Deathbed Gifts in Talmudic Law: Six Cases Ruled by Rav Naḥman (Bava Batra 151a-b)
Stories of: Mothers of Rav Zutra bar Toviyya, Rami bar Ḥama, and Rav Amram; Sisters of Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana and Rav Dimi bar Yosef
The Talmud discusses various legal scenarios involving gifts made by individuals on their deathbeds.
See Hebrew Wikipedia, מתנת שכיב מרע – ויקיפדיה, my translation, with adjustments:
In Jewish law, a "gift of a dying person" (מתנת שכיב מרע) or "instructions due to impending death" (מצווה מחמת מיתה) is a special legal provision for a seriously ill person to transfer their property to others without needing any of the typical formal actions (מעשה קניין) that are generally necessary in standard property transactions.
Compare Gift (law) - Wikipedia > “causa mortis”:
deathbed gifts (gift causa mortis, donatio mortis causa) - a future gift made in expectation of the donor's imminent death.
A gift causa mortis is not effective unless the donor dies of the impending peril that he or she had contemplated when making the gift, i.e. these gifts can only be made when the donor is in a terminal condition.
Each of the six cases in this sugya involves a female relative (either a mother or sister) of a Babylonian amora bequeathing property to the sage on her deathbed. The last five out of the six cases are ruled by Rav Naḥman.
Outline
Case of Rav Zutra bar Toviyya's Mother
Case of Rami bar Ḥama’s Mother
Case of Rav Amram’s Mother
Case of Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana’s Sister
Case of Rav Dimi bar Yosef’s Sister
The Passage
Case of Rav Zutra bar Toviyya's Mother
The mother of Rav Zutra bar Toviyya (רב זוטרא בר טוביא) transferred her property to him because she intended to marry Rav Zevid and did not want him to acquire her property (essentially, a kind of pre-nup financial planning).
After she married Rav Zevid, he divorced her. She then tried to reclaim the property.
Rav Beivai bar Abaye ruled that since her intention to marry was fulfilled, the transfer was valid, even though she later divorced.
Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, sharply criticized Rav Beivai's ruling, referring to his ruling as "weak, frail" (מולייתא) (I skip his technical critique.)
אימיה דרב זוטרא בר טוביא,
כתבינהו לנכסה לרב זוטרא בר טוביא,
דבעיא לאנסובי ליה לרב זביד.
אינסיבא, וגרשה.
אתיא לקמיה דרב ביבי בר אביי,
אמר: משום אנסובי – והא אינסיבא.
אמר ליה רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע: משום דאתו ממולאי, אמריתו מילי מולייתא?!
[...]
The mother of Rav Zutra bar Toviyya
wrote a deed granting her property to Rav Zutra bar Toviyya,
explaining that she was doing so because she wanted to get married to Rav Zevid, and she did not want him to acquire her property.
She married Rav Zevid, and he divorced her.
She came before Rav Beivai bar Abaye to claim her property from her son.
Rav Beivai said: She transferred her property because she wanted to get married, and she married. Since her intentions were fulfilled, even though she subsequently was divorced, the gift is a valid gift.
Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, said to Rav Beivai: Is it because you come from a line of truncated [mula’ei] people, from the house of the High Priest Eli, whose descendants were condemned to premature death (see I Samuel 2:31), that you say truncated [mulyata] and unsound matters?!
[...]
Case of Rami bar Ḥama’s Mother
Rami bar Ḥama’s mother transferred her property to her son Rami in the evening, and to his brother Rav Ukva (רב עוקבא בר חמא) the next morning.
Rav Sheshet ruled in favor of Rami because his deed was earlier, but Rav Naḥman ruled in favor of Rav Ukva, as a person on their deathbed can retract their gift (I skip the rest of the passage, which is technical.)
אימיה דרמי בר חמא,
באורתא כתבתינהו לנכסה לרמי בר חמא,
בצפרא כתבתינהו לרב עוקבא בר חמא.
אתא רמי בר חמא לקמיה דרב ששת, אוקמיה בנכסי.
אזל רב עוקבא בר חמא קמיה דרב נחמן, אוקמיה בנכסי.
אתא רב ששת לקמיה דרב נחמן,
אמר ליה: מאי טעמא אוקמיה מר לרב עוקבא בר חמא?!
[...]
The mother of Rami bar Ḥama
wrote a deed in the evening granting her property to Rami bar Ḥama.
In the morning of the following day, she wrote a deed granting her property to his brother, Rav Ukva bar Ḥama.
Rami bar Ḥama came before Rav Sheshet, who established him as the owner of the property, as the deed transferring the property to him preceded the gift to his brother.
Rav Ukva bar Ḥama came before Rav Naḥman, who established him as the owner of the property.
Rav Sheshet came before Rav Naḥman
and said to him: What is the reason that the Master established Rav Ukva bar Ḥama as the owner of the property?!
[...]
Case of Rav Amram’s Mother
The mother of Rav Amram the Hasid1 bequeathed promissory notes (מלוגא דשטראי) to Rav Amram on her deathbed without a formal acquisition.
Rav Naḥman upheld the transfer, since deathbed gifts are binding (as discussed in the intro).
אימיה דרב עמרם חסידא,
הוה לה מלוגא דשטראי.
כי קא שכבא, אמרה: ליהוי לעמרם ברי.
אתו אחוה לקמיה דרב נחמן,
אמרו ליה: והא לא משך!
