Study Guide Bava Metzia 15

Today's daf is sponsored by Barbara Goldschlag in honor of the engagement of Aliza Goldschlag and Sam Clarke.

If one sold a field that he/she stole, when the owner takes back the land and the buyer returns to the seller to retrieve the money from the sale, Shmuel holds that the seller does not need to reimburse the buyer for improvements to the field. The second difficulty raised against Shmuel is resolved in three possible ways. A third difficulty is raised as Shmuel himself said that the buyer receives a guarantee of the enhancements. To resolve this, Rav Yosef suggests a possible way that the buyer of stolen property can demand the value of the enhancements from the seller after the property is taken away. There are two different versions of Rav Yosef's answer. In the context of this discussion, they mentioned a different opinion of Shmuel that a creditor who seizes liened property for a loan can take the enhancements as well. Rava proves this from the language of a sale document which includes a guarantee for the enhancements. Why would there be a guarantee for enhancements for a sale and not for a gift? If one buys property knowing it is stolen and the owner takes back the land, Rav and Shmuel debate whether or not the buyer can get his/her money back from the seller. The basis of their argument is discussed and compared to another case where they also debate the same issue. Why is there a need to show they disagreed in both cases?