The Weekly Daf #42 Bava Basra 37-43 Week of 19-25 Kislev 5755 / 22-28 November 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions =========================================================================== Ohr Somayach Around The World: The ACT Jewish Community of Canberra, AUSTRALIA, included Ask The Rabbi #37 in their magazine "HaMerkaz." Do you republish Ohr Somayach publications? We'd love you to see what you are doing - please send us a sample! =========================================================================== Your Friend's Friend's Friend Someone who is seen exercising possession of another person's field for three years and no protest is made by the original owner is believed to claim that he purchased the field and lost the bill of sale. If a protest was made he will not be able to make such a claim. This is true, rules the Sage Rav, even in a case where the original owner is a fugitive and there is a likelihood that he may never have heard of his field being taken over. Conversely, if the original owner registered a protest with two witnesses within this three year period, the possessor's claim is invalidated even if these witnesses were traveling to a destination far removed from the locale of the original owner and it is virtually impossible that they will personally relay the protest to him. The logic covering both cases is based on the maxim that "Your friend has a friend and your friend's friend has a friend." We therefore assume that anything known to two witnesses, whether it is possession or protest, will inevitably reach the party affected by this information. Bava Basra 38b =========================================================================== When Even the Rich are Poor This is the logic offered for explaining why a person pledging a gift of money to the poor people in his city may be referring to funds for a Sefer Torah which will benefit even the people of means. A Sefer Torah, Rashbam explains, is a necessity for every Jew and it is customary for someone to refer to his fellow townsmen as poor if they lack a Sefer Torah for that is indeed abject poverty. Bava Basra 43a =========================================================================== Did you receive "Talmudic Insights Into Chanukah" - the latest publication to be sent out on the OS-SPECIAL list? If you were not a subscriber, you can receive it from the following places: o The Jerusalem1 Gopher o Compuserve, Religion Forum, Judaism Library (#3) o E-Mail (send your request to newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il, set the subject to "Send Me: Chanukah" and leave the message text blank). =========================================================================== SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion. dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi. ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism. parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion. os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach. os-alum - "Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter. judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on Parsha & Judaism. There is NEVER a charge for any of the above lists (though your local information provider, such as AOL, Prodigy or CompuServe, might charge a nominal fee). To subscribe to any of these lists, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name} to: listserv@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il =========================================================================== Dedication opportunities are available for The Weekly Daf Please contact us for details. =========================================================================== Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il =========================================================================== (C) 1994 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample of an issue.