אמר להו: דברי שכיב מרע ככתובין וכמסורין דמו.
The mother of Rav Amram the Pious
had a bundle [meloga] of promissory notes.
When she was dying, she said: Let these promissory notes be for Amram, my son.
His brothers came before Rav Naḥman.
They said to Rav Naḥman: But Rav Amram did not pull the bundle of documents, and since an act of acquisition was not performed he did not acquire them.
Rav Naḥman said to them: An act of acquisition was not required, because the statement of a person on his deathbed is considered as written and as though the documents were delivered to the recipient.
Case of Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana’s Sister
The sister of Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana (רב טובי בר רב מתנה) first gave her property to Rav Tovi and later to his brother, Rav Aḥadvoi,2 after he expressed distress.
Rav Naḥman ruled in favor of Rav Aḥadvoi, as a person on their deathbed can retract their gift (as mentioned in the previous section, in the case of Rami bar Ḥama’s mother).
אחתיה דרב טובי בר רב מתנה,
כתבתינהו לנכסה לרב טובי בר רב מתנה – בצפרא.
לפניא, אתא רב אחדבוי בר רב מתנה, בכה לה –
אמר לה, השתא אמרי: מר צורבא מרבנן, ומר לאו צורבא מרבנן!
כתבתינהו ניהליה.
אתא לקמיה דרב נחמן,
אמר ליה, הכי אמר שמואל: [...]
The sister of Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana
wrote a deed in the morning granting her property to Rav Tovi bar Rav Mattana.
In the evening another brother, Rav Aḥadvoi bar Rav Mattana, came and cried to her.
Rav Aḥadvoi said to her: Now people will say that you gave your property to Rav Tovi because this Master, Rav Tovi, is a Torah scholar, and that Master, Rav Aḥadvoi, is not a Torah scholar.
She wrote a deed granting the property to him.
Rav Tovi came before Rav Naḥman.
Rav Naḥman said to Rav Tovi: This is what Shmuel says: [...]
Case of Rav Dimi bar Yosef’s Sister
The sister of Rav Dimi bar Yosef (רב דימי בר יוסף) had a habit of transferring “a small piece of an orchard” (פיסקתא דפרדיסא) to him whenever she thought she was dying, but would retract the gift when she recovered.
During one such illness, she offered the orchard to Rav Dimi again. He was initially reluctant, but when she insisted, he accepted the gift while reserving part of the property for her.
After recovering, she retracted the gift and took the matter to Rav Naḥman to reclaim the property. Rav Dimi refused to attend the court, arguing that the transaction was valid since he had reserved part of the property for her. Rav Naḥman threatened excommunication if Rav Dimi did not appear in court, using a metaphor: “If you do not come, I will strike you ‘with a thorn (סילוא) that does not draw blood’”.3
Upon investigation, Rav Naḥman concluded that since the sister acted out of fear of imminent death, she had the right to retract the gift, as such gifts can be revoked if made under the expectation of death.
אחתיה דרב דימי בר יוסף, הוה לה פיסקתא דפרדיסא,
כל אימת דהות חלשא, הוה מקניא ליה ניהליה,
וכי קיימא, הות הדרא בה.
זימנא חדא, חלשא,
שלחה ליה: תא קני.
שלח: לא בעינא.
שלחה ליה: תא קני כל היכא דבעית.
אזל שיירה, וקנו מינה.
כי קיימא, הדרא בה.
אתאי לקמיה דרב נחמן,
שלח ליה: תא.
לא אתא.
אמר: מאי איתי?! הא שיירה, וקנו מינה!
שלח ליה: אי לא אתית, מחינא לך בסילוא דלא מבע דמא.
אמר להו לסהדי: היכי הוה מעשה?
אמרו ליה, אמרה הכי: ״ווי דקא מיתה הך איתתא!״
אמר להו: אם כן, הוה מצוה מחמת מיתה, ומצוה מחמת מיתה – חוזר.
The sister of Rav Dimi bar Yosef had a tract of land in an orchard.
Whenever she was sick and thought that she was dying, she would transfer ownership of the orchard to Rav Dimi,
and when she recovered she would retract her gift.
On one occasion she was sick.
She sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come and acquire my property.
He sent a message back to her: I do not want to come.
She sent a message to him: Come and acquire my property in any manner that you want.
He went and reserved for her part of the orchard, and he acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition.
When she recovered she retracted the gift.
She came before Rav Naḥman to reclaim it.
Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: Come to court.
Rav Dimi did not come.
He said: What reason is there for me to come? Didn’t I reserve part of the property for her, and I acquired the rest of the property from her with an act of acquisition? Therefore, the acquisition is complete.
Rav Naḥman sent a message to Rav Dimi: If you do not come, I will strike you with a thorn [besileva] that does not draw blood, i.e., I will excommunicate you.
Inquiring into the matter, Rav Naḥman said to the witnesses: How did the act of transferring the property take place?
The witnesses said to Rav Naḥman: This is what she said: Woe, that woman is dying!
Rav Naḥman said to them: If so, this is a case of one who issues directives with regard to his property due to his expectation of his imminent death. And one who issues directives due to his expectation of his imminent death can retract his gift even if he did not transfer all of his property, as he evidently granted the gift only because he expected to die.
רב עמרם חסידא - for a story about him and the Exilarch, see my previous piece here.
רב אחדבוי בר רב מתנה - according to Jastrow, the correct pronunciation of this personal name is likely Aḥdboi, see my piece “Abba”.