1)

(a)If Reuven sold Shimon a field without Achrayus, and people then arrive on the scene who claim that the field is theirs - Abaye permits Shimon to retract until such time as he makes a Chazakah, provided that is, that he has not already paid for it (see also Tosfos DH 'Ad').

(b)He cannot force Reuven to retract after that - because Reuven can respond 'You agreed to pay for a sack-full of knots; that's your loss!'

(c)It is considered a Chazakah in this regard - if he just walked round the borders (to see what repairs it needs - see Tosfos DH 'u'Me'eimas').

(d)According to the second Lashon, the same will apply if he sold him the field with Achrayus - because he can say to him 'Bring me your Shtar Tirfa' (Beis-Din's authority to claim from me), and I will gladly reimburse you'.

2)

(a)The Tana of our Mishnah says in a case where a man dies leaving only one Manah, but three wives, one with a Kesubah of a Manah, one, of Masayim, and one, of three hundred Zuz - that they share the Manah equally (seeing as they all have an equal claim in that Manah).

(b)This Halachah will not apply however - if all three Kesuvos were written on different days, in which case it is a matter of 'First come, first served' (irrespective of the amounts concerned).

(c)Had the same man left two hundred Zuz, then the first of the three wives would receive fifty Zuz - the other two would each receive three golden Zuzim (the equivalent of seventy-five silver Zuz).

(d)If he left three hundred Zuz, then the first wife would still receive fifty Zuz, the second one, one Manah - and the third one, six golden Zuzim (or a hundred and fifty silver Zuz).

3)

(a)If three partners enter into a business partnership, and each one places a different sum of money into the kitty - they will divide the profits according to how much they put in, along the same lines as the wives in the latter cases (and not equally).

4)

(a)The Tana of our Mishnah rules that, in the case when the deceased man left three wives and two Manah, the wife whose Kesubah was one Manah receives fifty Zuz. Basically, considering that her claim is confined to only one of the Manim, she ought to receive no more than thirty-three and a third Zuz. However - our Mishnah speaks when the second wife withdraws from the first Manah in favor of the first one, leaving her to share it with the third one.

(b)The wife whose Kesubah is two Manah takes seventy-five Zuz - twenty-five from the first Manah (which she shares with the third wife after the first one has shared the entire Manah with the third one).

(c)Even though, as we just explained, she withdrew from the first Manah in favor of the first wife, that does not mean that she withdrew from the first Manah completely. In fact - she only withdrew from the first wife's claim. Once however, she had taken her half, the second wife retains her claim on the second half.

(d)In the third case, where the deceased husband left three hundred Zuz, the Tana alots a Manah to the second woman. Considering that she has withdrawn from the fifty Zuz of the first hundred, and that she has no rights at all in the third hundred, she ought not to receive more than seventy-five. However - the Tana speaks when the third wife withdraws her claim from the first Manah in favor of the first two wives (leaving the second wife with fifty Zuz from the first Manah and fifty from the second).

5)

(a)The above is Shmuel's explanation of the Mishnah. According to Rav Yakov from Nehar Pakud Amar Ravina, the second and the third cases both speak when the women seized Metaltelin in two lots - first seventy -five Zuz (because that was all that was available), and then a hundred and twenty-five. Consequently, in the first lot, each of the three wives receives twenty-five Zuz. In the second lot, each wife will again receive twenty-five out of the first seventy-five, since each of them has an equal claim; whereas the second and third wives alone will share the remaining hundred and fifty Zuz (leaving them with a hundred each).

(b)And he explains the third case along similar lines - when they seized the money in two lots: seventy-five, which they shared three ways, and two hundred and twenty-five, which is itself first divided into three lots: seventy-five, of which each woman received twenty-five (to which all three women still have a claim); a hundred, which the second woman (is still claiming and of which she) receives half; and the last fifty, in which only the third woman has rights, according to our Tana.

6)

(a)The author of our Mishnah is Rebbi Nasan. According to Rebbi - all the property is Meshubad equally to each wife's Kesubah, so they will divide whatever is available into three equal portions.

(b)The Din regarding Kesubah is different than a business venture (where Rebbi agrees with Rebbi Nasan) - because there, the benefits that accrue, are the direct result of the amount that each one put into the venture, which is not the case here.

(c)According to Rav Hamnuna - either way, they divide the benefits equally.

7)

(a)Shmuel says that if two people entered into a partnership, one placed a Manah into the kitty, and the other one, two - both share the profits equally.

(b)Rabah establishes Shmuel - when they purchased an ox to plow, and they earned the profits by plowing, but not if they purchased it to plow and, when it became fat, they decided to Shecht it, in which case, each partner will take in proportion to what he put in.

(c)According to Rav Hamnuna - either way, they share the proceeds equally.

8)

(a)Rabah establishes the Beraisa, which states that if two people who went into partnership, one placing a Manah into the kitty, the other one, two, as saying that they divide the profits equally - when they purchased an ox to plow, and that is that they did with it (but not if the ox became fat and they then Shechted it).

(b)The Tana goes on to state that, if the one purchased strong oxen with his two hundred Zuz, and the other, weak oxen with his Manah, before combining their resources - then each one will take from the profits in proportion to how much he put in.

(c)According to Rabah, when the Tana goes on to state this case - he does indeed mean to say that if they purchased an ox for plowing and then, when it became fat, they decided to Shecht it (which would be a bigger Chidush), it is as if the one had purchased strong oxen with his two hundred Zuz, and the other, weak oxen with his Manah, before combining their resources, where it is obvious that they take according to how much they put in.

(d)Our Mishnah however, which states 'v'Chen Sheloshah she'Hitilu l'Kis, Pachsu O Hosiru, Kach Hein Cholkin' appears to clash with Shmuel. Rav Nachman Amar Rabah bar Avuhah therefore explains ...

1. ... 'Hosiru' to mean - that the partnership actually did business with coins, putting old coins into the kitty and ultimately, through business interchange, ending up with good coins.

2. ... 'Pachsu' to mean - that the coins were withdrawn, so that their only use was to place on foot-sores as a cure. In both cases, since it is the coins themselves that rose or fell in value, everyone would agree that each partner would take in accordance with what he put in.

9)

(a)Our Mishnah now discusses someone dies, leaving behind four wives, each of whom now claim their Kesuvos. According to the Tana Kama, before they can receive heir Kesuvos, - the first wife is obligated to swear to the second, the second to the third and the third to the fourth, that she did not already receive her Kesubah from her husband during his lifetime.

(b)The fourth wife is not obligated to swear to the orphans - because we are speaking about grown-up orphans, and the Tana Kama holds that it is only from small Yesomim from whom one cannot claim without a Shevu'ah, not from grown-ups.

(c)According to ben Nannes however - the fourth wife is obligated to swear to the orphans before she can receive her Kesubah.

10)

(a)It was not common practice to write the time of day on documents. The sole exception to the rule was - Yerushalayim.

(b)Consequently - in Yerushalayim, in a case where a number of women were claiming their Kesuvos from their husband, the one that was written the earliest time of day had the first right to claim (assuming that there were not sufficient funds to pay them all); whereas elsewhere, all those dated on the same day would share whatever was available.