Bava Kamma 107

1:
We have reached the last mishnah of the last chapter of Tractate Bava Kamma. This mishnah too seeks to regulate the conditions in which an artisan may claim property that he received from a customer as part of a job. If he takes possession of property which is not rightfully his, of course, he has stolen it.

2:
In a previous mishnah we noted that the creation of yarn from fleece and its transformation into woven cloth was a domestic task, carried out mainly by women. However, certain professionals were also involved. The processes were considered to be so professional that different artisans performed the various tasks: there were washers to wash the woven cloth; there were combers — or carders — to straighten it; there were dyers to colour it, and so forth.

3:
As the washer performed his task it was inevitable that some strands from the women cloth would become detached. Obviously, their number was few and far between because otherwise the whole cloth would disintegrate. It was an accepted commonplace that the few individual strands that a washer extracted from a cloth did not have to be returned to the customer. They were a kind of professional perk. However, only three strands per piece of cloth were permitted. Any more than that must be returned to the customer. Presumably, at some stage or other the washer would have extracted a sufficient number of strands to be able to do something with them.

4:
The comber, or carder, could not be permitted to retain extracted threads because he might be tempted to extract more than strictly necessary. Any threads that he pulled out during his professional operation had to be returned to the customer together with the carded cloth.

5:
There was an exception to all this. That exception was if the extraction of the threads improved the quality of the cloth. It might well be that a few black threads had been woven into cloth that was essentially white. The extraction of these threads would improve the quality – colour – of the cloth. The artisan would be removing them for professional reasons, not for personal gain; therefore they were his perks and need not be returned to his customer.

6:
My father, God rest his soul, was a gown manufacturer. He was an expert in so cutting cloth for the garments that had been ordered that he often had enough left over to make an extra garment or two. In the profession they used to call this "cabbage". For all I know my schooling may have been paid for out of "cabbage"! Our present mishnah regulates the amount of "cabbage" that a tailor may retain from cloth that the customer gave him. Both thread and cloth remnants are regulated: thread enough to sew a piece of cloth three handbreadths by three handbreadths must be returned to the customer. A handbreadth was between 9 and 10 centimetres, so the size of the cloth that could be retained by the tailor was less than 30 centimetres by 30 centimetres. (30 centimetres is about 1 foot.)

7:
The same basic considerations apply to the carpenter. He has been given some wood by his customer (or his customer has paid for some wood) that is to be made into a useful article – a chair, a table, a bowl and so forth. Small shavings may be retained by the carpenter; but larger chunks, such as are removed by chisel or axe, must be returned to the customer. However, if the job was being done in the customer's premises then the carpenter was entitled to nothing at all from the work materials.

8:
Many of the tractates of the Mishnah conclude with some words of spiritual or ethical uplift. Therefore it may seem strange to some that our tractate ends on such a pedestrian note. But we must remember what we said at the very beginning of our study of this tractate: it is, in fact, only part of a greater tractate, Tractate Nezikin. Bava Kamma ("Part One") deals with situations where the ownership of property (or the presumed ownership of property) is clear and unequivocal. Bava Metzi'a ("Part Two") which follows is concerned with the disposition of property when it is not clear and unequivocal who the rightful owner may be.

9:
We have now reached the end of Tractate Bava Kamma, the twelfth tractate to be studied in the Rabin Mishnah Study Group since its inception in 1995. Soon, God willing, we shall commence our study of a new tractate. Thank you all for learning with me.

I hope that during the coming week I shall be able to present to you the tractates that have been suggested for further study and the mechanism for voting to select the next tractate. It is also gratifying that quite a few people have indicated their interest in learning Talmud Yerushalmi and that study will, God willing, begin soon in English. However, very few Hebrew speakers have indicated a wish to study Yerushalmi, so it is not clear yet whether the shiurim will be presented in Hebrew as well. There is still time to indicate a wish to learn.