Synopsis of Subjects
CHAPTER I.
MISHNAS I. TO III. In case of dividing partnerships in a yard,
where and of what the wall shall be built. Is overlooking another's
property considered injurious? Of what size the yard must be to be fit
for division. May a prayer house be taken apart before the new building
is ready? The legend of Herod the great with Simeon b. Shatuh. How Herod
built the Temple without the consent of the Roman government. Concerning
partitions, fences in partners' gardens, and valleys. Mayor may not
one be compelled to join in the expenses of fences if one's estate is
surrounded by his neighbor's on three sides? If there is a wall, and
one of the owners claims that his neighbor did not bear his share of
the expense. A debtor who says: I paid my debt before due. If the plaintiff
demanded his money long after due. He who claims, "I have never borrowed,"
is to be considered as if he should say, "I have never paid." How and
where is a parapet to be made and of what size? If there were two courtyards
one upon the other; there were two tenants, and the roof of the lower
one sank; there was one who built a wall against the window of his neighbor,
etc. Two brothers divided a bequest, a palace and a fine garden, and
the latter built a wall on the edge of the garden. There was a note
belonging to orphans, against which the other party showed a receipt,
MISHNA IV. The sharing in the building of a gate to a courtyard
as well as to a city wall. Who are obliged to pay taxes and duties of
a city? Rabbi opened his barns of grain in the years of famine, etc.
How long must one dwell in a city to be taxed? Charity must be collected
by two persons and distributed by three. May one be pledged or not for
charity? Who of the poor must be investigated before support, and who
supported immediately without inquiry? What about one who begged from
door to door? The virtue of charity equals the sum of the virtues of
all the other commandments together. "I was told by the child who was
corrected by his mother," etc. The one who is doing charity secretly
is greater than Moses our master. How is the verse, Prov. xxi. 21, to
be understood? Whosoever makes it his business to do charity will be
blessed with sons having wisdom, wealth, etc. The discussion of Aqiba
with Tarnusruphus. As the yearly household expenses for one are appointed
(in Heaven) on each Rosh Hashana, so are his losses. Grace is charity which nears the redeeming, etc. How
may the born of Israel be raised? Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai questioned
his disciples as to the meaning of the verse, Prov. xiv. 34, etc. Iphra
Hurmiz, the mother of King Sabur, sent four hundred dinars for charity
to R. Ammi, etc. If one bought a tract of land, however small, he is
considered a citizen immediately,
MISHNA V. Partners cannot compel each other to divide. This is the rule:
If, after division, each part retains its former name, then one can
compel his partner to divide. A yard must be divided in accordance with
the doors, etc. The four ells which are allowed for each door are for
unloading. If one of the inhabitants of an alley desires to open the
door leading from his yard to another alley. Inhabitants of alleys who
desire to make doors to the street may be prevented by the public. Prophecy
was taken away from the prophets and was given to the wise, to lunatics,
and children (how this is to be understood). There was a man who bought
an estate near to the estate of his father-in-law (who had no male children).
The law, "Either you concede or I concede," when is it applied? The
case of female slaves whom Huna bequeathed to his sons. May or may not
the books of the Bible be bound together? What must the size of the
holy scrolls be? What was placed in the ark, and how. The order of the
Prophets, and who wrote them? Who was Job--an Israelite or a Gentile--and
at what time did he exist, if he existed at all? The legends about Satan
and Job. Satan was more afflicted than Job himself, etc. Satan and Peninnah
both intended (with their accusations) to please Heaven, etc. The explanation
of the passages addressed out of the storm wind, etc., etc. Why was
not Job doubly rewarded with daughters, as he was with sons and with
all his property? There are three to whom the Holy One, blessed be He,
gave a taste of the world to come in this world. There are six whom
the angel of death has not dominated. There are four who died without
sin,
CHAPTER II.
