Traité Bava Kamma

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : one does not need to pursue the matter in all this detail.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara questions this ruling: Perhaps he needed money, and he therefore sold the items despite the fact that he does not generally sell his personal belongings. The Gemara answers that Rav Ashi said: A rumor spread in the city that he had been a victim of theft. It is reasonable to assume that he is the rightful owner, as he does not usually sell his belongings and it is common knowledge that he was the victim of theft.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : § Having assessed the mishna’s ruling with regard to a case where the thief remained unidentified, the Gemara discusses a case where the thief was found. It was stated: In a case where a thief stole an item and sold it, and later the thief was identified, Rav says in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya: The homeowner’s claim can be pursued only with the first one, i.e., the thief, but he has no claim against the purchaser. Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Yannai: The homeowner’s claim can also be pursued with the second one, i.e., with the purchaser.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rav Yosef said: Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan do not disagree. Here, in the case about which Rabbi Yoḥanan issues his ruling, the item was purchased from the thief before the victim of the theft despaired of recovering the stolen item. Consequently, the claim can be pursued even with the second one, i.e., the purchaser. Conversely, there, in the case about which Rav issues his ruling, the item was purchased after the victim despaired, and therefore the claim can be pursued only with the first one, i.e., the thief.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rav Yosef continues: And both Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan have accepted as halakha the ruling of Rav Ḥisda (111b), that if the owner had not yet despaired of retrieving his item, he can press his claim against either the thief or the purchaser.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Abaye said to Rav Yosef: And is it so that Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan do not disagree? Isn’t a case involving gifts to which members of the priesthood are entitled comparable to a case of a stolen item that was sold before the onset of the owner’s despair, as the priest still hopes to receive the gifts, and yet Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan disagree with regard to their legal status? This is as we learned in a mishna (Ḥullin 132a): If one said to a butcher: Sell me the innards of a cow, and the gifts of the priesthood were in them, the purchaser must give the gifts to a priest, and he may not deduct the value of the gifts from the money he agreed to pay the butcher. By contrast, if he purchased the innards from the butcher by weight, he must give the gifts to a priest and he may deduct the value of the gifts from the money he agreed to pay the butcher.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : And Rav says: They taught this halakha only where the purchaser weighed the innards for himself, but if the butcher weighed the innards for him, the priest’s claim may be pursued only with the butcher. The butcher is comparable to a thief when he sells the gifts of the priesthood to a non-priest, and Rav holds that the priest can press his claim only against the butcher. Similarly, in the case of the mishna he would hold that the owner can press his claim only against the thief and not against the purchaser.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara refutes Abaye’s objection: Say that Rav meant that the priest can even pursue his claim with the butcher, although he is certainly able to claim the gifts from the purchaser. And Rav had to teach this lest you say that gifts of the priesthood are not considered to have been stolen even if the butcher sells them, because wherever they are they remain the legal property of the priests. Rav therefore teaches us that they are considered to have been stolen in this case, and therefore the priest can press his claim against the butcher.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara asks: And according to Abaye, who said that Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan disagree, with regard to what do they disagree? The Gemara answers: They disagree with regard to the ruling of Rav Ḥisda. Rav disagrees with Rav Ḥisda and rules that one is entitled to collect only from the thief, while Rabbi Yoḥanan accepts the ruling of Rav Ḥisda and allows one to collect from either the thief or the purchaser.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara presents another explanation of the dispute between Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan: Rav Zevid said that both agree that if the owner has not yet despaired of retrieving his item, he can press his claim against either party. They disagree in a case where the owners despaired of retrieving it only after the item was already in the possession of the purchaser, but they did not yet despair when it was in the possession of the thief.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : And it is with regard to this that they disagree: One Sage, Rabbi Yoḥanan, holds that if there is despair on the part of the owner and afterward there is a change in possession of a stolen item, e.g., it leaves the possession of the thief and enters the possession of a purchaser, the purchaser acquires the item. By contrast, if there is first a change in possession of a stolen item and afterward there is despair on the part of the owner, then the purchaser does not acquire the item. Since in this case the owner did not despair until after the change of possession from the thief to the purchaser, the purchaser did not legally acquire the item, and the owner can press his claim against him. And one Sage, Rav, holds that there is no difference whether the despair or change of possession came first. As long as the owner has despaired of recovering his item, it becomes the property of the purchaser, and the owner cannot demand that he return it.

Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara presents a third explanation of the dispute: Rav Pappa said that with regard to a stolen cloak itself, everyone agrees that it must be returned by the purchaser to its owner. But here, it is with regard to whether the Sages implemented the provision ensuring the integrity of the marketplace in this case that Rav and Rabbi Yoḥanan disagree.