Weekly Daf #59

Become a Supporter Library Library

The Weekly Daf by Rav Mendel Weinbach

Bava Basra 156 - 162 - Issue #59
20 - 26 Adar Sheini 5755 / 22 -28 March 1995


This publication is also available in the following formats: [Text] [Word] [PDF] Explanation of these symbols


Fit To Be Tied

In addition to the regular type of document used either for the purpose of divorce or for loans and sales there was once in use another type of document called a "tied document". Whereas the regular one was written in an unbroken flow of lines on a sheet of parchment with the witnesses signed below, the "tied" one was written in a very complicated fashion. After each written line a line was left blank and folded over the written one. Then the two were sown together - "tied" - and the process was repeated for the remaining lines and completed with the witnesses signing on the back of the parchment.

What was the purpose of instituting such a complicated, time-consuming procedure when a simple document would suffice?

This practice arose in a particular community with many kohanim who were quick to lose their tempers towards their wives and rush into a divorce. Since a kohen is forbidden to marry any divorcee, even his own, such an impetuous move could result in an irreparable domestic tragedy. The Sages therefore instituted for such a community a divorce document that would take considerable time to prepare in the hope that during this interval the enraged kohen would cool off and abandon his plans for divorce.

Once this procedure was established for divorce documents it was extended to all other legal documents so there would be a uniform practice in that community. Today it is not the practice to use a "tied document" even when the divorcing husband is a kohen.

Bava Basra 160b


"In the place of your fathers will be your children; You (Hashem) will appoint them princes throughout the land." (Tehillim 45:17)

This is not intended as a law of inheritance which establishes a direct link between grandfather and grandchild but rather as a blessing which Hashem bestows upon His righteous servants. This blessing has a number of dimensions:

  1. The righteous will have not only children but grandchildren to inherit their positions of honor. (Rashbam)
  2. The righteous will have children as righteous as themselves and deserving of inheriting their glory. (Tosefos)
  3. What the children of the righteous attain in status and wealth will not be at the expense of their parents but rather as an ancestral endowment and they will share glory with their father as princes with a king. (Ein Yaakov)
  4. The children - all righteous Jews - will inherit from their fathers - the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov - the blessings which Hashem promised them and they will rule the land of Israel which Hashem promised our ancestors to give to us. (Maharsha)

Bava Basra 159a


General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Lev Seltzer
HTML Design: Eli Ballon, Michael Treblow

© 1995 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.
This publication is available via E-Mail
Ohr Somayach Institutions is an international network of Yeshivot and outreach centers, with branches in North America, Europe, South Africa and South America. The Central Campus in Jerusalem provides a full range of educational services for over 685 full-time students.

The Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE) of Ohr Somayach offers summer and winter programs in Israel that attract hundreds of university students from around the world for 3 to 8 weeks of study and touring.

Ohr Somayach's Web site is hosted by TeamGenesis


Copyright © 1995 Ohr Somayach International. Send us feedback.
Dedication opportunities are available for Weekly Daf. Please contact us for details.
Ohr Somayach International is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation (letter on file) EIN 13-3503155 and your donation is tax deductable.