Rabbis Rock, Sassanians are Jerks (Bava Batra 173b)

On today's Daf we learn a little bit about the world from which the Rabbis come.

Our Mishnah explains that if one lends money to another person on the basis of a guarantor (someone who will pay my loan if I default), the lender can't reclaim the money from the guarantor.

The Rabbis question this ruling; what is the role of a guarantor for if not to pay a creditor? Rabbah and Rav Yosef explain that the phrase means that as the guarantor is there to pay if the borrower skips town. As long as the borrower is around we must approach him to get the money.

Rav Nachman objects to their point and says "This is the law of the Persians" (the Rabbis were living in Babylonia at the time and the Sassanian Persians were the ruling power).

The Gemora objects to Nachman's statement "on the contrary, the Persians go after the guarantor first even if the borrower has the property to pay (then it's up to the guarantor to wrestle the money that he paid from the borrower)." Nachman clarifies and expands his statement. The ruling of Rabbah and Rav Yosef wasn't the "laws of the Persians" (it was actually the opposite) rather it retained their methodology. Both the Persians and these Rabbis gave rulings that go against logic (the guarantor's role isn't to make sure the debtor is present when the lender wants to collect but that the debt [read: MONEY] is there for him. The Persians went against logic because thedy penalize the guarantor before the borrower). And in both cases, these "illogical" rulings were not explained.

Rav Nachman then goes on to give his "logical" explanation and supports it with proof from the tradition.

The reason this section of Talmud is so powerful is that it explains two central ideas of Jewish law. First, we should try to be rational and logical. Second, no matter what, we should give rationals and support for our reasonings.  This second lesson is crucial. Like the Rabbis we should never answer any question with "because I said so" or "just do it!" Rather we should be thinkers. We should consider our actions and have the patience to convey our reasoning to others.