Bava Batra 155 - November 27, 26 Cheshvan
Even though the Gemara concluded that Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan hold positions that were originally attributed to each other, the difficulty that Rabbi Yochanan raised against Reish Lakish can still be explained as such and does not need to be reversed. At what age can one sell one’s father’s possessions? There is a debate about whether one can sell at eighteen or twenty. Rabbi Zeira tries to prove from the story in Bnei Brak where they wanted to see if there were signs of maturity on the dead body must prove that the age was eighteen as a Mishna in Nidda 57b states that over age twenty the child can sell even if they show no signs of physical maturity. Therefore, the child must have been eighteen and that explains why they want to check. However, this is rejected as they explain that the Mishna is only true in a case where there are other signs that the twenty-year-old was a saris. In the absence of those signs, they would still need to see if the child shows physical signs of maturity to enable the sale, until the child reaches mid-life, at thirty-six (into the thirty-sixth year). Can one sell the property they inherited at the age of seventeen and a day (into the eighteenth year) or nineteen and a day, according to the other opinion? The Gemara explains there is a debate here as well. However, one of the opinions was derived mistakenly from a misunderstanding of a ruling in a case that came before Rava. Gidel bar Menashya asked Rava if the sale of a fourteen-year-old girl could be accepted if she showed a clear understanding of business relations. Rava ruled that her sale was valid. The Gemara explains that the details of that case were specifically that age and a girl because that was the situation that came before him, but the same would hold at a younger age (over bar/bat mitzva) and for a boy. Rav Huna son of Rabbi Yehushua ruled that even though a child under the age of eighteen/twenty cannot sell inherited property, they can be accepted as witnesses. Mar Zutra limits this to movable property, not land. Ameimar ruled that a child can give away inheritance as a gift, even under eighteen/twenty. Rav Ashi questions the logic of this ruling.