daf bit: Bava Batra 115-116

[cellio]

The mishna discusses priorities in inheritance. If a man dies and has no sons, his daughters inherit. A son takes precedence over a daughter. All lineal descendants of a son take precedence over a daughter (so if the son has died but there's a grandson, the grandson takes precedence over the daughter). A daughter takes precedence over brothers, and lineal descendants of a daughter also take precedence over brothers. Brothers take precedence over the brothers of the father, as do lineal descendants of brothers. The mishna then states the general rule: lineal descendants of anybody with a priority to succession take precedence. Finally, a father takes precedence over all his descendants. (115a)

The g'mara discusses the case of the father. Yitzchak has two sons, Eisav and Yaakov. After Yitzchak dies, Eisav dies without heirs. Who inherits Eisav, his brother Yaakov or his surviving grandfather Avraham? Because a father takes priority over descendants, Yitzchak would have priority over Yaakov were he alive. But he's not. So do we say that his father, Avraham, has priority (citing the father rule)? No, because we apply the father rule differently -- the lineal descendants (Yaakov) of one who has priority (Yitzchak) take precedence. (116b)

Today's daf is 116.