Bava Batra

'Take slaves and let them wash you down in the bath, take olives and make oil from them in the press'?  — There too, the poor brother can say to the other, 'You name a price,' but he cannot say, 'I will name a price.' Come and hear: ANYTHING WHICH IF DIVIDED WILL STILL RETAIN THE SAME NAME IS TO BE DIVIDED, AND IF NOT, A MONEY VALUE HAS TO BE ENTERED FOR IT?  — There is a difference on this point between Tannaim, as it has been taught: If a man says [to his partner], You take the prescribed minimum [in the courtyard]  and I will take less,  his suggestion is adopted. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says that his suggestion is not adopted. What are the circumstances? If we take the statement as it stands, what is the reason of Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel? Therefore we must suppose that there is a lacuna, and it should run thus: If one says, 'You take the standard space, and I will take less,' his suggestion is adopted. If he says, 'You name a price or I will name a price,' his suggestion is also adopted. And in regard to this Rabban Simeon remarks that his suggestion is not adopted. This, however, is not so. The statement is to be taken as it stands, and as to your question, what reason can Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel have, it is because he can say to him [the one who offers to take less], 'If you want me to pay for the extra, I have no money, and if you want to make me a present, I prefer not,  since it is written, He that hateth gifts shall live.' Abaye said to R. Joseph: This opinion of Rab Judah  really comes from Samuel, as we have learnt: SCROLLS OF THE SCRIPTURE MAY NOT BE DIVIDED EVEN IF BOTH AGREE, and on this Samuel remarked: This rule was only meant to apply if the whole is in one scroll, but if it is in two scrolls they may divide. Now if you maintain that a man has no right to say, 'You name a price or I will name a price,' why should the rule apply only to one scroll? Why not to two scrolls also?  — R. Shalman explained that Samuel referred to the case where both consent. Amemar said: The law is that a partner has the right to say, 'You name a price or let me name a price.' Said R. Ashi to Amemar: What do you make of the statement of R. Nahman?  — He replied: I don't know of it; meaning, I don't hold with it. How could he say this, seeing that Raba b. Hinnena and R. Dimi b. Hinnena were left by their father two bond-women, one of whom knew how to bake and cook and the other to spin and weave, and they came before Raba  and he said to them: A partner has no right to say, 'You name a price or let me name a price?' — The case is different there because each of them wanted both the women. So when one said, 'You take one and I will take one', this was not the same as, 'You name a price or let me name a price.'  But what of a copy of the Scriptures in two scrolls, where both are required  and yet Samuel said: The rule that they must not be divided applies only where there is one scroll, but if there are two, they may be divided? — This has been explained by R. Shalman to refer to the case where both consent. Our Rabbis taught: It is permissible to fasten the Torah,  the prophets, and the Hagiographa together. This is the opinion of R. Meir. R. Judah, however, says that the Torah, the prophets, and the Hagiographa should each be in a separate scroll; while the Sages say that each book should be separate. Rab Judah said: it is related that Boethus b. Zonin had the eight prophets  fastened together at the suggestion of R. Eleazar b. Azariah. Others, however, report that he had them each one separate. Rabbi said: On one occasion a copy of the Torah, the prophets, and the Hagiographa all bound up together was brought before us, and we declared them fit and proper. Between each book of the Torah there should be left a space of four lines, and so between one Prophet and the next. In the twelve Minor Prophets, however, the space should only be three lines.  If, however, the scribe finishes one book at the bottom [of a column], he should commence the next at the top [of the next].  Our Rabbis taught: If a man desires to fasten the Torah, the Prophets and the Hagiographa together, he may do so. At the beginning he should leave an empty space sufficient for winding round the cylinder, and at the end an empty space sufficient for winding round the whole circumference [of the scroll].  If he finishes a section at the bottom [of one column], he commences the next at the top [of the next],