For the source text click/tap here: Bava Batra 85
To download, click/tap here: PDF
Ordinarily, the buyer can take possession of an object if it is placed in a vessel that belongs to him. Rav Sheshet asks Rav Huna whether something that is placed in an object belonging to the buyer will become his, if the buyer’s thing is resting on private property owned by the seller. In response, Rav Huna suggests looking at a parallel in the rules of gittin – divorces. Although the Torah appears to require that the get actually be placed in the wife’s hand (…ve-natan be-yadah – Devarim 24:1), the tradition that the Sages had was that that passage was not to be taken literally, rather that it had to be placed in her possession and control.
Our Mishnah describes produce acquisition which allows us to explore produce fraud, Big Agro and the influence of pesticides on public health.