MISHNAS I. TO III. How much space is to be left between one's
property and another's? For whom is it to remove himself from supposed
injury, the supposed injurer or him who would be injured? One must remove
a pond for steeping flax from herbs, garlic from onions, and mustard
from bees. Three spans space, and plastered with lime--are both needed,
or does one of them suffice? Is one allowed to void his urine near the
wall of his neighbor? Under what circumstances one may or may not place
an oven in a lower story of a house. Can one of the partners in a yard
prevent his partner from establishing a store in it, or not? At what
age a child may be taken to school. The enactment of Joshua b. Gamla
concerning teaching of children. In what circumstances the claim, "You
are cutting off my livelihood," applies? "I doubt whether an inhabitant
of one alley can prevent one of another alley from competing with him."
The legend of R. Dimi's dry figs. How much space is to be left from
one wall to an opposite one, and how much to a window,
MISHNAS IV. TO XII. To what distance a ladder must be
removed from one's neighbor's pigeon-coop. The distance between a pigeon-coop
and the city. If a case which we should judge by a majority would be
different if according to proximity,
how is it to be judged? How much space is to be left to the city when
planting a fruit tree outside; and how much to a wild one, to a carob,
and to a sycamore. How much to barns, to cemeteries, and to tanneries.
The Shekhinah occupies every place. The world is like a balcony without
the fourth wall, etc. On what side of the city a tannery may be placed.
He who desires to increase his wisdom shall recite his prayers towards
the south, etc. To a well a distance of twenty-five ells must be left
when planting a tree, etc. One must not plant a tree near his neighbor's
field, etc. A tree which bears fruit to the measure of a kab is forbidden
to be cut down. A tree which is within sixteen ells of the boundary
of another's estate is considered robbery, etc. If the branches of a
tree are inclined towards another's field, what is to be done? The branches
of a tree which overhang public ground may be cut off, so that a came]
with its rider may pass freely,
CHAPTER III.
MISHNA I. The law of occupancy--to what it does and does not apply.
Whence is it deduced? What time is needed for it, and how a protest
against it should be made. Must the three years of hazakah be interrupted?
Who testifies as to the occupancy of houses? The many cases of occupied
houses which the owners claimed, brought before different rabbis of
the Amoraim who decided differently. If one claims, "It was from my
parents," and the other claims the same. There was one who said: "I
possessed a document but lost the true one, and this is a correct copy,"
There was another case similar concerning a hundred zuz in cash. It
was murmured among people that Rabha b. Sharshum had appropriated land
belonging to orphans, and Abayi sent for him. One snatched a piece of
silver from his neighbor and the case was brought before R. Ami. There
was a boat about which two parties quarrelled, each claiming that it
was his. If each of the parties claim: "This estate belonged to my parents."
If witnesses testified that the plaintiff has loaded a basket of fruit
from this field on the shoulders of the defendant, the hazakah is effected
immediately. Is ploughing a hazakah, or not? If one has made a hazakah
on the trees and another upon the ground, has the owner of the trees
a share in the ground?
MISHNAS II. AND III. There are three lands concerning
the law of hazakah. If one runs away from a city because of crime, and
one occupies his estate, the law of hazakah applies. How should one
protest? Is a protest not in one's presence to be considered? Under
what circumstances the court announces to the defendant that his property
will be sold. How is it when he told them to write a deed of gift without
an explanation? A hazakah to which there is no claim is not to be considered.
