It is hard to imagine what the Jewish world would be like without Rashi. Well, maybe not so hard. Without Rashi our understanding of Chumash would be…
Bava Batra 14: Make it Beautiful
Every once in a while one comes across a Talmudic story that makes one shake one’s head in disbelief. As we discussed in our last post, the…
Bava Batra 13: Splitting Up
The opening Mishna of Bava Batra teaches that in the interest of privacy, one neighbour can force the other to build a wall dividing their common…
Bava Batra 10: Put it in Writing
Visiting Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin as Torah in Motion “Journeyed through Jewish History”, sitting in the beautifully rebuilt, but…
Bava Batra 9: Please Sir, May I Have Some More?
The Ramah in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 249:1) rules that the mitzva of tzedakah can only be fulfilled by giving to the poor. This…
Bava Batra 8: Come On In
“We force him [the resident of a courtyard] to contribute to the building of the guard’s gate” (Bava Batra 7b). When we think of a…
Bava Batra 4: Good Fences
The opening pages of Bava Batra discuss how neighbours can force one another to build a fence between their properties. As we discussed in a prior…
Bava Batra 3: Time for a New Shul
“Rav Chisda said: One may not destroy a beit knesset until another one is built” (Bava Batra 3b). After spending close to two double-…
Bava Batra 2: Mind Your Own Business
There is a beautiful custom to recite “ma tovu, how goodly are your tents Jacob and your dwelling place Israel” (Bamidbar 24:6). These…
An Introduction to Bava Batra
The three Bavas - Kamma, Metzia and Batra - are the bread and butter of Talmudic learning. If I, like many others, began my formal learning of Talmud…