Since this tractate deals primarily with monetary law and monetary relationships, the principles governing these issues differ in their very essence from those governing ritual matters, or the halakhot and judgments of the Torah in general. One of the central components is the enormous authority granted to courts to ordain laws and enactments. By power of the principle that property declared ownerless by a court is ownerless, a court is authorized to declare one’s property ownerless or grant it to another person. Therefore, whatever is done by power of the court, and in great measure also that which is done by the community’s leaders, has the force of halakha, even when not explicitly stated in the Torah. Another difference between Jewish monetary law and Jewish ritual law follows from the fact that one may give away his money or waive rights granted to him by halakha. For this reason, many of the laws and enactments in this tractate are directives for deciding the halakha when no agreement has been reached between the parties. But when the parties are prepared to reach an agreement, they can decide monetary matters between them as they see fit. Tractate Bava Batra addresses four principal issues: Relations between neighbors, the halakhot of presumption of ownership and deeds, the halakhot of sales, and the halakhot of inheritance. Most of these halakhot are based on ḥazaka, a concept that has multiple meanings, some of which are clarified in this tractate in a comprehensive and profound manner. In its most general sense, a ḥazaka is a presumption with regard to the nature of reality, and in the special context of this tractate it is a presumption with regard to the nature and behavior of human beings, i.e., how an ordinary person behaves in a particular situation, and how an ordinary person understands and formulates agreements. With regard to the details, there is, of course, room for disagreement: Does one suffer when another can see into his property, and to what extent does he suffer? Is a foul odor or excessive noise beyond what an ordinary person is prepared to accept? At what point does one protest when an unauthorized person uses his property? How long does the average person hold on to written records? Similar questions arise with regard to the halakhot of sales. When one buys or sells property, whether by way of a written or an oral agreement, how are his intentions to be understood? Of course, a precise and detailed contract prevents misunderstandings and disagreements. But in the absence of a clear contract, such matters must at times be decided by a court. This tractate provides the definition of certain items, e.g., house, vineyard, boat, and the like. What does each of these terms include, and what is not included? If one buys an item that turns out to be defective or deficient, can he cancel the transaction or demand compensation? When is it said that a defect is insignificant and no reasonable person would raise objections about it? Another fundamental issue in commercial transactions relates to gemirut da’at, final intention or making up of the mind of the parties to a transaction. Here too, the matter is decided in accordance with normal human behavior: When is an action performed under compulsion considered void, and when does it have legal force? Since the halakhot in these areas are not established according to objective criteria dictated by Torah law, they enjoy considerable flexibility. Much depends on regional custom and the manner in which the people of a particular place conduct their affairs. The principle that everything is in accordance with the regional custom is important with regard to these halakhot, because general agreement can establish the halakha in a particular place, whether it was reached through a formal decision of the local residents or expresses the general consensus without any explicit decision ever having been reached. Similarly, many of the matters discussed in this tractate are decided in practice in accordance with the discretion of the judges, who must take into account the circumstances of the time and place, and the particular parties. The halakhot of inheritance differ slightly from the rest of the topics discussed in the tractate, because they are based on what is written in the Torah, and for this reason they do not depend solely on the intentions of the deceased and the heir. While the halakhot of inheritance are by Torah law and are not subject to change, they can be circumvented in various ways, e.g., through a deed of gift or through a deathbed declaration. The requirement that the marriage contract to a widow or a divorcée be paid, and the complex conditions attached to it with regard to providing for the needs of the widow and those of the sons and daughters of the deceased, create an additional factor that must be addressed. Some of the discussions in the tractate come to resolve the problems, and occasionally the contradictions, stemming from this additional consideration. The printed editions of tractate Bava Batra are longer than any other tractate in the Babylonian Talmud because most of the commentary to the tractate was written not by Rashi, whose writing is a shining example of brevity, but by his grandson and disciple Rabbeinu Shmuel ben Meir, the Rashbam,1 whose detailed and expansive style lies somewhere between that of Rashi and that of Tosafot. Tractate Bava Batra is composed of ten chapters, the last five of which are printed in the present volume. While issues occasionally spill over from one chapter to another, in general each chapter deals with a particular and well-defined set of problems. Chapter Six discusses two issues: The halakhot governing the sale of defective goods and the details of agreements and rights with regard to the sale of real estate. Chapter Seven explores the sale of fields and the fixed definitions of the conditions of their sale. Chapter Eight clarifies the halakhot of inheritance and wills. Chapter Nine discusses the division of property and obligations between the various heirs, as well as the halakhot governing deathbed declarations. Chapter Ten describes the halakhot of promissory notes: The manner in which they are written, the liens they create, and the ways in which they are repaid. Tractate Bava Batra deals primarily with halakha and includes many detailed halakhic clarifications and records of judicial actions. However, it also contains sections of aggada that are connected to issues mentioned in the tractate. They are found primarily in the first and the fifth chapters.

This chapter, like the one preceding it, deals with the sale of various types of real estate. It opens with a discussion of imperfections in the property being sold. It is necessary to clarify which imperfections the buyer is prepared to accept because they are part and parcel of the nature of real estate, and which defects he is unwilling to accept because they are more severe. It is natural that not all fields are completely level; rather, they are liable to contain inclines, slopes, rocks, and crevices. Due to this reality, it is necessary to define when such imperfections in a field are considered part of the nature of landed property and when they are considered a loss to the buyer to the extent that he is entitled to a refund of part of the purchase price paid for the field or to compensation in the form of additional land. Similarly, at times one purchases a plot of land of a particular size, and it turns out that the actual measurements are not exactly the same as those stipulated in the agreement. In such a case the precise conditions of the sale must be examined, to clarify whether the seller committed himself to selling a field of a precise size or whether he intended to sell a field of approximately that size. Even when the parties agree in advance that the measurements need not be precise, there is still a standard for deviation from the stipulated measurements, and when that standard is exceeded, the party who stands to suffer a loss must be compensated. With regard to the compensation, the Gemara discusses whether the difference must be returned in money or in land. Other questions that are raised relate to one who sells half of his field to another person without specifying the borders of the plot being sold. What should be done when the field consists of choice and defective sections? How are the seller and the buyer to divide the field between them? Other related issues are dealt with, such as what to do when a deed of sale contains contradictory conditions. Cases pertaining to the division of inherited or joint property are also considered: What should be done if after the property was divided it becomes clear that there was an essential flaw in the division? Must the property be redivided or does one of the recipients forfeit his rights?