Study Bava Batra folio 90A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ועוכלא. וכמה היא עוכלא? אחד מחמשה ברביע. ובמדת הלח הוא עושה הין, וחצי הין, ושלישית ההין, ורביעית ההין, ולוג, וחצי לוג, ורביעית, ושמינית, ואחד משמונה בשמינית – וזהו קורטוב.
and an ukla. And how much is an ukla? It is 1/5th of 1/4th of a kav. And in the case of liquid measures, one may prepare a hin, which is 12 log; and a half-hin, or 6 log; and 1/3rd-hin, or 4 log; and 1/4th-hin, 3 log; and a log; and a half-log; and 1/4th-log; and 1/8th-log; and 1/8th of 1/8th-log, and this, the last mentioned, is a kortov.
ולעביד נמי קביים! אתי לאיחלופי בתרקב. אלמא טעו אינשי תילתא – אי הכי, קב נמי לא ליעביד; דאתי לאיחלופי בחצי תרקב! אלא קביים היינו טעמא דלא עביד – דאתי לאיחלופי בחצי תרקב.
The Talmud asks: And let one also prepare a measure equal to two kav. The Talmud answers that this measure is not used, lest people come to mistake it for a tarkav, which is 3 kav. The Talmud observes: Apparently, people err by 1/3rd of a measure. If that is so, one should also not prepare a measure equal to a kav, as people may come to mistake it for a half-tarkav, which is equal to 1½ kav. Rather, this is the reason that one may not prepare a two-kav measure: That people might come to mistake it for a half-tarkav, which is equal to 1½ kav.
אלמא טעי איניש ריבעא – אי הכי, חצי תומן ועוכלא לא ליעביד! אמר רב פפא: מדות קטנות בקיאי בהו אינשי.
The Talmud again suggests: Apparently, people err by 1/4th of a measure. If that is so, one should also not prepare measures of a half-tomen, which is 1/16th of a kav, and an ukla, which is 1/20th of a kav. Since they differ by only 1/5th, there is a concern that people might mistake one measure for the other. Rav Pappa said: People are well-versed in small measures and can distinguish between them.