Study Bava Batra folio 140B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
בת אשתו, מהו שתמעט בנכסים? אלמנתו, מהו שתמעט בנכסים? אלמנתו ובת – אי זה מהן קודמת?
What is the halakha with regard to sustenance the deceased pledged to give the daughter of his wife from a previous marriage? Does it reduce the value of the estate? What is the halakha with regard to the sustenance to which his widow is entitled? Does it reduce the value of the estate? Furthermore, with regard to his widow and daughter, which of them takes precedence if the estate is insufficient to provide sustenance for both?
אמר ליה: זיל האידנא ותא למחר. כי אתא, אמר ליה: פשוט מיהת חדא, דאמר רבי אבא אמר רבי אסי: עשו אלמנה אצל הבת – כבת אצל האחין בנכסים מועטין; מה בת אצל אחין – הבת ניזונת, והאחין ישאלו על הפתחים; אף אלמנה אצל הבת – אלמנה ניזונת, והבת תשאל על הפתחים.
R' Abbahu said to R' Yirmeya: Go now and come back tomorrow. When he came back, R' Abbahu said to him: Resolve at least one of your questions, as R' Abba says that R' Asi says: The rabbis established the status of the widow in relation to the daughter as equivalent to the status of the daughter in relation to the brothers in the case of a small estate. Just as in the case of a daughter in relation to her brothers, the daughter is sustained and the brothers go and request charity at the doors, so too in the case of a widow in relation to the daughter, the widow is sustained and the daughter goes and requests charity at the doors.
אדמון אומר: בשביל שאני זכר, הפסדתי? וכו׳. מאי קאמר? אמר אביי, הכי קאמר: בשביל שאני זכר, וראוי אני לעסוק בתורה, הפסדתי? אמר ליה רבא: אלא מעתה, מאן דעסיק בתורה הוא דירית, דלא עסיק בתורה לא ירית? אלא אמר רבא, הכי קאמר: בשביל שאני זכר, וראוי אני לירש בנכסים מרובין, הפסדתי בנכסים מועטין?
§ The Mishnah teaches: Admon says, rhetorically: I lost out just because I am male? Rather, he holds that the sons also receive sustenance. The Talmud asks: What is he saying? Abaye said that this is what he is saying: Because I am male, and I am fit to engage in the study of the Torah, I lost out and must go begging instead of studying the Torah? Rava said to him: If that is so, should one conclude that it is only one who engages in the study of the Torah who inherits, whereas one who does not engage in the study of the Torah does not inherit? Rather, Rava said that this is what Admon is saying: Because I am male, and I am fit to inherit in the case of a large estate, should I lose my inheritance entirely in the case of a small estate?