How so? What happened to Anan and Kahana, who placed their fences on
others' estates. If the father has consumed one year and his son two,
or vice versa, or each of them one year and the buyer from them
one year, is it considered a hazakah? The law of hazakah does not apply
to specialists, farmers, etc. May one who is supposed to be interested
in a case be a witness? Has one a right to say: "I cut myself off from
this estate entirely"? If A has robbed B of a field and has sold it
to C, then D comes with a claim, has B then any right to be a witness
for C? If one sold a field to his neighbor without security, he has no right to qualify as a witness concerning
it. The announcement of Rabha or Papa about an article which a Gentile
takes away from an Israelite. If one has given his garment to a specialist,
the latter claiming two zuz and the owner one. If one has exchanged
his utensils for another's in the house of a specialist, etc. "Come
and I will tell you what the swindlers of Pumbeditha are doing." May
a gardener be taken as a witness in case of a claim, or not? A robber--neither
he nor his son has hazakah, but his grandson has. A specialist or a
gardener who has ceased his profession, a son who was separated from
his father, and a woman who was divorced--all of them are considered,
in a case of hazakah, with men in general. If one sold his estate by
duress, the sale is valid. Why so? Tabba hanged Pappi on a tree, to
compel him to sell him his field. If witnesses testify they signed a
note whose amount was not yet paid, but was prepared by the borrower
in case he should find some one who would make him the loan. "I did
so only with the intention of pleasing my husband, but not with the
intention of selling it." Is there no occupancy in the estate of a married
woman? If one borrowed from his bondsman and encumbered his estate for
him by a document, and afterwards he freed him? One must not accept
bailments from women, slaves, or children. If one who was the business
man of the house, and the bills of sale and notes were in his name,
claims: "All this is my own"--what should be the evidence? Concerning
a gift or an inheritance of brothers. Is it not the duty of every Israelite
to save the property of his neighbor from damage when seeing danger
is near? There cannot be a better hazakah than lifting up, as this act
gives title to one in everything. The estate of idolaters, if sold to
an Israelite, and the latter has not made a hazakah on it, it is like
a desert. If an Israelite buys a field from a Gentile and another Israelite
comes and takes possession of it (before the bill of sale reaches the
buyer). "I was told by the Exilarch Uqban the following three things:
(a) That the law of the government should be respected as a law
of the Torah," etc.,
MISHNAS IV. TO X. What, and under what circumstances, collusive
witnesses have to pay. If there were three brothers and one stranger.
There is a difference in usage of articles--in some cases hazakah applies,
and in some not. Does this rule always hold good? The wonderful sayings
and acts of Bnaha. Hazakah does not apply to movable pipes attached
to drains, etc. What is to be considered an Egyptian window? To an enclosure
the size of a span in width, hazakah applies. One must not open windows
to the yard even when he is a partner in it. One must not open, in a
yard belonging to partners, a door or window opposite that of one's
partner, etc. One must not make a hole in public ground. "There were
enclosures from R. Ammi's property facing an alley," etc. When the second
Temple was destroyed, many of Israel separated themselves from eating
meat and drinking wine. Such a thing must not be decreed, which the
majority of the congregation could not endure,
CHAPTER IV.
MISHNAS I. TO V. If one sells a house unconditionally.
If one sells a property, he must write in the bill of sale: "I reserve
nothing of it for myself." If E owns a field adjoining A's field from
east to west, and B's from north
to south, and he comes to sell it, etc. If A and B were partners in
a field, and A sold his share to C. If one sold a house with the stipulation
that the upper diæta (chamber) was reserved for him. If
one has sold the house to one man and the diæta to another.
Title is not given to a well, although there is mentioned that one sold
the depth and the height. The difference between a sale and a gift.
If one sold a house, he sold with it the door, the bolt and lock, but
not the key. If one sold a yard, the houses. walls, cellars, and caves
are included, but not movable property. If one sells a press-house,
the sale includes the trough, the press-beam or press stone, etc.,
MISHNAS VI. TO IX. If one sells a bath-house the sale does not
include the boards on the floor. If one sells a town, the sale includes
houses, etc., but not movable property. If one sells a field, the sale
includes the stones which are needed for its use. From the passage,
Gen. xxxiii. 17, we infer that the boundary is sold to the buyer with
the field biblically. A depositary who claims that he had returned the
bailment, etc. In selling a field, if it contains a well, cistern, etc.,
they are not included in the sale.
CHAPTER V.
MISHNAS I. TO V. How should one acquire title to a boat? To a
promissory note title is given by transfer and bill of sale: acquire
title to it and to all the debts it contains is traditional and also
according to common sense. A bill of sale to a wagon does not include
the mules when not hitched, and vice versa. May the amount paid
serve as evidence? If one sells an ass, the harness is not included.
The khumni is not included in the harness. What does khumni mean? If one sold a she-ass, its foal is sold; but if a cow, the calf
is not. If one buys the brood of a pigeon-coop; of a bee-hive. If one
buys a tree for cutting it down, he must begin a span high from the
ground; an inoculated sycamore, three spans; a trunk of sycamores, two.
