A new mishnah (from the bottom of 138): A father who gives his land to his son, while retaining the rights to the produce for himself, until after his own death. Plus, once the produce is detached from the ground, it is the father's, while I still attached, it's "part of the land," and owned by the son who owns the land. Note that funds that are held for minors cannot be used to provide for the adults, and vice versa. The same applies for adult and minor daughters, with one key caveat that is a ...
Nov 11, 2024•16 min•Season 23Ep. 139
More on deathbed requests, as presented in a series of beraitot. How much attention must be given to the wording of such requests? What happens when debt factors in to those gifts from the deathbed? Also, when one on his deathbed claims someone owes him money -- the statement alone is not proof of the debt.
Nov 10, 2024•15 min•Season 23Ep. 138
If one person gives another person an etrog, and that the recipient should pass it along to another person after his own death, then there's a dispute between Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel as to the degree of ownership by that first recipient. He has to pass it on, so he can't use it in all ways, like an outright owner. Can he sell it, for example? Also, a story about a woman who owned a date palm that was planted in the property of Rav Bibi bar Abaye - and he was regularly ...
Nov 09, 2024•13 min•Season 23Ep. 137
A new mishnah! On how a healthy person can transfer property to others -- to go into effect after that person's death: the phrasing of "from now until after death." But what happens to that property during the lifetime? Neither father nor son can sell those properties during the father's lifetime. And if the son did sell, the buyer does not have the right until father's death. But does the father need to say, " from now" to begin with? The Gemara suggests that the date alone should be enough. Al...
Nov 08, 2024•13 min•Season 23Ep. 136
When a man is dying, they ask him in a roundabout way whether his wife will be subject to yibum. When he says she could marry a kohen gadol means she doesn't have any need for yibum. But what about when a man comes to divorce his wife, he is considered reliable with regard to his wife's status - sometimes! Sometimes, he is explicitly "not believed" with regard to his wife's status. Which leads to a serious discussion about protecting the women, and also held in a respectful manner that allowed f...
Nov 07, 2024•15 min•Season 23Ep. 135
A practical example, of one who found his children to be lacking and gave all of his property to Yonatan ben Uziel instead of to his official heirs. The sage gave a portion of that gift back to the children, which opened a tussle with Shammai, over the standing of the benefactor's wishes. Also, the 80 students of Hillel the Elder, and their greatness, including the least of them being R. Yochanan ben Zakkai, and how accomplished and steadfast he was in learning Torah. Also, a new mishnah! When m...
Nov 06, 2024•15 min•Season 23Ep. 134
More on Rabbi Yehudah ben Berkoka's position, with the property being established as an inheritance vs. as a gift. But what is the real difference? Why would it be preferable to inherit, as compared to receive a gift? For starters, the heirs need to support the widow of the benefactor, which is not the case for the recipients of gifts. Also, a new mishnah! What happens when a person really does give his property away and his rightful heirs get nothing? The majority view frowns upon such a decisi...
Nov 05, 2024•19 min•Season 23Ep. 133
A case where a husband gives his wife the entirety of his property as a gift, not an inheritance, where her ketubah is fundamentally folded into the sum total of his property, as it were. Then a creditor comes along to collect from her. What is she to do? [Who's Who: Rabbi Yehudah Nachtom (the Baker)] Rabbi Yehudah Nachtom has a story that illustrates exactly the question of whether the wife should keep the sum total of the gift. Also, the case of a woman who forfeits the right to her ketubah wh...
Nov 04, 2024•14 min•Season 23Ep. 132
What happens when a healthy person wants to allocate his property as gifts? In contrast to the cases we've seen to this point, which have been deathbed utterances. Also, what happens when there's an administrator (apotropa) appointed over the estate. Note that the case doesn't spell out the relationship between all parties. Plus, how does the appointment of an administrator function in the context of gift-giving vs. the default inheritance?
Nov 03, 2024•19 min•Season 23Ep. 131
More on stipulations of inheritance vs. those of gift-giving. What if the stipulation is about someone who is suitable to be inheriting in any case? Also, a deep dive into the ways of determining what the given halakhah is. Plus, a few words of appreciation in memory of Rabbi Raymond Harari z"l.
