Si uno escribe sobre su propiedad a sus hijos, debe escribir: "desde hoy y después de la muerte" [connotando: la tierra misma la adquieres desde hoy, y no comerás sus frutos hasta después de (mi) muerte. Y si no escribe "desde hoy", no le da nada, porque no hay donación después de la muerte.] Estas son las palabras de R. Yehudah. R. Yossi dice: No necesita [escribir "desde hoy". Porque como está escrito en la escritura: "En este y este día de la semana, tal y como nos dijo: 'Sean testigos de mí, etc.'", la fecha indica que el regalo "comenzó" ese día. Si esto no es así, ¿por qué se debe escribir la fecha? La halajá está de acuerdo con R. Yossi.] Si uno escribe sobre su propiedad a su hijo después de su muerte, [es decir, "desde hoy y después de la muerte"], el padre no puede venderla [sin el hijo], porque es escrito al hijo, [es decir, la tierra en sí es propiedad del hijo], y el hijo no puede venderla [sin el padre], ya que está en el dominio del padre [es decir, las frutas son propiedad del padre]. Si el padre lo vendió [sin calificación], ellos [las frutas] se venden (al comprador) hasta que él [el padre] muera. Si el hijo lo vendió [en la vida del padre], el comprador no los tiene [los frutos] hasta que el padre muera. El padre [que escribió sobre su propiedad a su hijo "desde hoy y después de la muerte"] arranca y alimenta [los frutos] a quien quiera [en su vida. Pero en cuanto a lo que quedó en el suelo en el momento de su muerte, a pesar de que es probable que sea arrancado, pertenece a su hijo, el receptor del regalo. Sin embargo, si uno escribe sobre su propiedad a otro, incluso lo que queda en el suelo en el momento de su donación pertenece a los herederos. Porque un hombre está más favorablemente dispuesto hacia su hijo que hacia otro.] Y lo que sobró, desgarrado (del suelo) pertenece a los herederos. Si dejó hijos, adultos y pequeños, los adultos no están vestidos a expensas de los pequeños [(Los gastos de ropa de los adultos son mayores que los de los pequeños)], y los pequeños no se alimentan a expensas de los adultos Pero comparten por igual. [(Los gastos de alimentación de los pequeños son mayores que los de los adultos, ya que comen más a menudo y se van más). Por lo tanto, los pequeños evitan que los adultos se vistan de la finca, y los adultos mantienen el los pequeños son alimentados por él, pero cada uno está vestido y alimentado de su propia parte.] Si los hijos adultos se casaron [y tomaron los gastos de su boda del patrimonio después de la muerte de su padre], los jóvenes también pueden casarse [es decir , también pueden tomar los gastos de su boda del patrimonio.] Y si los más jóvenes dijeron [después de la muerte de su padre]: "Nos casaremos como (es decir, en el mismo estilo que) lo hiciste" [en la vida de nuestro padre ], no se les presta atención, pero lo que sea que su padre les dio [en su vida], él lo hizo.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
צריך שיכתוב מהיום ולאחר מיתה – that implies the body of the land will be acquired by you from today, but you will not eat of the fruits until after death, but if he did not write, “from today,” he did not give him anything for there is no gift after death.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
Introduction
The first half of mishnah seven deals with laws concerning a father who gives money to his son before his death, thereby circumventing the lines of inheritance as prescribed in the Torah. The second half of the mishnah deals with the division of the inheritance amongst the sons.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
אינו צריך – [it is not necessary] to write “from today, for since he wrote in the document: “on such-and-such day of the week, so-and-so told us, “be for me witnesses,” the date [and time] of the document proves that from that day, the gift began. But if he did not say this, the time that is written in the document – for what purposes was it written? And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yosi.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
The first two sections of the mishnah deal with a father who wrote over his property to one of his sons before his death in order to avoid the property falling equally to all of his sons at the time of his death. The intent of the father’s action is for the money ti stay in the possession of the father until he dies but to already partly belong to the son to whom the property was written over. In this way the son does not have to split the property with the other sons.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
לאחר מותו – from today and after death.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
If a man writes over his property to his son, he must write, “From today and after my death”, according to Rabbi Judah. Rabbi Yose says, “He need not do so.” In order to accomplish such an action the father must write in the document that it is valid “from today and after my death”. He writes “from today” so that the property will already be transferred before his death, and thereby not subject to the laws of inheritance which take effect only after death. He writes, “after my death” so that he can continue to use the property until he dies. This is Rabbi Judah’s opinion. According to Rabbi Yose he need not write “from today” in the document. Since the document contains the date on which it was written, it is clear that the transfer occurs before his death, and is not subject to the laws of inheritance.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
