Before writing about Bava Basra 130, I would like to briefly discuss a great nugget contained on Bava Basra 129b.
Within a discussion as to how to interpret the use of the terms present (Matana) and bequest (Yerusha) in the same statement, the gemara on Bava Basra 129b offers the possibility that the second statement was made "toch kidei dibur" - a phrase which many are familiar with, but few know the source.
If you were to ask an eighth grader what is toch kidei dibur, you would no doubt get an example rather than an explanation. The answer would go something like, if I start a brocha and complete it incorrectly, I can end the brocha properly if done within a short period of time. Perhaps an advanced eighth grader would be able to tell you that the time is measured based on the amount of time to say "shalom alecha rebbi umori."
But where does the measurement come from?
Tosafos (d'h Vehilchasa) quotes Rabbeinu Tam who states that if a person was doing a business transaction and saw his rebbi or another gadol, he could not say hello to the person, as it would be a break in the transaction and he would be prevented from rescinding the deal. Therefore, the chachamim were m'saken that the length of time it would take to say hello to the rebbi is not considered a hefsek in the transaction.
One brief interesting point (to me) from Bava Basra 130, involves a discussion on 130b as to whether it is better to learn a halacha based on the statement that the halacha follows Rabbi X's position (halacha adifa) or whether it is better to see the halacha in action (ma'aseh rav). The discussion occurs following a statement that the halacha accords with R' Yochanan Ben Berocha who states that a father can choose to give his entire estate to one of his children.
The Rashbam explains that according to halacha adifa, it is better to say that the halacha follows a person , because if we act solely based on observation of a ruling, we might not realize that the reason the halacha went that way was because of some outside force and not the presumed halachic precept.
On the other hand, under ma'aseh rav, there is also room for error if one merely listens to a statement that the halacha follows X, since it is possible that this is academic in nature and will not ever be applied in practice.
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