Masechet Bechorot, Perek Chet, Mishnah Tet. This Mishnah will talk about the extra share that a Bechor (firstborn) receives in inheritance. The Mishnah says, HaBechor notel pi-shenayim benichsei ha'av. The Bechor inherits a double portion of his father's estate. Ve'enu notel pi-shenayim benichsei ha'em. But he does not take a double share of his mother's estate. Whatever his father leaves in his estate, the firstborn receives a double portion. But from his mother's estate, he would not receive a double portion. Rather, he would receive an equal share with the rest of his brothers.
Ve'enu notel pi-shenayim ba-shevach. When we said that a Bechor inherits a double portion of his father's estate, it's only his father's estate exactly as it was at the moment of death. But if the investments that were owned by the estate eventually went up in value—for example, let's say his father had $2 million of real estate. One house was worth a million dollars, and the other house was worth a million dollars. And it's him and two brothers. So he would receive a double portion as if he's the first and second brother. And then there are the third and fourth. We make it like there's another brother, and he receives both portions. So he would receive a million dollars, and the brothers would each receive half a million dollars. But let's say one of the homes went up in value in a dramatic way afterwards. Do we reassess the value of the father's estate? Later on, the answer is no. What we're saying here in the Mishnah is that it all fully goes by the value at the time of his father's death.
Continues the Mishnah. Ve'lo b'ra'uy k'muchzak. And also, the Bechor would not receive a double portion of any potential assets that he inherits like he does the actual assets that his father owns. In other words, whatever assets his father owns at the time of death, that's what he would receive a double portion of. But let's say, in some way, his father's estate inherits from another family after his father passed away. What would happen with those assets? What we're saying here is he would receive an equal share with his brothers. He would not receive a double portion, because those assets came into the estate after his father's death.
Continues the Mishnah. Ve'lo ha'isha b'ketubata. A woman would not take improvements made after her husband's death to the estate or potential assets as payment for the ketubah. Let's say a woman has a ketubah, which means in the event of divorce or her husband's death, she would receive, let's say, the 200 zuz (a silver coin). She could collect that money only from what's in the estate at the time of her husband's death, for example. But if the estate doesn't have enough money at that point in time to pay the ketubah, she's not allowed to collect from payments or improvements to the estate that happened later on after her husband died.
Ve'lo ha'banot b'mezonoteihen. Daughters who are supposed to be supported by their father's estate until they get married are only allowed to take support from what was in the estate at the time of their father's death, not from any improvements that happened later on.
Ve'lo ha'yavam. A yavam, a man who marries his brother's sister after the brother passed away with no children. When he does yibum and marries his sister-in-law, who's now his wife, he inherits all of his deceased brother's property and his brother's share of their father's estate. But we said the yavam only inherits what was there in the estate at the time of death, not any of the other properties: improvements or money that was added to the estate later on. All of these people that we mentioned above do not take their share from improvements made to the estate after death. Nor do they take their share from potential assets like they would from the assets that are possessed at the time of death.