If exactly three spans, it is beneficial for the growth of the tree,
etc.,
MISHNAS VI. TO IX. If one buy two trees within his neighbor's
field, the ground beneath is not sold; if three, it is. Concerning the
firstfruit offerings. If the branches were wide-spreading. How much
space is to be left between the trees in question, that it should be
considered the buyer's? A practised act is more important for evidence.
How should the ground be. longing to the buyer be measured? If one has
sold two trees situated in his field and one on the boundary. There
are four legal customs concerning sales. If one sold dark-red wheat
and it was found to be white, or vice versa, etc. By what acts
is title given to fruit and to flax? The vessels of the buyer give title
to him in every place, except on public ground. There are four legal
customs concerning sellers, etc. To real estate title is acquired by
money, deed, or hazakah; and to personal property title is given by
drawing only. To a thing which is usually lifted up, title is given
by lifting; and usually drawn, by drawing. If one hires a servant to
work for him in the barn for one dinar a day, with the stipulation that
he shall work for him for the same price in the harvest-time. If one
sold wine or oil, and it be comes dearer or cheaper,
MISHNAS X. AND XI. If one sends his little son to the
storekeeper with a pundiun (dupondius), but the child loses the
issar and breaks the glass. If one
take a vessel from a specialist, to examine it, he is responsible for
an accident. The wholesaler has to clean his measures once within thirty
days. Must overweight be given, and how much? The punishment for false
measuring is harder than for adultery. It is harder for the cheating
of a commoner than for the cheating of the sanctuary. The scales must
be hanging three spans in the air, etc. Weights must not be made of
tin, lead, cassiterite, or other kinds of metal. One must not keep in
his house an unjust measure, even if he uses it for a chamber. If the
elders of the city want to enlarge the measures, it must not be more
than a sixth of them. From the verse Ezek. xlv. 12 may be inferred three
things, etc. "Those who forestall fruit," etc.--who are meant thereby?
There must not be exported from Palestine things by which a livelihood
is made. It may be prayed by blowing of horns even on Sabbath, when
business becomes dull. One must not emigrate from Palestine to other
provinces, unless the price of grain has increased, etc. "When Abraham
our father departed from this world, all the great men of the nations
stood up in a file and said," etc. "I remember when a child used to
break a piece of carob, threads of honey would leak out," etc.,
CHAPTER VI.
MISHNAS I. TO VIII. If one sold fruit and it did not
sprout, or an ox and thereafter it was found a goring one. May the trouble
of slaughtering and selling the meat be taken into consideration? If
an ox was found killed at the side of another pasturing one. Between
majority and hazakah, which should be preferred? All hold the theory
of majority. If one delivered wheat for grinding to fine meal, but the
miller did not properly grind it; or if meal were delivered to a baker
and he did not bake it properly. If one buys fruit, he has to accept
a quarter of a kabh of dust on a saah. If he sold a cellar of wine,
he must accept ten harsh barrels on each hundred. If wheat, a quarter
of a kabh of peas; if barley, a quarter of chaff; if lentils, of dust.
If the buyer has found more than the above prescribed quantity. The
difference between a cellar and this cellar, and also if for keeping
was added. May or may not wine which is sold in retail stores be considered
products of the vine? If one sells wine, and it turns sour. Which wine
is considered an old one. If one is proud, he is not tolerated even
by his family. A commoner who disguises himself in the garment of a
scholar cannot enter into the habitation of the Holy One, etc. If one
sells, or a contractor undertakes to build, a wedding or a widow house.
A groom who resides in the house of his father-in-law is lighter than
bran, and still lighter is an invited guest who brings with him an uninvited
one, and still lighter is he who answers before hearing the question.
If one wishes to build a stable. If one possesses a well, situated on
the other side of his neighbor's house, or a garden inside of his neighbor's.
If there was a public thoroughfare through one's field, etc. If one
sells a place for digging a grave, or an undertaker makes a place for
one, the inside of the cave must be four by six, etc.,
CHAPTER VII.
MISHNAS I. TO VI. I sell you earth of the size whereon
one kur can be sown, etc., or measured with a line. In case the buyer
has to make return, it shall be in money. If the seller said "the size
of a kur," without any addition,
how is the law? "I sell you the estate," with a measurement a trifle
more or less; or, "this estate . . . with its marks and boundaries."
