Pt1 Stories of Disinheritance and Consecration to the Temple (Bava Batra 133b-134a)
Story of Yosef ben Yo’ezer disowning his son
Part one of a two-part series. Outline below.
Intro
The passage discusses the theme of transferring inheritance, especially when the intended heirs do not act properly.
HEKDESH (Heb. הֶקְדֵשׁ), consecrated property, property dedicated to the needs of the Temple [...]
The consecration of property was the means of providing for the upkeep of the Temple and the sacrificial services [...]
Contrary to the general principle of Jewish law that the transfer of ownership cannot be effected in a merely oral manner but requires the performance of a symbolic act [...] the rule is that simply an oral statement suffices to transfer the ownership of property from the common man2 to hekdesh
Outline
Story of Yosef ben Yo’ezer disowning his son
"There was an incident involving one man whose children did not act properly”
The story of Beit Horon
The passage
Story of Yosef ben Yo’ezer disowning his son
In this Talmudic story, Yosef ben Yo’ezer's unnamed son,3 who was behaving improperly, was disinherited when Yosef ben Yo’ezer consecrated his entire fortune to the Temple treasury.
Later, the son married a woman connected to King Yannai's court4 and unexpectedly discovered a valuable pearl inside a fish he had bought for his wife.
Heeding his wife's advice, he did not sell the pearl to the king's treasury but took it to the Temple treasurers,5 who valued it at 13 times his father's original donation. The Temple could only pay him for 7 of these units. Graciously, he accepted the 7 and donated the remaining value back to the Temple.
תא שמע:
דיוסף בן יועזר היה לו בן שלא היה נוהג כשורה.
הוה ליה עיליתא דדינרי,
קם אקדשה.
אזל, נסיב בת גאדיל כלילי דינאי מלכא.
אולידה דביתהו.
זבין לה ביניתא,
קרעה,
אשכח בה מרגליתא.
אמרה ליה: לא תמטייה למלכא, דשקלי לה מינך בדמי קלילי,
זיל אמטייה לגבי גזברי.
ולא תשיימה את,
[...]
אלא לשיימוה אינהו.
אמטייה,
שמוה בתליסרי עליאתא דדינרי.
אמרי ליה: שבע איכא, שית ליכא.
אמר להו: שבע הבו לי, שית הרי הן מוקדשות לשמים.
[...]
Come and hear,
as Yosef ben Yo’ezer had a son who was not acting properly.
Yosef ben Yo’ezer had a vessel [illiyyata] full of dinars,
and he arose and consecrated it to the Temple treasury, depriving his son of his inheritance.
His son went and married the daughter of King Yannai’s crown weaver.
After the son’s wife gave birth,
he bought her a fish [binita].
He tore its stomach open
and found a pearl in it.
He decided to sell it.
His wife said to him: Do not bring it to the treasury of the king to sell it, as they will take it from you for an insignificant sum of money.
Rather, go bring it to the Temple treasurers.
And do not appraise it yourself,
[...]
Rather, let them appraise it.
He brought it to the Temple treasury,
and they appraised it as having the value of thirteen vessels [illiyyata] full of dinars.
The treasurers said to him: There are seven illiyyata of dinars at our disposal to pay you for the pearl, but there are not an additional six.
He said to the treasurers: Give me the seven in exchange for the pearl, and as for the additional six that you owe me, they are hereby consecrated to Heaven.
[...]
See also: הקדש (הלכה) – ויקיפדיה.
Yosef ben Yo’ezer lived in the Second Temple period.
“the daughter of King Yannai’s crown weaver” - בת גאדיל כלילי דינאי מלכא.
גזברי - a Biblical word, from the Persian ganžabara.
The name Caspar stems from the same word, see Caspar (magus) - Wikipedia.