The Longest Mesechta?
‘We Shall Return To You…’
(Bava Basra 176b)
Mazel Tov to all those Daf Yomi participants who are mesayem Mesechta Bava Basra. The hadran at the end of the daf indicates that one is happy that he is worthy of such a responsibility.
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The concluding daf of Tractate Bava Basra is numbered 176, reckoning Bava Basra as the longest tractate in the Babylonian Talmud. Though the tractate actually begins at daf number two, nevertheless it is labeled as having 176 dapim. Those exploring the connections between various units of the Oral and Written Torah note that the longest portion of the Chumash, Parshas Naso in the Sefer Bamidbar, contains 176 verses. The chapter with the greatest number of verses in the whole of Tanach, Chapter 119 of Tehillim, is also comprised of 176 verses.
The Gaon’s Observation
However, if not for the comparatively long commentary by the Rashbam, Rashi’s grandson, published together with the text of Bava Basra, the number of dapim in Bava Basra would be less, as the text of the Gemara in Bava Basra alone is not the longest of any tractate. As the Vilna Gaon observes, the text of the Gemara in Berachos is actually the longest of any tractate, though published comprising but 64 dapim.
One Tractate – Three Gates
Daf Yomi participants, nevertheless, may bask in the glow of achievement on the completion of the longest tractate and even more, as Rav Yosef says in Bava Kamma 102a, Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia, and Bava Basra are really one tractate divided into three parts to make their study more organized. Bava means “gate.” Thus, Bava Kamma is the first gate, Bava Metzia is the middle gate, and Bava Basra is the last gate. Indeed, ancient manuscripts show all three tractates as one tractate divided into 30 chapters. Interestingly, Rabbi Levi ben Chaviv criticized the Mahari Beirav’s calling Bava Kamma “Tractate Kamma,” as the entire Bava Kamma is only the first gate of a longer tractate (Responsa Ralbach 147).
Halachic Implications
This topic has halachic implications. The Gemara in Bava Kamma 102a explains that if the Mishna mentions a difference of opinion regarding a certain halacha and then later mentions just one of the opinions stam – i.e., without mentioning that this is the opinion of only one Tanna – we must assume that Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the redactor of the Mishna, ruled according to that opinion. This rule is valid, however, only if all the opinions appear in the same tractate, and the Gemara therefore attributes importance to the question as to whether Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia, and Bava Basra are to be regarded as one tractate or not.
Ignorance And Derision
During the Mendel Beilis blood libel trial of 1913, the Talmud itself was accused and used to support allegations against Jews. The prosecutors, however, were so ignorant that one of them held up a tractate Bava Basra, calling it the “last grandmother” and hinting at its sinister significance (baba in Russian means “grandmother”). The Jews present at the trial had to stifle their laughs.
Sanhedrin And Makkos – One Tractate?
Some maintain that Sanhedrin and Makkos also comprise one tractate containing 14 chapters, and a few old manuscripts attest accordingly. The Rambam mentions the idea in the introduction to his commentary on the Mishna but declares that the concept is false. On the other hand, the Ramban (Devarim 21:13, etc.) and the Rashba (Kiddushin 22a) cite a passage from Talmud Yerushalmi “in Sanhedrin,” when the passage actually appears in Makkos. The Ralbag (Parshas Mishpatim, Shoresh 16) also calls chapter 2 of Makkos “chapter 13 of Sanhedrin,” and the commentary Meleches Shlomo on the Mishna mentions that most of the sefarim he had seen designate the conclusion of Makkos as the end of chapter 14 of Sanhedrin.
According to this opinion, it could be that, when possible, tractates were arranged according to the number of their chapters in descending order. Thus Seder Nezikin is: Tractate Nezikin (Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia and Bava Basra together), having 30 chapters; Sanhedrin with Makkos having 14 chapters; Shevuos having eight chapters; Eduyos having eight chapters; Avodah Zarah having five chapters; Avos having five chapters (chapter 6 is actually a beraisa, as stated at its introduction); Horayos having three chapters (see Margalios HaYam at the beginning of Sanhedrin and the last page concerning Tractate Avodah Zarah).
