Bava Batra 143 – You and the Donkey

If one says to the intended recipient, “Let you and the donkey acquire this gift,” the recipient gets half (Rav Nachman), nothing (Rav Hamnuna), or all (Rav Sheshet).

Rav Sheshet's proof: if one separates the tithe from a vegetable with a bitter interior, he must add to his tithe from a sweet section. The sweet part is “you,” the bitter part is “the donkey,” and since the tithe took effect, we see that the recipient gets all.

Talmud argues for Rav Sheshet: A man betrothed five women jointly with one basket of figs, and the Sages said that two sisters were not betrothed. This is the case of “you” - the three eligible women and “the donkey” - two sisters who are not eligible – and he got all he could get.

But the law here follows Rav Nachman.

Art: Luis Meléndez, Still-Life with Figs