Nov 02, 2024•19 min•Season 23Ep. 130
How to handle inheritance - with oral designation as a gift, and not as "inheritance." Including the question of when one must stipulate that a gift is indeed a gift in the statement of establishing a gift (beginning, middle, or end of the giving). Also, a dispute among 3 Amoraim -- when or whether giving a gift in place of "inheritance" would be effective. Plus, how that kind of gift can be reapportioned to others. Also, when one rethinks a statement with legal consequences, one can recant -- i...
Nov 01, 2024•13 min•Season 23Ep. 129
This daf presents 7 queries about some quirky cases that were sent by Rabbi Abba to Rav Yosef Bar Chama [Who's Who: Rav Yosef bar Chama and also Rabbi Abba, in which the halakhah is decided in accord with Rabbi Abba, in the end of it all. Cases include both details about inheritance as well as other legal issues pertaining to one's standing.
Oct 31, 2024•14 min•Season 23Ep. 128
How the laws pertaining to a "Tumtum" affect his ability to inherit the double portion. This status has all kinds of implications to other areas of halakhah that pertain to males -- including the timing of brit milah, including the impurity that attaches to a mother after giving birth. Also, a question was sent to Shmuel: When a person has knowledge that he is the first-born, and his father says that someone else is the first-born -- does the father's statement hold sway or not? (it's a machloke...
Oct 30, 2024•17 min•Season 23Ep. 127
More on the double portion inherited by the first-born. What happens if the first-born renounces the extra part of his double portion, so that he ends up with a comparable inheritance to other brothers? Rav Pappa and Rav Pappi (yes) both weigh in, based on inference. Plus, an actual case that came before Rava adjudication. Also, a new mishnah! Namely, if the father attempts to decree a different kind of inheritance division than that which is established in the Torah - it won't work. Maybe if he...
Oct 29, 2024•16 min•Season 23Ep. 126
Different views from the sages in Nehardea, in the land of Israel, and elsewhere - with the dispute over whether the payment of a debtor returning the loan of a parent who has died is divided into a double portion for the eldest son. The crux of the matter seems to be whether the payment is in land or in cash - but that distinction is probed and found to be difficult. Also, when there's a great-grandmother (yes) and a great-granddaughter who dies before she inherits -- should her husband inherit...
Oct 28, 2024•15 min•Season 23Ep. 125
A beraita (Tosefta) presents the idea of enhancement to the property that takes place after the death of the father - for which the first-born does not get the double-portion. But that's a point that needs refinement. It may depend who made those improvements. Plus, the question of who pays the father's debt - that is, as a double portion, or not? Also, more on the first-born not taking a double-portion when a loan was returned to the estate. But who supports that view?
Oct 27, 2024•9 min•Season 23Ep. 124
On the double-portion for the first-born. And the various ways that can play out. Plus, going back to the biblical treatment of the double portions. Also, a good deal of commentary on the story of Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. And also the story of the 70 persons of Jacob's family who went down to to Egypt, and the concern that counting out the family members totals 69. How to find the 70th?
Oct 26, 2024•20 min•Season 23Ep. 123
How DID the divide the land of Israel in the time of Joshua? Was it divided according to tribe? Or per capita? (We recommend googling for a map) Also, a new mishnah! On how a son and a daughter both inherit according to the laws of inheritance, and the differences between the way they inherit, including from each parent. But the mishnah is formulated in a difficult way, and the Amoraim work hard to make sense of it.
Oct 25, 2024•19 min•Season 23Ep. 122
A side-step away from the laws of inheritance, to address the nature of the 15th of Av and also Yom Kippur. Which of course leads back to the daughters of Tzlofchad and the matter of marrying only within their own tribe. Plus, events that are attributed to taking place on Tu B'Av -- and a review of the story of Beitar. Also, 7 people whose lives overlapped and thereby cover the entirety of Jewish history.
Oct 24, 2024•22 min•Season 23Ep. 121
Starting with some aggadah - a miracle that was done for the daughters of Tzlofchad that parallels the miracle done for Yocheved: bearing children "older," but really older. And the Gemara does the math for us -- and explains the miracle of her returned youth in detail. Also, shifting focus back to the daughters of Tzlofchad and the order of their names in the Torah -- once for their age order and once for their measures of wisdom. Plus, the exhortation that they marry people who are suitable fo...
