perhaps the the money was not repaid on the date written on the receipt, but was paid later, and the couple is conspiring to retrieve her ketuba that she sold after the date written on the receipt, but before the actual payment? Rava and Abaye each suggest answers. The...