תלמוד על בבא בתרא 10:1

HALAKHAH: “Admon promulgated seven [rules],” etc. ⁵³Most of this Halakhah is found in Baba batra 9:1, in a somewhat different formulation. How large is a large estate? Rebbi Ze‘ura, Rav Jehudah in the name of Rav: That there should be twelve months of sustenance for all of them⁵⁴Sons and daughters together.. Samuel heard this and said, this is the opinion of Rabban Gamliel ben Rebbi⁵⁵Gamliel III., but the Sages say, until they⁵⁶The daughters, who have to be supported until either they marry or reach adulthood. reach adulthood or are married. They asked before Rebbi Yose⁵⁷This probably should read “R. Yasa” since R. Yose lived three generations after R. Joḥanan. In Baba batra, the person who was asked is R. Ḥiyya bar Abba, R. Joḥanan’s successor as head of the Academy., what did you hear from Rebbi Joḥanan? He said to them, let us explain the words of the Sages by their words! Nathan bar Hoshaia asked before Rebbi Joḥanan, if there was sustenance for twelve months but the estate diminished in value? He answered him, since the heirs⁵⁸The sons. He follows the majority opinion in the Mishnah that only the daughters are supported by a small estate, but he follows Rabban Gamliel III in the definition of a large estate. Practice almost always follows R. Joḥanan. started to eat with permission, they continue to eat until the last coin is gone.

HALAKHAH: “Anybody can supplement a bald document,” etc. ¹⁰⁷A closely related text, but from another editorial tradition, is in Baba batra 10:1. From where that a document can be knotted¹⁰⁸The basic use for “knotted” documents was for real estate transactions, probably to hide the financial data from public knowledge. Such a document was certainly impossible in Egypt, where all real estate transactions had to be filed with the State registrar. Its validity in rabbinic tradition is given a biblical basis. It seems from the discussion in Babli Baba batra 10 that the use of “knotted” documents was a Palestinian peculiarity (such documents have been found in the Judean desert.)? Rebbi Immi said, it is written: “I took the document,¹⁰⁹Jer. 32:11: “I took the document of acquisition, the sealed one, the orders and rules, and the public one.” The verse clearly states that a sealed document is the main object, accompanied by a public document.” etc. “And [the sealed]”, that is the knotted [document]. “And the open,” that is the simple, part of the knotted¹¹⁰The text of the document, whose formulation is identical whether sealed or public.. “And the orders and the rules”; orders and rules differ between these, for one is with two {witnesses], the other with three¹¹¹A public document needs two witnesses, a sealed (knotted) one at least three.; one in it, the other on its back¹¹²A public document is signed by the witnesses on the recto of the sheet, starting exactly one line after the end of the text. A sealed document is signed on the verso, between the folds. {According to Rashbam (Commentary to Baba batra 10:1), the document was written with wide spaces between the lines, was signed by witnesses between the lines, and then was folded and sewn so that the document text was hidden but the signatures appeared on the outside. It seems impossible to accept this explanation for the Yerushalmi text. (Cf. H. Albeck’s commentary to Baba batra 10:1).}. Rebbi Abba in the name of Rav Jehudah, on a simple document, the witnesses sign parallel¹¹³They simply sign on the lines after the body of the document, parallel to the lines used by the scribe., on a knotted one the witnesses sign lengthwise¹¹⁴In this opinion, the witnesses sign in the back at a right angle to the scribe’s text, starting in the back of the last line of the document. Only the text covered by witnesses’ signatures in the back is certified.. Rebbi Idi said, the witnesses sign between any two knots, but it must be on top¹¹⁵He disagrees with the preceding description and requires that the witnesses sign in the back parallel to the text written by the scribe, as described in Note 94.. But should one not be afraid that maybe he falsifies¹¹⁶How can the witnesses be sure that the writer of the document will not falsify the document after they affixed their signatures? For a public document there is no problem since anything following the signatures has to be disregarded. For a sealed document with signatures at a right angle there is no problem since any text not covered by the signatures at the back has to be disregarded. But if the signatures are affixed while the document is being written, where are the guarantees?? Rav Naḥman¹¹⁷In Baba batra: Rav Ḥuna. This seems to be the correct attribution, confirmed in the sequel. wanted to argue that witnesses never sign below unless they first read before them: “I X son of Y accept everything written above.” But should one not be afraid that he erased and changed to falsify? Rav Huna is of the opinion that two times “I accept” makes it invalid¹¹⁸A sealed document containing two different clauses of acceptation is considered fraudulent and not enforceable in court.. But should one not be afraid that he erased and changed to falsify? Does Rav Huna not consider that he might write another text, erase and change to falsify? Rav Huna is of the opinion that an erasure makes invalid even if the correction is certified¹¹⁹An erasure in a sealed document is unacceptable even if confirmed as such by signatures. In the Babli, Baba batra 161b, R. Joḥanan accepts an erasure in a sealed document if it carries a note: “This is a correction”..