Talmud - Bava Batra 151b בבא בתרא קנ״א ב׳

and when she recovered she would retract her gift. On one occasion she was sick. She sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come and acquire my property. He sent a message back to her: I do not want to come. She sent a message to him: Come and acquire my property in any manner that you want. He went and reserved for her part of the orchard, and he acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition. When she recovered she retracted the gift.

She came before Rav Naḥman to reclaim it. Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come to court. Rav Dimi did not come. He said: What reason is there for me to come? Didn’t I reserve part of the property for her, and I acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition? Therefore, the acquisition is complete. Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: If you do not come, I will strike you with a thorn [besileva] that does not draw blood, i.e., I will excommunicate you.

Inquiring into the matter, Rav Naḥman said to the witnesses: How did the act of transferring the property take place? The witnesses said to Rav Naḥman: This is what she said: Woe, that woman is dying! Rav Naḥman said to them: If so, this is a case of one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his expectation of his imminent death. And one who issues directives due to his expectation of his imminent death can retract his gift even if he did not transfer all of his property, as he evidently granted the gift only because he expected to die.

§ It was stated that the amora’im disagreed with regard to a gift of a person on his deathbed that includes only a part of his property. The Sages said the following before Rava in the name of Mar Zutra, son of Rav Naḥman, who said it in the name of Rav Naḥman: This type of gift is in some respects like the gift of a healthy person, and in other respects it is like the gift of a person on his deathbed. It is like the gift of a healthy person, as, if he recovers he cannot retract it, as stated in the mishna. And it is like the gift of a person on his deathbed, as it does not require an act of acquisition. Rather, it is acquired by means of verbal instruction alone.

Rava said to the Sages: Did I not say to you: Do not hang empty pitchers [bukei] upon Rav Naḥman, i.e., do not attribute incorrect statements to him? This is what Rav Naḥman says: A gift of a person on his deathbed that includes only a part of his property is like the gift of a healthy person and requires an act of acquisition. If an act of acquisition is not performed, the acquisition of the gift is not effective even if the owner dies.

Rava raised an objection to Rav Naḥman from the mishna (146b): If he reserved for himself any amount of land, his gift stands. What, is it not referring even to a case where the gift was not acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition? No, it is referring to a case where the gift was acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition. Rava asks: If that is so, say the last clause of the mishna: If he did not reserve for himself any amount of land, and he recovered, his gift does not stand. And if the mishna is referring to a case where the gift was acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition, why does his gift not stand?

Rav Naḥman said to Rava: This is what Shmuel says: With regard to a person on his deathbed who wrote a deed granting all of his property to others without reserving anything for himself, even though the gift was acquired from his possession by means of an act of acquisition, if he recovers, he can retract his gift. The reason for this is that it is known that he was issuing directives with regard to his property only due to his expectation of his imminent death.

Rav Mesharshiyya raised an objection to Rava: There was an incident involving the mother of the sons of Rokhel, who was sick, and she said: My brooch [keveinati] shall be given to my daughter, and it is valued at twelve hundred dinars. And this woman subsequently died, and the Sages upheld her statement even though the gift included only a part of her property and an act of acquisition was not performed. Rava replied: That incident is different, as the case there is referring to one who issues directives due to his expectation of his imminent death.

Ravina raised an objection to Rava from a mishna (Gittin 13a): In the case of one who says: Give this bill of divorce to my wife, or: Give this bill of manumission to my slave, and then he dies, one should not give it after his death. But if one says: Give one hundred dinars to so-and-so, and then he died, one does give the recipient the money after his death. This indicates that a gift of a person on his deathbed that includes only a part of his property does not require an act of acquisition.

And from where can one learn that the money was not acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition? This is learned from the fact that this halakha was juxtaposed to the halakha with regard to a bill of divorce, indicating that this case is similar to a bill of divorce. Just as a bill of divorce is not subject to the standard halakhot of an act of acquisition, so too, in this case of the gift of one hundred dinars, the mishna is referring to a case where the money was not acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition. Rava replied: There, too, the mishna is referring to one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his imminent death.

Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said: The gift of one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his expectation of his imminent death generally requires an act of acquisition. And when it is taught in these baraitot that an act of acquisition is not required, the baraitot are referring to one who divides all of his property between different recipients, as in that case, the Sages accorded the gift the legal status of a gift of a person on his deathbed.

The Gemara concludes: And the halakha is that a gift of a person on his deathbed that includes only a part of his property requires an act of acquisition; otherwise it is invalid even though he subsequently died, and the gift is inherited by his heirs instead. The gift of one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his expectation of his imminent death does not require an act of acquisition. And this applies only when he subsequently died. If he recovered, he can retract his gift even though it was acquired from him by means of an act of acquisition.

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

BavaBatra 151b examines a sick woman’s disputed property transfer to Rav Dimi and the legal status of gifts made when death seems imminent.