With regard to someone who says, “My property is given to Reuven, and after Reuven to Levi,” we may raise an eyebrow and ask a few questions. First and foremost: What does this statement even mean? If the property is given to Reuven, how can the original owner dictate it will go to Levi?
We’ve been talking about inheritance. The Talmud is here dealing with a case in which the original owner makes a bequest to one person (Reuven) and designates a second person (Levi) to become the property’s owner after the first one dies. Such a declaration gives the original owner the power to divert the gift from Reuven’s heirs to Levi. Legally, the Talmud permits this kind of gift.
But other questions arise: Does the designation of Levi as a secondary inheritor limit Reuven’s ownership rights? This is the subject of a dispute. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi believes so. While Reuven is in possession of the property, Levi’s future claim means that it is not entirely his. Practically, according to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, this means Reuven can benefit from using the property but cannot sell it. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, on the other hand, says that once Reuven receives the property, he can do whatever he wants with it, including sell it. If it is still in his possession when he dies, it gets passed on to Levi. But if he decides to sell it before he dies, Levi loses out.
Rav Nahman bar Rav Hisda suggests that the disagreement is relevant to the following scenario as well:
If one said to another, “This etrog is given to you as a gift, and after you die, to So-and-so,” and the first recipient then took it and fulfilled his obligation of taking the four species on the first day of Sukkot with it.
A Jew is required to own the lulav and etrog that they use to fulfill the ritual obligation of waving them on Sukkot. In fact, if a person owns a set and wants to share it with others, technically they must give it to them rather than lend it to them. So the question is: If a person gives an etrog to Reuven as a bequest and designates Levi as Reuven’s successor, can Reuven fulfill his ritual obligation with it? According to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who believes that the etrog is not entirely his, the answer is no. For Rabban Shimon ben Gamiliel, who holds that Reuven is the owner of the etrog, with all rights of ownership, the answer is yes.
Hold on a minute, says the Gemara, this doesn’t sound right: When it’s a piece of land that Reuven acquires, both sages agree that he has the right to work it and to benefit from his work. Where they disagree is whether he can sell it. But an etrog serves a ritual and not an economic purpose. Would a person pass an etrog to Reuven for any other purpose than to fulfill the ritual? Of course not! The Gemara concludes that both sages agree that while Reuven is in possession of the etrog, he can use it to fulfill the ritual obligation. Yet, with regard to the etrog, their dispute remains in place because they disagree about whether Reuven is allowed to then eat or sell the etrog. Rabbi Yehuda says no; Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says yes.
Unless Reuven is on his deathbed when he inherits the etrog, it is highly unlikely it will stay fresh long enough to be inherited by Levi. (Even in our own day, when refrigeration is common, Levi’s chances of ever owning that etrog seem slim.) But the etrog case, even if far-fetched, is an interesting test of the principles at play, and therefore of value to the rabbis.
It’s talmudic conversations like these that bring the biggest smile to my face. I love the fact that the etrog scenario is not dismissed as unlikely and irrelevant, but rather granted valuable space and ink in the Talmud’s pages. It matters not if there ever was, or will be, a Reuven who inherits an etrog destined for a Levi upon his death; there is both joy and instruction in exploring the slightly absurd possibility.
Read all of Bava Batra 137 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on November 9, 2024. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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