האב אינו יכול למכור – without the son, for the body [of the estate] was acquired by the son.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
If a man writes over his property to his son to be his after his death, the father cannot sell it since it is written over to the son, and the son cannot sell it since it is in the possession of the father. If his father sold the property, it is sold [only] until he dies; if the son sold the property, the buyer has no claim until the father dies. The father harvests the crops and gives them to whomever he wishes, and what he has left harvested belongs to [all] his heirs. After the document is written the property is neither fully the son’s nor fully the father’s. Neither can sell the property; if the father were to do the sale is only valid until he dies at which point the property will belong to the son. If the son were to sell the sale is valid only after the father dies. Until then the property is in the father’s possession. The father may continue to harvest the produce from his fields and he may even give it to others as he so desires. If he dies and leaves harvested produce, it is subject to the laws of inheritance and not solely to the son to whom the father wrote his property.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
If he left elder sons and younger sons, the elder sons may not take care of themselves [from the estate] at the expense of the younger sons, nor may the younger sons claim maintenance at the cost of the elder sons, rather they all share alike. If the elder sons married [at the expense of the estate] so too the younger sons may marry [at the expense of the estate]. If the younger sons said, “We will marry in the way you married”, they do not listen to them, for what their father gave them, he has given. In this section the father died without writing his property over to one son. In such a case the inheritance is divided equally. The elder sons cannot take care of themselves at the expense of the younger sons. Even though the elder sons need more clothing than the younger sons they may not use more than their share. So too, the younger sons may not claim more food than their share, even though younger children eat and waste more food. With regards to providing a marriage feast for the son and his bride and providing the young couple with a place to live, the younger sons can claim to receive the same amount from the inheritance that the elder sons receive. If, however, the elder sons married while the father was still alive, the younger sons cannot claim that they should receive as much as the elder sons received. Since the elder sons married while the father was alive the money their father gave them for the wedding was a gift and does not impact on the equal division of the inheritance.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
מכר האב – [the father sold] in an undefined manner the fruits are sold to the purchaser, until the father dies.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
Questions for Further Thought: • Section 2a: Why is produce which is harvested before the father dies subject to the laws of inheritance whereas the rest of the father’s property is transferred to the son to whom the property was written over?
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
מכר הבן – during the lifetime of the father, [the son sold it], the purchaser does not have the fruits until the father dies.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
האב – who wrote that his property is to go to his son from today and after death, may pluck up and feed the fruit to whomever he desires during his lifetime, but what he left that is attached [is deposed] at the time of death. Even though that it stands to be plucked up, they belong to the son who receives the gift. But he who writes that all of his property is to go to someone else, even what he had left attached to the ground at the time of his death, it belongs to the inheritors, for the intention of a person is closer to his son than to anyone else.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
מתפרנסין – garments and clothing because the support of the older children is greater than the support of the younger children.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
נזונים – food and drink, because the food of the younger children is greater than that of the older children, who eat many times and scatter. Therefore, the younger children prevent the older children from supporting themselves from that which belongs to the estate of the house, and the older children prevent the younger children from being fed, but rather, each one is supported and fed from his portion.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
נשאו גדולים – they made all the needs of the wedding from the estate of the house after the death of their father, the younger children will also get married with [the support of] the estate of the house.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
ואם אמרו הקטנים – behold, we will get married in the manner that you married during the lifetime of our father, we don’t listen to them, but rather, what their father gave them during his lifetime, he gave [them.
