bava batra 37

trees without land, 

land without trees.

selling trees with or without the land in which they are attached. 

bava batra 36

wandering wild donkeys who need fences & walls to be kept away. 

but goats & slave babies only go where they are led.

bava batra 35

make your claim & protest. before it is too late, 

and all your rights are lost

bava batra 34

while they argue, without basis for their claims, the boat remains unmoored & drifting with no owner.

bava batra 33

how to lie: 

1. tell a small fib, instead of the bigger story you could have told. 

or 

2. make such a huge, bigly claim that NO ONE would think you had the chutzhpah to lie about that, and therefore not challenge you... 

Flawless

bava batra 32

concerns about the honour of the court & authority include:

not retracting rulings when a new witness emerges. 

But, for some, it's fine to allow known forgeries to be subs for lost documents. 

Because a small lie is credible if a bigger lie could have been told. 

bava batra 31

The Eye-witness Marble Game!
playing different sets of witnesses off each other,
whose testimony will stand and who will get knocked out.

bava batra 30

ruling on cases of dodgy ownership claims.
thieves thrive when there's no central land registry.

bava batra 29

who knows what happens in the house at night

bava batra 28

establishing a chazakah - assumed ownership.
where one stays, lives and works in one place,
deriving from the case of an out of control violent animal that is not fit for work or life.

bava batra 27

squaring the circle,
clearing the roots,
& branches.

bava batra 26

the imprecise calculations of trees,
roots:land
it's imprecise, but fatal if you cut the wrong tree before it's fruitful prime.

bava batra 25

God could be everywhere but damage can be done from a distance.
by arrows, winds, & sesame seeds.

bava batra 24

the things that travel by air, 

by water. 

the damaging things that need to keep their distance.

bava batra 23

the crows who are drawn to blood & damage the trees. 

and the young doves who cannot fly far, over the treetops. 

Yet.

bava batra 22

who gained entry, 

who climbed the ladder, 

or who was close enough to kill R. Adda b. Abba?

bava batra 18

the damage that can be done to the other,
even though there is a boundary.

dangerous things cannot always be contained.

bava batra 17

protection from harm,
from neighbours' pits and ditches,
from worms and the angel of Death.

but not from the snake.

bava batra 16

the dark forces combine,
The angel of death in heaven,
The evil inclination on earth,
and Satan who goes between.

all to cause the downfall on earth at just the right moment.

bava batra 15

when & where does Job fit in the world?

arguing if Job, who was the subject of an argument between God and Satan, was fiction or non-fiction.

bava batra 12

when is a doorway not a doorway?

destroying all the entrances and access points
destroying the Temple cut off heaven, and made children, fools/rabbis prophets,
who can create their own reality.

bava batra 11

gardens within gardens
courtyards within courtyards

all can be divided
until definition is lost

bava batra 10

even when they are talking about giving to charity
- it's all about the boy -
being God's son, and not God's slave,
being a father to a son, and not a daughter.

and not being like those gentiles
who only give for their own glory. and not for sons.