Oct 23, 2024•12 min•Season 23Ep. 120
More Tzlofchad, his inheritance (including a double portion), and his daughters. Plus, Shimon HaShikmoni weighs in to say that Moses always knew the daughters were going to inherit from their father, and the real underlying question was whether they were going to inherit the double portion. Also, a long list of the positive attributes of the daughters of Tzlofchad, and why the sages may have spent the time to list off their wonderful traits. Plus, recognition of Yocheved.
Oct 22, 2024•16 min
Presenting several of the six questions on how the land was divided when the Children of Israel came to the land of Israel -- from Rav Pappa to Abaye. Also, as an interruption to those six cases, an interlude that pays attention to the righteous conduct of Yehoshua (Joshua) and Kalev (Caleb) who inherited the portions of the land of the other spies (who spoke ill of the land). Plus, an example of the premise that biblical verses are interpreted to teach different things when they otherwise might...
Oct 21, 2024•16 min•Season 23Ep. 118
Beginning with a new mishnah on the previous daf! On the daughters of Tzlofchad and their inheritance of their father's portion of the land of Israel. The Gemara shifts the discussion to be about Tzlofchad's double portion -- and whether the daughters would inherit that double portion as well. Also, a deeper dive into the way the land of Israel was apportioned to those of the Children of Israel who entered the land. Plus, how those divisions might apply to kohanim, and the practice of implementi...
Oct 20, 2024•11 min•Season 23Ep. 117
More on inheritance - with a harsh pronouncement: a man who dies without sons is reflecting God's wrath. Plus, the story of R. Yochanan, who focused on the inheritance in students, because he himself had lost 10 sons. As well as R. Yehoshua ben Levi's special effort to pay a shiva visit/ condolence call to those who died without sons. Also, the hierarchy or priority of heirs, and how that is passed on to the next heirs as well.
Oct 19, 2024•13 min•Season 23Ep. 116
A new mishnah! On the order of inheritance, including the portion each receives (or doesn't) -- prioritizing sons over daughters, not surprisingly (and the descendants of the relative who takes priority takes priority over other relatives). The textual support or this rationale is a careful inference from the biblical text. Plus, a key historical question about whether the 10 Tribes that were exiled were still around to inherit. Also, a difference of interpretation over who should interpret betw...
Oct 18, 2024•14 min•Season 23Ep. 115
When can the respective parties renege on a formal act of acquisition (kinyan)? Of course, it's a machloket -- whether they can walk it back for as long as they're sitting together or whether they must still be talking about the transaction (regardless of whether they are still sitting together). Also, a woman bequeaths to her son, but doesn't inherit from her -- but this case seems redundant in the mishnah! The Gemara explains that just as the husband inherits some categories of property from h...
Oct 17, 2024•8 min•Season 23Ep. 114
How a husband has the right to inherit from his wife. Plus, identifying the players of the biblical genealogies of yesterday's daf. Also, a discussion of whether the time of death has implications for the inheritance (spoiler: it doesn't). Plus, a visit to an ill person -- by 3 or 2 people, who can either make a court for him, or simply witness a will.
Oct 16, 2024•13 min•Season 23Ep. 113
When interpreting a verse from genealogies in the Book of Chronicles becomes an essential point to the laws of inheritance -- when the son, Yair, had cities (read: land) that his father Seguv seems not to have had. So the inference is that Yair inherited from his mother. Also, the Gemara goes back to the cases of a woman who inherits from her father and has to marry within the same tribe... which complicates matters immeasurably, especially if and when the likely case is that the parents are not...
Oct 15, 2024•19 min•Season 23Ep. 112
With many topics on this daf… the case of a son and a daughter inheriting their mother's estate, with the debate over the son's precedence. With a lot of discussion about who agrees with whom. Note the 2 Rav Huna's. Plus, the cloak of Rabbi Yehuda Nesia - which brings us back to the son/daughter inheritance question. Also, the question of a woman inheriting from her husband (she doesn't), even though the husband inheriting from the wife is a given (with proof from the daughters of Tzlofchad, aga...
Oct 14, 2024•17 min•Season 23Ep. 111
A discourse on the families in the Torah -- including the children of Aaron, with regard to establishing the laws of inheritance. Also, back to halakhah - where sons inherit their father's estate, and the debate over whether daughters should be inheriting in the same measure as sons, and how the daughters of Tzlofchad prove to the contrary.
Oct 13, 2024•16 min•Season 23Ep. 110
