Mishnayos Bava Basra Perek 10 Mishnah 7

In a case where there are two brothers, one poor and one rich, and their father left them a bathhouse or an olive press as an inheritance, if the father had built these facilities for profit, i.e., to charge others for using them, the profit that accrues after the father’s death is shared equally by the two brothers. If the father had built them for himself and for the members of his household to use, the poor brother, who has little use for these amenities, cannot force the rich brother to convert the facilities to commercial use; rather, the rich brother can say to the poor brother: Go take servants for yourself, and they will bathe in the bathhouse. Or he can say: Go take olives for yourself, and come and make them into oil in the olive press. If there are two people who were living in one city, one named Yosef ben Shimon and the other also named Yosef ben Shimon, one cannot present a promissory note against the other, as the purported debtor can claim: On the contrary, it is you who owed me money; you repaid me and I returned this note to you upon payment. Nor can another, third person, present a promissory note against either of them, as each one can claim: It is not I but the other Yosef ben Shimon who owes you money. If a document is found among one’s documents stating: The promissory note against Yosef ben Shimon is repaid, and both men named Yosef ben Shimon owed this man money, the promissory notes of both of them are considered repaid, as it cannot be determined which debt was repaid and which is outstanding. What should two people with the same name in a single city do in order to conduct their business? They should triple their names by writing three generations: Yosef ben Shimon ben so-and-so. And if they have identical triple names, i.e., not only their fathers but their grandfathers had identical names, they should write an indication as to which one is referred to, such as: The short Yosef ben Shimon or the dark Yosef ben Shimon. And if they have identical indications, they should write: Yosef ben Shimon the priest, if one of them is a priest. In the case of one who says to his son before dying: One promissory note among the promissory notes in my possession is repaid, but I do not know which one, the promissory notes of all of those who owe him money are considered repaid, i.e., they are not valid for collection, as it cannot be determined which debt was repaid and which are outstanding. If there were found among his papers two promissory notes owed by one person, the one for the greater amount is considered repaid, and the one for the smaller amount is not considered repaid and can be collected; the debtor is favored in the case of an uncertainty. One who lends money to another with the assurance of a guarantor cannot collect the debt from the guarantor. But if the creditor said to the debtor: I am lending the money on the condition that I will collect the debt from whomever I wish, i.e., either the debtor or the guarantor, he can collect the debt from the guarantor. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: If the debtor has property of his own, then whether in this case, where the creditor stipulated this condition, or that case, where he did not, he cannot collect the debt from the guarantor. And so Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel would say: If there is a guarantor for a woman for her marriage contract, from whom the woman can collect payment of her marriage contract instead of collecting it from the husband, and her husband was divorcing her, the husband must take a vow prohibiting himself from deriving any benefit from her, so that he can never remarry her. This precaution is taken lest the couple collude [kenunya] to divorce in order to collect payment of the marriage contract from this guarantor’s property, and then the husband will remarry his wife.

שְׁנֵי אַחִין, אֶחָד עָנִי וְאֶחָד עָשִׁיר, וְהִנִּיחַ לָהֶן אֲבִיהֶן מֶרְחָץ וּבֵית הַבַּד, עֲשָׂאָן לְשָׂכָר, הַשָּׂכָר לָאֶמְצַע. עֲשָׂאָן לְעַצְמָן, הֲרֵי הֶעָשִׁיר אוֹמֵר לֶעָנִי, קַח לְךָ עֲבָדִים וְיִרְחֲצוּ בַמֶּרְחָץ, קַח לְךָ זֵיתִים וּבֹא וַעֲשֵׂם בְּבֵית הַבָּד. שְׁנַיִם שֶׁהָיוּ בְעִיר אַחַת, שֵׁם אֶחָד יוֹסֵף בֶּן שִׁמְעוֹן וְשֵׁם אַחֵר יוֹסֵף בֶּן שִׁמְעוֹן, אֵין יְכוֹלִין לְהוֹצִיא שְׁטָר חוֹב זֶה עַל זֶה וְלֹא אַחֵר יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיא עֲלֵיהֶן שְׁטָר חוֹב. נִמְצָא לְאֶחָד בֵּין שְׁטָרוֹתָיו שְׁטָרוֹ שֶׁל יוֹסֵף בֶּן שִׁמְעוֹן פָּרוּעַ, שְׁטָרוֹת שְׁנֵיהֶן פְּרוּעִין. כֵּיצַד יַעֲשׂוּ, יְשָׁלֵשׁוּ. וְאִם הָיוּ מְשֻׁלָּשִׁים, יִכְתְּבוּ סִימָן. וְאִם הָיוּ מְסֻמָּנִין, יִכְתְּבוּ כֹּהֵן. הָאוֹמֵר לִבְנוֹ, שְׁטָר בֵּין שְׁטָרוֹתַי פָּרוּעַ וְאֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ אֵיזֶהוּ, שְׁטָרוֹת כֻּלָּן פְּרוּעִין. נִמְצָא לְאֶחָד שָׁם שְׁנַיִם, הַגָּדוֹל פָּרוּעַ וְהַקָּטָן אֵינוֹ פָרוּעַ. הַמַּלְוֶה אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ עַל יְדֵי עָרֵב, לֹא יִפָּרַע מִן הֶעָרֵב. וְאִם אָמַר עַל מְנָת שֶׁאֶפָּרַע מִמִּי שֶׁאֶרְצֶה, יִפָּרַע מִן הֶעָרֵב. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, אִם יֵשׁ נְכָסִים לַלֹּוֶה, בֵּין כָּךְ וּבֵין כָּךְ לֹא יִפָּרַע מִן הֶעָרֵב. וְכֵן הָיָה רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, הֶעָרֵב לָאִשָּׁה בִּכְתֻבָּתָהּ וְהָיָה בַעְלָהּ מְגָרְשָׁהּ, יַדִּירֶנָּה הֲנָאָה, שֶׁמָּא יַעֲשׂוּ קְנוּנְיָא עַל נְכָסִים שֶׁל זֶה וְיַחֲזִיר אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ: