Bava Basra - Daf 141
- Preference for a daughter vs. a son
The previous Mishnah discussed one who says he will give his future child one hundred zuz if it is a boy, and two hundred if it is a girl. This implies that דבת עדיפא ליה מבן – that a daughter is preferable to him over a son (which is why he would give more to a daughter), and the Gemara asks that Rebbe Yochanan said that whoever does not leave behind a son to inherit him, Hashem is מלא עליו עברה – filled with anger against him!? The Gemara answers: לענין ירושה בן עדיף ליה – regarding inheritance, a son is preferred by him (because the estate remains with his family); לענין הרווחה בתו עדיפא ליה – regarding generous provision, a daughter is preferred by him, i.e., one is likely to give more generously to his daughters, who cannot provide for themselves as easily. The Gemara’s third answer attributes this Mishnah to Rebbe Yehudah, who said it is a mitzvah to support one’s sons, and kal vachomer to support his daughters, דלא ליתזלן – so they are not demeaned by having to seek their own sustenance.
- בת תחלה סימן יפה לבנים
In the Gemara’s second answer, Shmuel said our Mishnah is discussing מבכרת – a woman giving birth for the first time. Here, a father prefers that the child should be a girl, because Rav Chisda said: בת תחלה סימן יפה לבנים – a daughter first is a good sign for sons. This is explained in two ways. Some say: דמרביא לאחהא – because she raises her younger brothers, and some say: דלא שלטא ביה עינא בישא – because the evil eye will not have power over him, since he did not have a son first. Rav Chisda said: ולדידי בנתן עדיפן לי מבני – and for me, daughters are better than sons. Tosafos explains that his sons-in-law were from the greatest of the generation.
- המזכה לעובר לא קנה
A man once gifted his property to the future child of his pregnant wife. Rav Huna ruled that this is a case of transferring possessions to a fetus, והמזכה לעובר לא קנה – and one who transfers possessions to a fetus, [the fetus] does not acquire them. Rav Nachman objected that our Mishnah teaches that if one says, “If my wife has a son, he will receive on hundred zuz,” the son receives the gift!? Rav Huna responded: משנתינו איני יודע מי שנאה – I do not know who taught our Mishnah, because it does not accord with any known Tanna’s opinion. The Gemara asks that perhaps the Mishnah reflects Rebbe Meir’s opinion, that אדם מקנה דבר שלא בא לעולם – a person can transfer something which has not yet come into the world. It answers that Rebbe Meir only discussed transferring property לדבר שישנו בעולם – to someone who exists in the world, but we have no source that Rebbe Meir would validate transferring property to a recipient who does not yet exist, such as an עובר. On Daf 142b, Rebbe Yochanan rules that a gift to an עובר is ineffective, but explains our Mishnah’s ruling: הואיל ודעתו של אדם קרובה אצל בנו – since a person’s mind is close to his son, he has complete intent to transfer the gift to him.
