Bava Batra 121: Dissolving Vows, Shabbat, Festivals, the 15th of Av, Long Lives, Inheriting HaAretz

We begin with a discussion about the Festivals and Shabbat.  Why is it that the Festivals are detailed but Shabbat is not mentioned in Leviticus 23:44?  Perhaps because Shabbat was mentioned a number of verses earlier, one rabbi suggests.  The group suggests that Shabbat represents the act of creation, which might explain why consecration at the Temple is different on different days.  Further, the rabbis note that the start of months and the placement of Festivals based on the stars in the sky requires a group of experts, but the dissolution of vows does not require a panel of experts.  They then note that in Numbers we learn that the 'heads of tribes' are permitted to dissolve vows - one expert.

In a conversation about the 15th of Av, the rabbis state that this day was the most joyous day in the entire calendar.  Jerusalem's women would wear each others' white dresses (to ensure that no-one was shamed because she had no white dress) and they would dance together.  This was said to the be the one day of the year that women could marry men from different tribes.  The oath that forbade anyone from intermarrying with the tribe of Benjamin was dissolved for this event.  The rabbis find proofs to defend their belief that this happened only in the one generation that was entering HaAretz; it was not practiced before or after that time and place.

The 15th of Av was also said to be the day when those designated to be killed in the wilderness were dying.  Ella suggests that King Hosea removed the barriers stopping pilgrims from reaching Jerusalem on the Festivals on the 15th of Av.  Those slain in Beitar were said to be buried on the 15th of Av in a supernatural description of corpses that did not decompose.  The 15th of Av was also said to be the day when wood was no longer cut for use in the Temple, for it would not have time to dry out and burn well (this is the time of year when the sun is shorter in the sky).  

After discussing who died in the wilderness, the Gemara turns to the longest living people.  The rabbis suggest that seven people have spanned the existence of people: Adam, Methuselah, Shem, Jacob, Amram, Ahijah the Shilonite, and Elijah - who was said to be still alive at the time the Talmud was written.  

The Gemara then argues about which of these people could truly have lived that long, for it was recorded that battles killed everyone.  If that were true, then not all of these men could have lived to see the one before him still alive.  

We end today's daf with the beginning of a question regarding the inheritance of Israel.  Was each tribe given an equal portion of land, or were the portions decided upon based on the number of 'skulls' in each tribe at the time?  The answer to this and other interesting questions will be found in tomorrow's daf!  Stay tuned...