More Discussions for this daf
1. Kal V'Chomers and Avos 2. Dayo 3. Rabanan or Rebbi Tarfon or Both?
4. Dayo 5. טומאת מגע
DAF DISCUSSIONS - BAVA KAMA 25

Mordechai Cutler asked:

How can the Gemara try to learn all these Kal V'Chomers to learn new laws, when on 5b the Gemora says that each Av is written to tell us it's own laws. On 5b, I thought the Gemora rejected the idea of learning Kal V'Chomers from one Av to another?

Mordechai Cutler, Chicago, USA

The Kollel replies:

The Gemara on Daf 5b writes that the Avos could , theoretically be derived from a Kal v'Chomer from each other. However, it concludes that had they been derived in such a way and not written individually, we would not have known that each Av has certain Halachos which the others do not have. The Torah therefore wrote out each Av separately in order to teach the unique Halachos that each of the Avos has.

However, we can certainly derive from one Av, Halachos that are common and shared by other Avos through a Kal v'Chomer and Binyan Av.

(On 2a Tosfos discusses the possibility of applying another rule, "Ein Onshin Min ha'Din," to prevent the derivation of Halachos from one Av to another. You are correct in inferring from the Sugya on 25a, among many others, that this does not seem feasible; see Insights to Bava Kama 2:2.)

M. Kornfeld