Bava Batra 111: Excluding Daughters and Wives from Inheritance

The rabbis discuss the access of daughters and sons to inheritance.  First we learn that daughters are permitted to inherit quite freely:  Numbers (36:8)  And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the children of Israel.  How could it be that daughters inherit from more than one tribe?  Well, this daughter could inherit from both parents when they die when each parent comes from a different tribe.  As long as there is no son, the daughter inherits from both parents. However, one argument is that she inherits from her mother in all cases.  Another is that the son and daughter inherit equally from their mother, for halacha based on an a fortiori source cannot extend beyond the limit of the source.  The rabbis wonder whether or not an a fortiori argument is valid in this case.

We are told that when Rav Nittai rules that daughters and sons have equal access to inheritance, he is asked from where he derived this ruling.  He quotes that he and Rav Tavla, who ruled similarly in the past, both based basted their rulings on Rabbi Zekharya ben Katzav.  Rav Nachman threatens Rav Nattai, saying, "I will take Rav Chinnina bar Shelamya out of your ear".  This rabbi agreed with Rabbi Zekharya ben Katzav's ruling.  The phrase is said to mean that he will punish Rav Nittai severely for going against halacha.  There are many other stories about the shame that follows those who agree with Rabbi Zekharya ben Katzav regarding the equality of daughters and sons in inheritance law.  

And then the rabbis argue about whether or not only daughters inherit from their mothers.  The rabbis use the verse from Numbers (36:8) to demonstrate that just like the juxtapositioning of mothers' and fathers' tribes prove that a son precedes a daughter regarding a father's inheritance, it should prove that a son precedes a daughter regarding a mother's inheritance.  Similarly double portions should be allotted to the firstborn of a father's tribe and a mother's tribe.

The Gemara considers who is considered to be a firstborn: a stepchild?  a non-viable child?  One fascinating point: for the purposes of inheritance, a firstborn son is only one whom the father is pained about when he dies.  The rabbis decide that this means that a newborn baby who dies is not considered to be a firstborn child - a father would only feel grief about a child who has lived.  

We learn that the halacha is that the firstborn son receives a double portion only from his father.  His mother's inheritance is divided equally among her sons.  

We had understood that a husband inherits from his wife but that she does not inherit from him.  Why would this be so?  The rabbis decide that the "kinsmen" who receive the husband's inheritance are his blood kin and not his wife.  Rava attempts to argue with the logic used in this proof.  He states that words have been changed; letters moved.  But the rabbis disagree. 

Today's daf ends with the story of Pinchas, who found his fortune when his wife died and he inherited her land.  This proves that husbands inherit from their wives.  Today the Gemara was determined to undermine the potential for women - whether daughters or wives - to inherit from their fathers or husbands.  This choice in interpretation serves to exclude women from the power that accompanies the ownership of land in this ancient culture.  As long as women are reliant on the men in their lives to meet their basic needs (food, shelter, clothing), they cannot revolt against a system that dehumanizes them.  We see this pattern continue every day in both Jewish and secular society.