Study Bava Batra folio 63B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
למאי הלכתא? רב זביד אמר: שאם רצה להוציא בה זיזין, מוציא. רב פפא אמר: שאם רצה לבנות עלייה על גבה, בונה.
With regard to what halakha did Reish Lakish say this? In any case the upper story is his, as when he sold the house, it was only the lower story that he sold to the buyer. Rav Zevid says: He said this to teach the halakha that if the seller wishes to extend from the upper story projections over the courtyard, which was included in the sale, he may extend them. Rav Pappa says: He said this to teach the halakha that if this upper story collapses and the seller wishes to build an upper story on top of it to replace it, he may build it.
בשלמא לרב זביד, היינו דקתני ״זאת אומרת״; אלא לרב פפא, מאי ״זאת אומרת״? קשיא.
The Talmud asks: Granted, according to Rav Zevid, this explanation is consistent with that which Reish Lakish teaches, which begins with: That is to say. As according to Rav Zevid, Reish Lakish infers from the ruling of the baraita about tithes that even though the seller of the house did not explicitly withhold anything for himself, the court interprets his use of his superfluous stipulation as an indication that he wished to withhold for himself the space over the courtyard for the projections. But according to Rav Pappa, what did Reish Lakish mean when he said his statement that begins with the phrase: That is to say? The seller’s right to rebuild the upper story after it collapses is not derived from the superfluous stipulation that he attached to the transaction, and it is not inferred from the baraita. The Talmud concludes: Indeed, Rav Pappa’s interpretation is difficult, as it does not account for the wording of Reish Lakish’s statement.