If two versions of the seller contradict each other, which is to be
considered? The difference in opinion of the Amoraim in the explanation
of Mishna IV. R. Papa bought an estate said to be twenty saahs--after
it was measured it was found only fifteen. To two brothers who had divided
their inheritance came a third brother (of whose existence they were
not previously aware). If brothers divided their inheritance, and a
creditor of their father came and took away the share of one of them.
If the members of the court differ in the amount, upon appraisement
brought before them. "I sell you the half of the field"; "The southern
half of this field," etc.--the seller has to give space for a partition,
etc.,
CHAPTER VIII.
MISHNA I. There are those who bequeath, and also inherit, others who
inherit but do not bequeath; and also those who neither bequeath nor
inherit. The passage [Num. xxvii. 8] in the Scripture does not correspond
with all that is taught above. Who were the grandfathers of Pinchos
ben Elazar on his mother's side. If one is about to marry, it is advisable
for him to investigate the character of the bride's brothers, It is
better for one to hire himself to Abhada Zarah (idolatry) than to rely
upon people that shall support him. Abhada Zarah means "idolatry." Literally,
however, it is "a strange service." Is the tribe of the mother's side
equal to the tribe of the father's side? What happened to Janai and
Jehudah the second when they came together? The husband from his wife.
Whence is this deduced? Whence came Pinchos ben Elazar to have a mountain
which his father did not possess? Whence is it deduced that the husband
does not inherit the estate to which his wife during her life is only
heir apparent? In the case of a gift with the ceremony of a sudarium,
whether healthy or sick, what time may be given him to retract,
MISHNAS II. TO IV. The order of inheritance is thus,
etc. If one decides that a daughter shall inherit, when there is a daughter
of a son, even if he were a prince in Israel, he must not be listened
to. What happened to Rabban Johanan with the Sadducean? "The daughters
of Z'lophchod have inherited," etc. The land, of Israel was divided
among the ascendants from Egypt, and not among their children. Joshua
and Caleb inherited the shares of the spies. Whence is this deduced?
May or may not a disciple be honored in the presence of his master?
Why is the order in mentioning the daughters of Z'lophchod different
in the Scripture? If a woman marries at less than twenty years of age,
she bears children until sixty; but when she marries after forty, she
does not then bear children. There were seven men who encompassed the
whole world since its creation until now, etc. How was the land of Israel
divided--into twelve parts, or among the people severally? The land
of Israel will be divided among thirteen tribes. A son and a daughter
are equal concerning inheritance, etc. How shall the double share of
the first-born be counted--double as to each brother or as to the whole
estate. What is the reason that Jacob took away the privilege of the
first-born from Reuben and gave it to Joseph? Jacob's children, who
came to Egypt, in sum you find seventy; however, if you will number them in detail, you will find only sixty-nine. In the case of
inheritance of a promissory note, the first-born took a double share,
etc. A first-born does not take a double share in a loan. The Palestinians,
however, say he does. What is to be done with an estate bequeathed for
life only, which the in. heritor has sold? A first-born does not inherit
property to come in the future, and the same is the case with a husband.
If the first-born protests when his brothers come to improve the estate
left by their father,
MISHNAS V. TO VII. A will which is against the law of the Scripture must not be listened to; however, if it is as a gift, it may. "My son is my first-born," he takes a double share; "My son is a first-born," he does not. "Go to Sh'kh'at my son, who is a first-born, whose spittle cures eyes." If two wives of one have born two sons in a secret place which was dark, and it is not known who was born first, they may write a power of attorney each to the other, etc. If one was known to the people as a first-born, and his father said of another, etc. A creditor may collect from bondsmen belonging to orphans for their father's debt. A second-cousin, a third-cousin, may be a witness (according to the law). If one says, "This child shall inherit all," or "My wife shall take an equal share with one of my sons," he is to be listened to. If the word "gift" was mentioned in the beginning, etc. How is this to be illustrated If one wrote, "The field on the east side shall be given to A, and B shall inherit that on the west side," is title given or not? All that is said in one speech is valid, except as to idolatry. If one says: "A shall inherit my estate," and he has a daughter, he said nothing; or, "A shall inherit my estate instead of my daughter," or, "My daughter instead of my son"--how is the law? A Halakha must not be taken for granted from a discussion or from an act, unless one is told to do so. Rabbi said: My youth made me presume to contradict Nathan the Babylonian. If one bequeath all his estates to his wife, he makes her a guardian only. (All that is said above treats of a will by a sick man.) How is it if this was done while in good health? If one has bequeathed all his estates to his sons, but has left to his wife a small portion of ground.
