Bava Basra - Daf 21

• Audio Timestamps

0:00 - The 3 Sugyos

2:58 - Review of 3 Sugyos

5:48 - Siman

8:23 - 4 Blatt Back Chazarah

15:07 - Pop Quiz (Last 7 blatt)

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• תקנת יהושע בן גמלא to install teachers of Torah in every town

Rav said: ברם זכור אותו האיש לטוב – Indeed, that man should be remembered favorably, namely, Yehoshua ben Gamla, שאלמלא הוא נשתכח תורה מישראל – because if not for him, the Torah would have been forgotten from Yisroel. Originally, a child was taught Torah by his father (because of a derashah that one must teach his sons), and those without a father would not learn Torah. The Sages enacted to install teachers in Yerushalayim, as the passuk says: כי מציון תצא תורה – “Because Torah will come forth from Tziyon, and Hashem’s word from Yerushalayim.” Still, only children with fathers were brought to Yerushalayim, so they enacted to install teachers in every province, and youths of sixteen or seventeen years of age would be taught by them. However, a student whose teacher became angry with him would rebel against the teacher and leave. Ultimately, Yehoshua ben Gamla instituted: שיהו מושיבין מלמדי תינוקות – that they should install teachers of children, בכל מדינה ומדינה ובכל עיר ועיר – in every province and every town, ומכניסין אותן כבן שש כבן שבע – and bring [the children] in when they are six or seven years old.

• Choosing between different teachers, and the hazards of learning with errors

Rava said that if there is another teacher available who teaches more material than the current one, we do not replace the current teacher, דלמא אתי לאיתרשולי – because [the second teacher] might become lax in his teaching, believing he is unrivaled and will not be replaced. Rav Dimi of Nehardea disagreed: כל שכן דגריס טפי – all the more so, he will teach more, because קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה – jealousy between scholars increases wisdom. The new teacher will work even harder, to prevent the former teacher from embarrassing him because of jealousy. Rava said that if they must choose between a teacher דגריס ולא דייק – who teaches a lot but is not precise (i.e., careful to correct his students’ errors), and another who teaches precisely, but not as much, we install the one who teaches a lot, שבשתא ממילא נפקא – because any error allowed by the imprecise teacher will be corrected on its own. Rav Dimi of Nehardea said we install the more careful teacher, because שבשתא כיון דעל על – an error, once it enters a student’s mind, it remains. He demonstrates this from the incident of Yoav mistakenly killing out only the males of Amalek, because his teacher did not correct his misreading "תמחה את זֵכֶר עמלק" – you shall obliterate the memory of Amalek as "זָכָר" – males.

• Intruding on a neighbor’s business

Rav Huna said that if a resident of a מבוי set up a mill to grind other people’s grain, or to be rented, and another resident sets up a mill in the same מבוי, the first resident can stop him, saying: קא פסקת ליה לחיותי – you are cutting off my livelihood! Although a fisherman must distance his nets from other nets set before him as far as the fish swim (up to a full פרסה), fish may be different, דיהבי סייארא – because they set their sights to pursue food they see, and were certain to swim the first fisherman’s nets. Therefore, he is considered to already have them, and the second fisherman cannot take them.

Rav Huna is challenged from a Baraisa which allows opening a store next to a neighbor’s store, or a bathhouse next to a neighbor’s bathhouse, because he can say: אתה עושה בתוך שלך – “You are doing what you want in your property, ואני עושה בתוך שלי – “and I am doing what I want in my property!” The Gemara concludes this is a machlokes Tannaim.

Siman – Car (Bostonians pronounce “car” as “ca”)

The father in the racecar dropping his boy off at one of the many Ben Gamla Chedarim, chose the cheder with the new Rebbe who teaches at a faster pace than the previous Rebbe had taught, which was right next to a new bathhouse that had opened right next to the old bathhouse.