Talking Talmud

A new Masechet! What happens if two people jointly own a courtyard and one if them wants a wall built? A lengthy discussion on the daf if sight can cause damage.

A last mishnah! On divided properties, including gardens, when one is above the other - who owns the produce? Unusually, the mishnah explains the rationale of the disputants' different views here, and the garden's nourishment from above. Also: one who can reach out one's hand to take produce is allowed to take the produce, but what if he can only reach the roots or only the leaves? Plus, the Persi...

The daf opens with mishnah that discussed when a change in wages is allowed. A second mishnah lists different types of items that can damage a Reshut HaRabim and who is responsible for thise damages

More on the upstairs/downstairs neighbors, who share maintenance and the like. Including issues of when a tenant would move in with the landlord (or in place of him). What terms can be presumed to remain in place when issues crop up? Plus, a new mishnah about such a building collapsing and what happens when only the upper owner wants to rebuild. And Rabbi Yehudah's 3 examples of not taking advanta...

The daf finishes the ninth chapter of Bava Metzeia with a disagreement between Abaye and Rava about a slaughtering knife. The tenth chapter discusses properties where one is house is on top of the other and what are the halakhic implications of this type of arrangement.

The daf contains two mishnahs which contain halakhot about securities and when one may not take a security

Rabah bar Avuha meets Eliyahu and asks three questions. The daf returns to its discussion of collateral and almost seems to undermine the concept.

When and how can a lender collect a security? The daf also contains a very strange baraita about what a lender must leave a borrower.

If one uses a shopkeeper or a money changer to hold on to a worker's wages - can he be paid this way, or can he go back to the employer to be paid directly? Of course, it's a machloket. Also, swearing that you weren't paid to be able to collect your wages - in contrast to the usual denial of claim. Which works to the protection of the employee.

If wages are withheld is it oshek or gezel? Does the prohibition against withholding wages also apply to animals and keilim?

The daf looks at the case of an ambiguous document and how do is payment determined. A new mishnah begins a discussion on the timely payment of employees

Is renter allowed to cut the branches of trees on a field he is renting? If a farmer wants to go to Eretz Yisroel and leave his rental earlier should he be compensated for improvement he made to the field?

Why did Rabbah bar bar Chana curse Rabbah bar Rav Nachman? The daf cites the biblical source for bar meitzra and explains why it is important.

The daf mentions that it is an Ein HaRah to have someone stand near your field and look at your crops. The many benefits of eating bread in the morning are listed.

Natural calamities... and how years with no rain (and therefore no produce) were characterized as "Elijah's years." Plus, calculating produce per the years of Shemitah (and Yovel) - and how that connects to redeeming one's conscrated ancestral lands. Plus, mishnah! Cultivating wheat when the crop fails is a challenge to pay back....

A new mishnah - does weeding a field have impact on the transaction of the farmer (vs. landowner). Also, what does a measure of one's load have to do with prayer or tefillin? Plus, one more mishnah on the terms of natural disaster for a field.

A “meta” daf. Rav Pappa shares what types of farmers the mishnayot on the previous daf discuss. The daf describes situations where lashon hedyot - text that people may typically use - and when it is accepted in a variety of halachic scenarios.

The 8th perek finishes with a discussion about replacing a rented house that fell. The ninth perek discussed the laws of sharecroppers and tenant farmers.

Who takes the mezuzot in a rented property? The daf discusses the mitzvah of sending a mother bird away to collect her eggs in a rented property.

The daf discusses the ownership of a tree that is uprooted and lands on someone else’s property. How much notice must be given before evicting a tenant?

The laws of transactions between buyers and sellers, in parallel to borrowers and lenders. With the example of a pregnant cow that was traded for a donkey... What happens when the parties take opposite positions with differing levels of certainty? Also, the Gemara delves into slaves in the slave market, worth different values - and a buyer and seller who disagree over which slave had been purchase...

Rav discusses a case when a slave brings the borrowed object to the borrower and how does that affect the borrower’s liability. If a stolen item can have different values what does the thief pay the owner?

If one person says to another - you owe me 100 dinar, and the other says, I only owe you 50, I don't know ow about the other half - which means he can't swear, because he's not sure... he has to pay the entire amount. That case has a parallel in our mishnah... plus, if you borrow a cow and also the cow owner's services, the question is when is the borrower (or renter) liable? What if there are sev...

Stories! Unexpected work related harm - gender dynamics and the unlikelihood of mice going after a cat. That is, circumstances of death that we don't expect. Plus, issues of an owner's liability and how to maneuver around it. Also, a new mishnah on how the borrower differs from the renter in terms of liability when a borrower (or rented) animal dies while being either borrowed or rented.

Rana bar Chama shares a series of astounding questions exploring when a borrower may or may not be liable. The response to the questions may be even more interesting than the questions themselves.