Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Why pencils have erasers and other laws of documents TB Bab Batra 162

 Today’s daf Tb Baba Batra 162 is an extremely short daf. Starting on the previous daf, we learn three halakhot about an ordinary document, a get pashut- גֵּט פָּשׁוּט.

Back in grade school we learned pencils have erasers because all human beings make mistakes. Concerning erasures Rabbi Yoḥanan taught: A document that includes a suspended correction (above the line and we usually use an upside down V to direct our eyes to the correction-gg)of text inserted between lines of the document, which is verified at the end of the document, is valid; but a document with a reference to words written over an erasure is not valid, even if it is verified at the end of the document. At the end of a document, before the formula: Everything is confirmed and established, is written, any corrections made in the document are verified by adding to the text: On line so-and-so, such and such a word has been added, or some similar formulation. This may be done only for inserted corrections, not for erasures.

“The Gemara clarifies this statement: And they said that an erasure on a document renders the document not valid only if it is in a place on the document where the declaration: Everything is confirmed and established, should have been written, and only if the erasure is the measure of space in which the declaration: Everything is confirmed and established, can be written. The only concern with erasures is that the crucial formula: Everything is confirmed and established, might have been erased, as this would allow for unlimited forgery. If the erasure is such that this formula could not possibly have been erased, the document is valid.” (TB Baba Batra dappim 160b-161a, Sefaria.org translation)

The first halakha: “Rav Yitzḥak bar Yosef says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: There are two halakhot with regard to documents: For any erasures in a document, the scribe must write at the end of the document: And this is their verification. That is, he must list the erasures, stating that on line so-and-so there is an erasure and a correction stating such and such, for each erasure

The second halakha: “And the second halakha is that the scribe must review some of the details of the document in the final line of the document. What is the reason for this second requirement?  Rav Amram says: It is because one may not learn any new details from the final line of a document. There is a concern that the holder of the document may have written in an extra line of text to his advantage, between the text and the witnesses’ signatures. Therefore, any new information contained in the last line is disregarded. Since the final line is disregarded, it is necessary that the final line of a document contain only a review of what is already written in it.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashbam explains since the witnesses cannot write their signature so close to the end of the document, the scribes leave a space between the document and their signatures. In that space a person could forge and add something on that one line. Consequently the sages ordained that the last line reviews what is in the document without adding anything new. If somebody tries to forge and add something to the document afterwards, the party involved doesn’t lose anything for we don’t learn anything from the last line of any document. Also the new last line of the document won’t contain the very important last phrase of any document “שָׁרִיר וְקַיָּים- Everything is confirmed and established.”

The third halakha: There may be no more than a space and a half between the end of the document and the witnesses’ signatures for the document to be kosher.

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