How is it in a similar case when one is in good health? A sick person who has
bequeathed all his estate to a stranger, it is to be investigated if
the latter is in some way fit to be called a direct heir. An inheritance
has no interruption, and goes direct to the heirs of the inheritor.
The rabbis condemned one who bequeathed his estate to strangers, leaving
out his children. What happened to Shamai the elder with Jonathan b.
Uziel,
MISHNAS VIII. TO XII. "This is my son," he is to be trusted;
"My brother," he is not. if one testify he has divorced his wife, he
is to be trusted. If a short period of time, can one's testimony be
divided--that for the past he should not be trusted, and for the future
he should? If a sick person said to witnesses: "Write, and give a mana
to so and so," and before they did so he dies. How is it if the same
was said by one in good health? If one wishes to bequeath his estate
to his children, etc. How if he has written "from to-day and after my
death"? If a sudarium is mentioned, no matter what version was used,
nothing is needed to be added. "My estates are bequeathed to you, and
after you to B," etc. Who is called a crafty villain? To a gift presented
by one who is dying, at what time is title given? There was a woman
who had a tree on the estate of R. Bibbi b. Abayi, etc. If A said to
B, "I give you this ox as a present, with the stipulation that you shall
return it to me." If a sick man said, "I have a mana with so and so,"
the witnesses may write this, etc. The Halakha prevails that it must
not be feared the court will err. The father has the right to gather
the products bequeathed to his son, etc. If he left grown-up and minor
sons, the grown ones have no right to derive any benefit on account
of the minors, etc. How is it if a woman has borrowed money, consumed
it, and thereafter she married without paying her debt, and brought
estates with her at marriage? "The following is not to be returned in
the jubilee year," etc. (p. 310). In some respects the husband should
be considered as an heir, and in some respects as a buyer,
CHAPTER IX.
MISHNAS I. AND II. If one leave sons and daughters, if the inheritance
is of great worth, the daughters must be supported from it; if a moderate
one, the daughters must be supported, and the sons may go a-begging.
If the estates were of great worth, but there was a promissory note
in the hands of a creditor. If the deceased left a widow and a daughter,
and the estates left could support only one of them. If one leave sons,
daughters, and an hermaphrodite. "If my pregnant wife shall bear a male,"
etc. A child of one day inherits and bequeaths, etc. All that was said
here was taught in the city of Sura. In Pumbeditha, however, it was
taught otherwise, etc. One said, "I bequeath my estate to the children
who shall be born of you by me," etc. One said, "My estate shall be
for you and your children." And R. Joseph decided: One half of the estate
belongs to her, and the other half to her children. There was one who
had sent home pieces of silk, without any order to which member of his
household they belonged,
MISHNAS III. TO VII. If one left grown-up and minor sons,
and the former improved the estate, etc. If one has made the wedding
of his son in one of his houses, the son acquires title to the house,
etc. Three things the rabbis enacted as laws without giving any reason.
Brothers partners in business; if one of them was taken by the government
to work, etc. If one of the brothers took two hundred zuz to begin the
study of the Torah or to learn a trade, etc. Wedding presents may be
replevined by the court. If one has betrothed a woman and dies before
marriage, a virgin collects two hundred and a widow one hundred zuz.
