Gittin 38b

גיטין ל״ח ע״ב

Learn Gittin 38b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Freeing slaves: שמואל's prohibition and its מצוה exception, and רב's ruling that הקדש or הפקר frees a slave

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a proof: a woman who was half-slave and half-free was being treated promiscuously, so the court forced her master to free her. The גמרא rejects this as a proof about a regular maidservant, since she can be married to the master's slave. It then returns to שמואל's rule that freeing a slave breaks a מצות עשה. רבי אליעזר freed his slave to complete a מנין, and the גמרא shows this was allowed only because it was for a מצוה, since רבי אליעזר holds that keeping slaves is a חובה. רבה adds that freeing slaves is one of three habits that make homeowners lose their wealth. Next comes רב's ruling that one who is מקדיש his slave, or makes him הפקר, sets him free, though the slave still needs a גט שחרור. The גמרא defends the הקדש ruling against several sources, and the amud ends with a new challenge from a ברייתא that says devoting a slave means devoting only his value.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. ProofThe court forced a master to free a half-free woman
2. RejectionThe half-free woman's case is different
3. Statementשמואל: freeing a slave breaks a positive מצוה
4. Challengeרבי אליעזר freed his slave to make a מנין
5. ResolutionFreeing a slave for a מצוה is different
6. ChallengeMaybe רבי אליעזר holds keeping slaves is only optional
7. ResolutionA ברייתא says רבי אליעזר holds it is an obligation
8. StatementThree habits that make homeowners lose their wealth
9. ProofTwo families in ירושלים who were uprooted
10. StatementOne who is מקדיש his slave sets him free
11. QuestionWhy does this make the slave free?
12. ResponseHe meant the slave should join the holy nation
13. Statementרב יוסף's version: renouncing ownership of a slave frees him
14. StatementHow the two versions of רב's ruling relate
15. QuestionDoes the freed slave still need a document of release?
16. ResponseBoth ways free the slave, but he needs a document
17. ChallengeA teaching that slaves made holy are not freed
18. Resolutionרב has the standing of a תנא and may disagree
19. ChallengeA challenge from a פסוק about holy things that cannot be redeemed
20. ResolutionThe teaching speaks about devoting only the slave's value
21. ChallengeWhy not explain the other ברייתא the same way?
22. ResolutionThe treasurers would have no role
23. ResolutionThe 'others' would have no role either
24. Resolutionרבי's words 'as if he sold him to himself'
25. ChallengeA new challenge: the devoted slave keeps working