Bava Batra 117 - October 20, 18 Tishrei

Today's daf is dedicated in memory of Professor Paul Haberfield, father of Shulie Mishkin, who passed away on Thursday. Tanchumim from the whole Hadran family.   How were the portions distributed when the Jews entered the land of Israel? There are three different answers to this question, each based on a different interpretation of the verses in Bamidbar 26:53, 55. One approach (Rabbi Yoshia) is that an equal portion was given to all those who left Egypt above the age of twenty. A second approach (Rabbi Yonatan) is that an equal portion was given to all those going into the land, but those portions were then redivided by families, according to how many had left Egypt. The third approach (Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar) is that a portion was given to each person who went into the land and also to each person who left Egypt. There were various people who didn’t receive portions such as the spies and those who followed Korach. The spies' portion was given to Yehoshua and Caleb. The sons of the people from these groups inherited land through their grandparents, provided the grandparents had been at least twenty years old at the Exodus from Egypt. Rav Papa raises a difficulty against Rabbi Yonatan from the verse in Bamidbar 26:54, "To the more you shall give the more inheritance and to the fewer you should give the less inheritance." What is the need for this verse if it was divided equally between those coming into the land, since, of course, a large family will receive more portions?