Gittin, Daf Yod Gimmel, Part 3

 

Introduction

The Talmud begins to explicate the second part of the mishnah: [If he said], Give a maneh to so-and-so and died, the money should be given after his death.

 

גְּמָ׳ אָמַר רַב יִצְחָק בַּר שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר מָרְתָּא מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְרַב וְהוּא שֶׁצְּבוּרִין וּמוּנָּחִין בְּקֶרֶן זָוִית

בְּמַאי עָסְקִינַן אִילֵימָא בְּבָרִיא כִּי צְבוּרִין מַאי הָוֵי הָא לָא מְשַׁךְ וְאֶלָּא בִּשְׁכִיב מְרַע מַאי אִירְיָא צְבוּרִין כִּי אֵין צְבוּרִין נָמֵי דְּהָא קַיְימָא לַן דְּדִבְרֵי שְׁכִיב מְרַע כִּכְתוּבִים וְכִמְסוּרִין דָּמוּ

 

Gemara: R. Yitzchak bar Shmuel bar Marta said in the name of Rav: And this is so only when [the money] is gathered and sitting in a corner.

What are we dealing with here? If we say with a [gift given by] a healthy person, what difference does it make? The [person acquiring the money] did not draw it to himself.

And if we are dealing with a dying person, then why specifically if the money is gathered. Even if it is not gathered [the gift should work], for we hold that the words of a dying person are as if they were written and given over.

 

Rav says that the mishnah, according to which the money is given over after the death of the giver, refers only to a case where the cash is sitting in a pile, easily available.

But the Talmud has trouble understanding this. If the person is healthy, meaning he is not dying, then a gift does not belong to the recipient until he takes the money into his hand. Objects, according to Talmudic law, are acquired only by taking them into one s possession. The fact that the money is present does not help unless he takes it.

And if the gift is being given by a dying person, then there is a special rule in such a scenario. The gift is automatically valid. There is no need for the money to be present and readily available.

 

אָמַר רַב זְבִיד לְעוֹלָם בְּבָרִיא וְכִדְרַב הוּנָא אָמַר רַב דְּאָמַר רַב הוּנָא אָמַר רַב מָנֶה לִי בְּיָדְךָ תְּנֵהוּ לוֹ לִפְלוֹנִי בְּמַעֲמַד שְׁלָשְׁתָּן קָנָה

 

R. Zevid said: Indeed it refers to a gift given by a healthy person, and it follows Rav Huna in the name of Rav for Rav Huna said in the name of Rav: [One who says]: You have a maneh of mine. Give it to So-and-son. If he does so in the presence of all three, the recipient has acquired.

 

R. Zevid answers that the mishnah refers to a healthy person. The transaction is valid because he makes this statement in the presence of all three parties the giver, the one writing the document, and the recipient. This accords with Rav who holds that if all three parties are present, a person can transfer from his debtor to another party without the other party even taking possession. In tomorrow s section we will need to explore why the money needs to be gathered and sitting in the corner for this type of transaction to work.

 

רַב פָּפָּא אָמַר לְעוֹלָם בִּשְׁכִיב מְרַע וּכְאִידַּךְ דְּרַב דְּאָמַר רַב שְׁכִיב מְרַע שֶׁאָמַר תְּנוּ מָנֶה לִפְלוֹנִי מִנְּכָסַי מָנֶה זֶה נוֹתְנִין מָנֶה סְתָם אֵין נוֹתְנִין חָיְישִׁינַן שֶׁמָּא מָנֶה קָבוּר קָאָמַר

וְהִלְכְתָא לִקְבוּרָה לָא חָיְישִׁינַן

 

Rav Papa said: Indeed it refers to a dying person, and it follows the other statement by Rav, for Rav said: A dying person who said, Give a maneh to So-and-so from my money, if he says, this maneh we give it. If he does not explicate, we do not give it. For we are concerned that he was referring to a buried maneh.

But the law is that we are not concerned with a buried maneh.

 

R. Papa explains the mishnah as referring to a dying person. According to Rav, for the gift of a dying person to be given after his death, it must refer to a specific maneh (an amount of money). If he does not specify which maneh he wants to give, then we are concerned that maybe he was referring to some hidden money, perhaps buried in the ground. It is for this reason that the money must be gathered.

The Talmud notes that the halakhah does not follow this statement of Rav.