Bava Metzia

The Belzer Rebbe and the Pupa Yeshiva's Fruit Tree

The Pupa Yeshiva wants to expand its beis midrash, but a fruit tree stands in the way. The Belzer Rebbe tells them to build around the tree, and they do.

Belzer Rebbe

Daf 59

Rabbi Akiva Eiger and the Moneylender's Grave

Pozen's burial society demands 2,000 rubles to bury a man who lent on interest. Rabbi Akiva Eiger explains why the steep price is actually fair.

Rabbi Akiva Eiger

Daf 70

The Ephraimites Who Left Egypt Too Early

Men of Shevet Ephraim leave Egypt thirty years before the redemption and fall to the Philistines; their bones are later revived in Yechezkel’s vision.

Yechezkel

Daf 70

Rabbah bar bar Chanah and the Porters' Cloaks

Porters break Rabbah bar bar Chanah's wine barrels and he takes their cloaks, but Rav tells him to return them and even pay their wages, beyond the letter of the law.

Rabbah bar bar Chanah, Rav

Daf 83

Rabbi Yochanan Meets Reish Lakish the Bandit

A bandit chief leaps into the river beside Rabbi Yochanan, who promises him his beautiful sister if he repents. The bandit becomes the great Reish Lakish.

Rabbi Yochanan, Reish Lakish

Daf 84

Rabbi Chiya Plants Flax to Teach Torah

Rabbi Chiya plants flax, weaves nets, hunts deer and writes Chumashim on their hides, then teaches children who each teach the others.

Rabbi Chiya

Daf 85

Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Chiya Debate

Rabbi Chanina boasts he could restore a forgotten Torah by his reasoning; Rabbi Chiya answers that he ensures it is never forgotten, and Rebbe praises his deeds.

Rabbi Chanina, Rabbi Chiya, Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi

Daf 85

Reish Lakish Cannot Find Rabbi Chiya's Grave

Reish Lakish marks the graves of the Sages but cannot find Rabbi Chiya's. A Heavenly Voice tells him he learned like Rabbi Chiya but did not spread Torah like him.

Reish Lakish, Rabbi Chiya

Daf 85

Rabbah bar bar Chanah and the Broken Barrels

Porters break Rabbah bar bar Chanah’s barrels of wine. Rav tells him to forgo his claim and, because the workers are poor, to pay them their wages too.

Rabbah bar bar Chanah, Rav

Daf 99

The Traveler Who Prayed for a Donkey

A tired traveler prays for a donkey, and a Roman makes him carry a newborn foal. He regrets not praying for a donkey to ride on.

Daf 105

Dovid HaMelech Takes the Hint

After Hashem lets Dovid miraculously kill a lion and a bear, Dovid understands there must be a reason and offers to fight Goliath.

Dovid HaMelech, Goliath

Daf 106

Rabbi Chiya and His Sons Almost Bring Moshiach

Eliyahu tells Rebbe that Rabbi Chiya and his sons could bring Moshiach. Their prayers bring wind and rain, but a fiery bear stops them before “Mechayeh Meisim.”

Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, Eliyahu HaNavi, Rabbi Chiya

Daf 106

Rabbi Yochanan and the Widow Who Walked to a Far Shul

Rabbi Yochanan sees a widow davening in his neighborhood and asks why she doesn't use the shul near her home. She answers that there is reward for the extra steps.

Rabbi Yochanan

Daf 113

Rabbah bar Avuhah Questions Eliyahu HaNavi

Rabbah bar Avuhah meets Eliyahu HaNavi in a non-Jewish cemetery, asks him about collecting a debtor's assets, and asks how a kohen may stand among graves.

Rabbah bar Avuhah, Eliyahu HaNavi

Daf 114

Eliyahu HaNavi Buries Rabbi Akiva

After the Romans kill Rabbi Akiva, Eliyahu HaNavi buries him. Asked how a kohen may do so, he answers that tzaddikim do not transmit tumah even after death.

Eliyahu HaNavi, Rabbi Akiva

Daf 114

Eliyahu HaNavi Reveals He Is Not a Kohen

Asked whether he is a kohen, Eliyahu HaNavi says he is from Shevet Binyamin, and explains that the first small loaf he asked the widow for hinted at Moshiach ben Yosef.

Eliyahu HaNavi

Daf 114