Commentaire sur Bava Batra 8:1
יֵשׁ נוֹחֲלִין וּמַנְחִילִין, וְיֵשׁ נוֹחֲלִין וְלֹא מַנְחִילִין, מַנְחִילִין וְלֹא נוֹחֲלִין, לֹא נוֹחֲלִין וְלֹא מַנְחִילִין. וְאֵלּוּ נוֹחֲלִין וּמַנְחִילִין, הָאָב אֶת הַבָּנִים וְהַבָּנִים אֶת הָאָב וְהָאַחִין מִן הָאָב, נוֹחֲלִין וּמַנְחִילִין. הָאִישׁ אֶת אִמּוֹ וְהָאִישׁ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ, וּבְנֵי אֲחָיוֹת, נוֹחֲלִין וְלֹא מַנְחִילִין. הָאִשָּׁה אֶת בָּנֶיהָ וְהָאִשָּׁה אֶת בַּעְלָהּ וַאֲחֵי הָאֵם, מַנְחִילִין וְלֹא נוֹחֲלִין. וְהָאַחִים מִן הָאֵם, לֹא נוֹחֲלִין וְלֹא מַנְחִילִין:
Il y a ceux [parents] qui héritent [d'autres parents] et leur léguent l'héritage [à leur mort]; hériter, mais ne pas léguer; léguer mais n'hériter pas; ni hériter ni léguer. Ceux-ci héritent et léguent: Un père (hérite) de ses fils, [à savoir. (Nombres 27: 8): "Un homme, s'il meurt, et qu'il n'a pas de fils, alors tu passeras son héritage à sa fille"—Lorsque le défunt a une fille, vous transmettez l'héritage du père (du défunt), mais vous ne le faites pas là où il a (pas de fils ni de filles, mais seulement) des frères.] Et les fils (héritent) de leurs pères, [ à savoir. (Ibid.: "Un homme, s'il meurt, et il n'a pas de fils", l'implication étant que s'il a un fils, le fils a la priorité.] Et les frères du père (héritent les uns des autres), [à savoir. (Ibid. 11): "… par leurs familles, selon la maison de leurs pères."] Ceux-ci (ci-dessus) héritent et léguent. Un homme (hérite) de sa mère, [à savoir. (Ibid. 36: 8): "Et chaque fille qui reçoit un héritage des tribus des enfants d'Israël." Comment une fille peut-elle hériter de deux tribus? Elle peut, dans le cas où son père est d'une tribu et sa mère d'une autre, la fille ( en l'absence d'héritiers mâles) en héritant. Et comme il est écrit «tribus», la tribu de la mère est assimilée à la tribu du père, c'est-à-dire: Tout comme avec la tribu du père, le fils a préséance sur la tribu du père. fille, de même avec la tribu de la mère.] Un homme hérite de sa femme, [c'est-à-dire (Ibid. 27:11): "… sa chair"—c'est sa femme. Le verset est compris comme: "Et tu lui donneras l'héritage de sa femme". (Nous «diminuons, ajoutons et exposons».) Je pourrais penser qu'elle l'hérite également; il est donc écrit (Ibid.): "Et il en héritera" (lit., "elle")—Il hérite d'elle, mais elle ne l'hérite pas.] Et les fils de sœurs (héritent du défunt là où il n'y a pas de parents plus proches.) Ceux-ci (ci-dessus) héritent, mais ne léguent pas. Une femme, son fils; une femme elle, mari; et les frères de la mère, (son fils)—ils lèguent, mais n'héritent pas. Et les frères de la mère— ils n'héritent ni ne se léguent (l'un à l'autre).
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Batra
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Batra
These inherit and bequeath: a father as to his sons and sons as to their father and brothers from the same father, these inherit and bequeath.
A man as to mother, and a man as to his wife, and the sons of sisters, inherit but do not bequeath.
A woman as to her sons, and a wife as to her husband, and brothers of the mother, bequeath but do not inherit.
And brothers from the same mother [but not father] neither inherit nor bequeath.
The eighth and ninth chapters of Bava Batra deal with the laws of inheritance. It states in Numbers 8-11 (JPS translation): “If a man dies without leaving a son, you shall transfer his property to his daughter. If he has no daughter, you shall assign his property to his brothers. If he has no brothers, you shall assign his property to his father’s brothers. If his father had no brothers, you shall assign his property to his nearest relative in his own clan, and he shall inherit it.”
The first two mishnayoth of our chapter deal with the order of inheritance, who inherits from whom and who bequeaths property to whom.
This mishnah lists in four categories all those who inherit from others and all those who, when they die, bequeath property to others.
Category one: The relationships listed in this category both inherit and bequeath. When a father dies, his sons inherit and if they should die without offspring, the father inherits from them. If a man dies and he has no children and his father is already dead his brother will inherit. So too if his brother dies in a similar situation , he bequeaths his property to his brother.
Category two: The relationships listed in this category are ones in which the person inherits but does not bequeath. A man inherits his mother but if he should die first, the mother does not inherit from him. So too, a man inherits his wife but if he should die his property is not bequeathed to her. If a man dies and his sister had children, they may inherit him if he has no closer relative. However, if they die, he does not inherit their property since it will pass to their father’s side and not their mother’s.
Category three: The relationships listed in this category are ones in which the person bequeaths but does not inherit. A woman bequeaths her property to her sons but she does not inherit from them if they should die first. Likewise, a husband inherits his wife’s property, but he does not bequeath his property to her. Finally, if a man dies and his closest relative is his sister’s children his property is bequeathed to them, but if they should die he cannot inherit from them.
Category four: The relationships listed in this category are ones in which the person neither bequeaths nor inherits. If a man dies and he leaves a brother who shares a mother but not a father he does not bequeath his property to him, nor does he inherit his property should the brother die. The inheritance lines go to each man’s father’s family and not to his relatives on his mother’s side.