Study Bava Batra folio 162B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
איבעיא להו: שיטה ומחצה, מאי? תא שמע: הרחיק את העדים שני שיטין – פסול. הא שיטה ומחצה – כשר.
A dilemma was raised before the rabbis: If the space of a line and a half is left blank, what is the halakha? The Talmud seeks a solution to the dilemma. Come and hear what was stated in the baraita cited earlier: If one writing a document distanced the witnesses’ signatures two lines from the text of the document, leaving two lines blank, the document is not valid. One can infer: But if there is a gap of only a line and a half, the document is valid.
אימא סיפא: שיטה אחת – כשר. שיטה אחת הוא דכשר, הא שיטה ומחצה – פסול! אלא מהא ליכא למשמע מינה.
The Talmud deflects this proof: Say the last clause of the baraita: If one writing a document distanced the witnesses’ signatures one line from the text of the document, the document is valid. One can infer: It is only when there is a gap of one line that the document is valid, but if there is a gap of a line and a half it is not valid. The Talmud states: Rather, no inference is to be learned from this baraita.
מאי הוי עלה? תא שמע, דתניא: הרחיק את העדים שני שיטין מן הכתב – פסול. פחות מכאן – כשר.
What halakhic conclusion was reached about this matter? Come and hear a proof from a different source, as it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 11:10): If one writing a document distanced the witnesses’ signatures two lines from the text of the document, the document is not valid, but if the gap is less than that, it is valid. It is clear from the baraita that any gap less than two full lines does not invalidate the document.
היו ארבעה וחמשה עדים חתומין על השטר, ונמצא אחד מהן קרוב או פסול – תתקיים עדות בשאר.
The baraita continues: If there were 4 or 5 witnesses signed on the document, and one of them was found to be a relative of one of the parties in the document, or one of them was found to be otherwise disqualified from bearing witness, the testimony on the document may be established via the other witnesses.