Yerushalmi Bava Kamma 10:1 ירושלמי בבא קמא י׳:א׳

MISHNAH: If somebody robbed to feed his children and they inherited from him, they are not liable to pay¹Even if they were the ones benefiting from the robbery.; if it was mortgageable property they have to pay²A different formulation is in the Halakhah: “they have to return it”; cf. Note 14.. One changes money³To exchange small coins for large or vice-versa. But one may take from them coins as change from a large coin used to pay the tolls even though the coins probably were taken by extortion. neither from the chest of the publican⁴The Mishnah presupposes the system of toll and tax farming where the contractor paid the government the expected amount of taxes in advance and then had to collect more than that amount to pay his employees and to make a profit. Since therefore he had to instruct his employees to collect more than was due by the government’s computation, there is no toll or tax collector’s box which does not contain money tainted by extortion. nor the wallet of the tax collector and one does not accept charity from these, but one accepts from their house⁵Charity given by the publican or tax collector from his private money is not tainted; only that money collected in the course of his duty necessarily contains extortion money. or from the market place⁵Charity given by the publican or tax collector from his private money is not tainted; only that money collected in the course of his duty necessarily contains extortion money..

HALAKHAH: “If somebody robbed to feed his children,” etc. It was stated⁷Tosephta Bava meṣi‘a 5:25–26; in a different version Babli 94b.: “A Jew who is engaged in lending with interest and repented, has to return it⁸The ill-gotten gains.. If he died and left it to his children, about him the verse says ‘he prepares but the just will wear it.⁹Job 27:17. As usual, the reference is to the part of the verse not quoted: “he (the sinner) distributes clean money.”’ If he left them a cow or a stole, they have to return it.” He went and stated that for robberies¹⁰Even though the statement starts with illegal interest income, it is not usual to obtain a cow or a stole as interest. The last sentence, therefore, has to refer to robbed goods..

“If it was mortgageable property they have to return it.” What is mortgageable property? Rebbi Jonathan says, if they inherited real estate. Rebbi Simeon ben Laqish said, if they inherited robbed items¹¹The Babli, 113a, quotes this in the name of Rebbi; E reads “Joḥanan” instead of Jonathan.. Rav said, an heir is like the holder of encumbered property. Just as a loan executed before witnesses cannot be collected from encumbered property, so it cannot be collected from heirs¹²Giṭṭin 3:8 (Note 146), 8:7 (Note 104), Bava meṣi‘a 1:6; Babli 111b (in the name of Rami bar Ḥama). A loan executed without a public document is not subject to a title search; the loan cannot be collected either from mortgaged property or from the innocent buyer of property pledged for the oral loan.. Samuel said, what was received cannot be foreclosed on mortgaged property, but on free property it can be foreclosed¹³Babli 111b, in the name of Rava. Since the loan made before witnesses can be collected from unencumbered property, it can be collected from unencumbered property of the estate.
In the Babli, Bava batra 175b, Samuel agrees with Rav that an undocumented loan cannot be collected from the heirs; the opinion expressed here, that it can be enforced against the heirs but not against buyers of the property, is attributed there (176a) to Rav Pappa and declared judicial practice.. But does [the Mishnah] not disagree with Rav? Since Rav said, an heir is like a holder of encumbered property; just as a loan executed before witnesses cannot be collected from encumbered property, so it cannot be foreclosed from heirs¹⁴But the Mishnah requires robbed real estate to be paid for. The question makes sense only in the formulation of the Mishnah, not the quote at the beginning of the present paragraph since both R. Jonathan and R. Simeon ben Laqish agree that originally robbed real estate available after the robber’s death must be returned to its original owners.. Explain it if he left them real estate¹⁵There is no question of “paying for it”, only of “returning it.”. But might it¹⁶The Mishnah. not disagree with Samuel? Did not Samuel say, what was received cannot be foreclosed on mortgaged property? Explain it if they inherited robbed items¹⁷Which has to be returned according to everybody, for reasons other than the rules of foreclosure..

¹⁸This is a reformulation of the discussion in Terumot 7:5, Notes 92–95. The Babli, 115a, deals with the case that the robber sold the garment. If he robbed a stole and gave it to another person. Rebbi Eleazar said in the name of Rebbi Ḥiyya, one takes away from the first one but not from the second¹⁹Tosephta 10:20.. Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Yannai said, one takes away even from the second. Rebbi Abba bar Mamal said, even Rebbi Ḥiyya will agree with this since Rebbi Ḥiyya said, one takes away even from the second²⁰In this version, R. Abba bar Mamal contradicts R. Eleazar. In the version of Terumot, one only states that R. Ḥiyya agrees that the robber cannot be sued if the recipient voluntarily gives the item back to its original owner..

If his vessels were switched at the artisan’s he may use them while he goes out and searches for his own. At a mourner’s house or at a wedding, he may not use them while he goes out and searches for his own²¹Babli Bava batra 46a, where the difference between both rules is explained it is stated that the artisan may sometimes sell vessels on the order of their owner whereas a switch at a social function always is in error.. Rebbi Abba bar Ḥanan said, my uncle Rebbi Ḥiyya explained this²²The permission to use the artisan’s vessels. only as in the case of one Bar Qora where everybody who takes from him takes by permission and everybody who puts something up there does so with permission.

²³Tosephta 10:39.“If thieves who stole by stealth repented, they have to make restitution²⁴To clear their consciences. There is no question of double restitution which is possible only by judgment.. If one of a gang repented, he has to make restitution for himself. But if he traded for them²⁵If he traded the loot to fences and distributed the money among the gang, he is responsible for the fact that the victims of the theft cannot recover their property., he has to make restitution for all of them.”

It was stated²⁶Tosephta 10:21; Babli 112a.: “If somebody robbed to feed his children, whether adult or underage, they are not liable to pay. If they inherited from him, both adult and underage are liable to pay. Symmachos says, the adults are liable, the underaged are not liable²⁷The underaged cannot be sued since they have no standing in court and no witnesses in civil suits are admitted without both parties being present. Underaged heirs can be sued in court only in foreclosure proceedings based on documents, in which case the court will appoint a guardian who can examine the validity of the document for them.. If they said, we do not know whether our father accounted for it at the end, they are not liable.” Rebbi Abba bar Mamal objected: Think of it, if they inherited real estate, they are not able to say, we do not know whether our father accounted for it at the end²⁸The Mishnah states unconditionally that robbed real estate has to be returned.. Rav Hamnuna objected: Think of it, if it was a notorious robbery; they are not able to say, we do not know whether our father accounted for it at the end. Rav Sheshet objected: For the underaged the court will argue²⁹The court-appointed attorney will argue for the underaged that they cannot know whether their father arranged himself with his victim.. What can you say? Rebbi Mana said, explain it if they argue, we do not know, etc., we know that our father was in dispute with you on this account, but we do not know how it was resolved³⁰This is a credible defense; the claimant either has to prove that there were no contacts or provide documentary proof that the claim was not settled..