Bava Batra 142: Inheriting as a Fetus and Inheriting as a Child

Today we learn about the difference between a fetus and a child.  The rabbis use the word fetus to refer to one who has not yet been born.  They also use the term fetus to refer to one who is just born but less than one day old.  From one day of age, we refer to one as a child rather than a fetus.

And so is it permissible to transfer ownership, whether through inheritance or otherwise, to a fetus?  It is not permitted to transfer ownership to something that does not yet exist.  The person that the fetus will become does not yet exist.  More importantly, the rabbis understand that a fetus may never turn into that person.  They expect that many fetuses will die within those first twenty four hours.  If that is the case, ownership would be transferred to one who does not exist.

The rabbis discuss the very real cases that demonstrate conflict between brothers regarding who is firstborn, who is not yet born when a father declares who will inherit, and other similar arguments.  All sons should receive a portion from their father.  This includes sons from previous marriages.  Further, all sons should receive a portion of their father's property, whether or not they were born when the father stated who would receive which portions.

One of the more interesting facts for me in today's dvar is that a fetus is not considered to be alive until at least one day after it has been born.  The question of abortion is based on very different considerations if a fetus is definitively not a person.  Fascinating that evangelical Christians went in such a different direction when understanding this question.