Five things were said about wedding presents: (a) They may be
collected by the court; (b) they are returned at the time when
the donator marries, etc. Who is like unto a wealthy man who is known
to be rich by his many cattle and estates, etc.? The different explanations
of Prov. xv. 15. If one sends presents to the home of his betrothed's
father, to the value of one hundred manas, and has partaken of the betrothal
meal, even for one dinar, they are not to be returned. How is it when
the presents have improved, etc.? If a sick person had bequeathed all
his estates to strangers, etc. Three things Achithophel charged his
sons, etc. If a sick person said: "A shall reside in such a house,"
or, "B shall consume the products of such and such a tree," etc. A sick
person who has bequeathed all of his estates to strangers, it must be
investigated how was the case. If a sick person has bequeathed all his
estates to strangers and thereafter is cured. The expressions, "He shall
take," "shall be rewarded." How shall it be done if he expresses himself
A is the one who shall derive benefit from my estates? If a sick person
has confessed, "I owe so much to so and so," shall it be taken for granted,
etc.? In five cases the act of a gift is not considered unless the bequeather
writes "all my estates." What is considered estates? How is the case
with the Holy Scrolls--as they must not be sold, are they considered
estate or not, etc.? The mother of Rami b. Hama bequeathed to him her
estates on one evening. The mother of R. Amram the Pious possessed a
bundle of deeds, etc. Concerning a gift in part of a sick person-in
one respect it is equal to a gift by one in good health, etc. A sick
person who has bequeathed all his estates to strangers, although made
with a sudarium, if he was cured he may retract. If one bequeathed first
to one and thereafter to another, etc.,
MISHNA VIII. If in the deed it was not mentioned that he was sick, and
he claims that he was sick at the time of writing and had a right to
retract. What kind of evidence is required, etc. It happened in the
city of Bene Brack, that one sold the estate of his father and died;
and his relatives complained that he was not of age when he died. What
must be the age of one who has the right to sell the estates left him
by his father? How is he to be considered during the nineteenth year--nineteen,
which is still not of age, or twenty? There was one lad less than twenty,
who had sold the estate of his father. If a lad of thirteen years and
one day presented a gift to some one, his act is valid. If one divides
his estates verbally, no matter if he was in good health or dangerously
sick, according to R. Elazar to real estate title is given by money,
etc. It happened with an inhabitant of the city of Mruni, who was in
Jerusalem, that he possessed much valuable property which he desired
to present to different persons, etc. If it happens that a sick person
divides his estates verbally on the Sabbath, etc. Suppose a house falls
upon A and his father or on any persons, that one of them has to be
bequeather and the other inheritor, and it is not known who dies first.
If a son has sold his share of the inheritance of his father to some
one, and dies while the father was still alive, and thereafter his father
died, the son of the seller has a right to take away the goods from
the buyer. And this is a complicated case in the law of money matters.
A son inherits from his mother when he is already in the grave, so that
his brothers from his father's side should inherit from him,
CHAPTER X.
MISHNAS I. TO V. A simple get (document) the witnesses
must sign at the end of the contents. A folded one, however, the witnesses
must sign outside, etc. In what place should the witnesses sign a folding
document? If the signatures of the witnesses were separated by a space
of two lines from the writing, the document is invalid; is it meant
with their usual space or without? There was a folding document which
came before Rabbi, and he said: "There is no date to it," etc. All must
be done as is customary in the country. If there was only one witness
to a simple, etc. If in the document was written "hundred zuz," which
make twenty selas, etc. If on the top of the document was written "a
mana," and on the bottom "two hundred zuz," or vice versa, etc.
There was a document in which was written, "six hundred and a zuz,"
etc. There was a toll-master of a bridge who was a Jew who said to Abayi: "Let the master show me his signature,"
etc. A divorce may be written by the court for a husband in the absence
of his wife-the husband must pay the fees. Documents of arbitrating
and all other acts of mediating by the court must not be written unless
both parties are present-at the expense of both. There was a receipt
approved by Jeremiah b. Abba. However, the same woman came into his
court to claim her marriage contract several years later, etc. If one
has paid a part. of his debt, and deposited his document with some one.
