Arachin 20a

ערכין כ׳ ע״א

Arakhin 20a

Learn Arachin 20a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Arachin 20a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Assessing a person's value (דמים) versus fixed ערכין: heirs, body parts, 'half' pledges, and pledges on vessels.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a chain of questions about pledging one's own market value (דמים): two separate pledges, one pledge of 'twice my value', and an assessment the court made on its own. A proof from a משנה about a person who pledged his value and died is brought and then pushed off, so that question stays unresolved. Then a new משנה teaches that ערכין are stricter than דמים in one way: heirs pay a ערך after the pledger dies, but not דמים, because the dead have no value. The משנה also covers pledging the ערך of a limb, of a vital organ, of 'half my ערך' versus 'the ערך of half of me', and of another person's value. The גמרא explains that heirs pay a ערך only when the pledger stood in judgment, while דמים still needs an assessment. It brings רב's ruling that pledging a limb's ערך obligates its value according to רבי מאיר. It gives the פסוק sources for the vital-organ rule for both ערכין and דמים, and explains רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה's 'lashes' as a rabbinic penalty. Finally, אביי and רבא explain why the חכמים void a pledge of half a כלי's ערך, and the גמרא shows why the משנה repeats its clause about another person's value.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. QuestionTwo separate value pledges: one assessment or two?
2. QuestionSaying "twice my value" in one statement
3. QuestionSomeone already assessed for another reason
4. ProofStarting to resolve one question from a משנה
5. ProofEveryone is worth at least four זוזים
6. RejectionA real assessment is different from none at all
7. StatementValuations are stricter than vows of value
8. StatementPledging the valuation of a body part
9. StatementHalf of my value versus the value of half of me
10. StatementPledging someone else's value when someone dies
11. StatementWays vows of worth are stricter than ערכין
12. StatementThe one way ערכין are stricter than vows of worth
13. ProofTrying to prove that an oral loan is collected from heirs
14. RejectionA ערך is different because it is a debt written in the Torah
15. ProofTrying to prove that a Torah debt counts like a document
16. RejectionThe ברייתא is a case where he already stood in court
17. ChallengeThen why don't heirs pay דמים after a court ruling?
18. Resolutionדמים still needs a value estimate, while a ערך is fixed
19. Statementרב: whoever pledges the ערך of a hand or leg still pays its worth
20. ChallengeBut the משנה says he said nothing
21. ResolutionThe משנה follows the רבנן, רב follows רבי מאיר
22. ChallengeDidn't רב already say this about a vessel?
23. ResolutionWith a limb we might think he simply made a mistake
24. QuestionWhy does pledging the head or liver mean the whole valuation?
25. ResponseThe Torah speaks of 'lives'
26. StatementThe general rule includes the leg from the knee up
27. StatementA dispute about pledging half of one's ערך
28. ChallengeWhy would he be lashed?
29. Resolution'Lashed' means penalized by paying the full ערך
30. QuestionWhy does 'the דמים of half of me' cost the whole value?
31. ResponseA פסוק links pledges of value to ערך
32. StatementThe משנה's general rule adds the leg from the knee up
33. StatementA ברייתא about pledging half the ערך of a utensil
34. StatementAt רבא's sickbed, רבי מאיר's reasoning is explained
35. ChallengeChallenge: the חכמים' view seems inconsistent
36. ResolutionThe חכמים agree with both רבי מאיר and רבי שמעון
37. ResolutionLike רבי שמעון: nobody donates half a כלי
38. QuestionWhich case does the משנה mean?
39. ResponseHe had already stood in judgment
40. ChallengeIsn't this the same as the earlier clause?
41. ResolutionThe clause was needed for its last part, about דמים