If it happened to one that a promissory note became erased, he must
find witnesses. The approval must be written: "We three, E, F, G, the
undersigned, were sitting together, and before us was brought by A,
the son of B, an erased note," etc. If one comes before the court claiming
that he has lost a promissory note from so and so, etc. If one has presented
a gift to his neighbor by a deed, if the deed was returned by the beneficiary
the gift is considered returned. The following is the order of claims
before the court. The lender comes to the court to complain that the
borrower does not pay his debt, etc. Concerning deeds, they may write
another one without mentioning the responsibility of the seller for
the estate, etc. There was a woman who gave money to one that he might
buy estates for her, etc. If one came to claim a field saying that he
possesses a deed, and also that it was in his possession the years of
hazakah, etc. If there was any forgery in the document, or there were
incompetent witnesses, the transferring is not considered,
MISHNAS VI. TO IX. If one has paid a part of his debt,
according to R. Jehudah the promissory note must be changed. According
to R. Jose. the lender has to give a receipt for the amount paid. The
Halakha prevails neither with R. Jehudah nor with R. Jose, etc. If the
document was written at the date used by the government, and such a
date fell on a Sabbath or on the Day of Atonement, etc. It happened
with R. Itz'hak b. Joseph, who had money with R. Abba, etc. Abba said
to his scribe. "When it shall happen that you have to write a document
with a later date, you must write as follows: this document was postdated
by us for a certain reason," etc. If one holds a promissory note for
a hundred zuz, and requests that it shall be rewritten in two notes
each of fifty zuz, etc. If there were two brothers, one rich and one
poor, and they inherited from their father a bath-house, or an olive-press
house, if for business they must share equally; but if for private use,
etc. If there are two persons who bear one and the same name, they cannot
give promissory notes to each other, nor to any of the inhabitants.
If a promissory note was paid, etc. If one (while struggling with death)
says to his son: "A promissory note among the notes I possess is paid,
but I do not remember which," etc. If one made a loan to his neighbor
through a surety, he must not collect first from the surety, etc. Whether
a surety has to pay or not, R. Jehudah and R. lose differ, etc. If the
surety said: "Lend to this man, and I am the surety," etc. If the expression
was, "Give to him, and I will return you," then has the lender nothing
to do with the borrower. There was a judge who transferred the estate
of the borrower to the lender. before the lender had demanded his money
from the borrower, etc. There was a surety for orphans who had paid
the lender before he notified the orphans. If one was put under the
ban because he declined to pay his debts. If the promissory note of the deceased was in the hands of the surety, who claims
to have paid the lender, etc. There was a surety for a deceased debtor
to a heathen, who paid the heathen before he had demanded his debt from
the Orphans. If one made himself surety to a woman for a marriage contract,
etc. A sick person who has consecrated all his estates, and at the same
time said "So and so has a mana with me," he may be trusted. A sick
person who said: "A has a mana with me," and thereafter the orphans
claimed that they have paid, they are to be trusted. If one borrows
money on a promissory note, the lender has a right to collect from encumbered
estates. If it happen that a creditor sees his debtor in the market,
grapples him by the throat and one passes by and says, "Leave him alone,
I will pay," he is nevertheless free, because the loan was made not
upon his surety. Biblically there is no difference between a loan on
a document and by word of mouth, and it should be collected from encumbered
estates. A verbal loan is not collectible--neither from heirs nor from
buyers. If the surety signed before the signatures, it may be collected
from encumbered estates. Only a surety in the presence of the court
is free from a sudarium, but all others are not.
HAGADAH.
The well-known legends of Rabba b. b. Hana: Waves, Hurnim ben Lilith, roebuck
of one day, alligator. The fish which destroyed sixty cities. The fish
with two fins. About the leviathan, male and female. The banquet of
the upright in the world to come. The bird with her head in the sky.
The geese from which a whole river of fat was running. The Arabian merchant
who accompanied Rabba in the desert, and showed him the dead of the
desert at the time of Moses. The place where Korach with his company
was swallowed up, where the earth and the sky meet, etc. What R. Johanan
has to tell. Jehudah of Mesopotamia. What happened with Eliezer and
Jehoshua while on the ship. What Huna b. Nathan told. The canopies (chupas)
for each upright in the world to come. The ten chupas made for
Adam the first in paradise. About Hiram the King of Tyre who claimed
to be a God. The increase of Jerusalem in the future,
APPENDIX.
Usucapio in the Roman Law
Sources: Biblical
Texts |