Gemara Clarity

Gittin 44a

גיטין מ״ד ע״א

Learn Gittin 44a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 44a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The penalty on a Jew whose slave ends up with a גוי: forced loss, partial sales, the size of the fine, and whether it passes to an heir

Overview

This amud is about the חכמים's penalty on a Jew whose slave ends up in a גוי's hands. First the גמרא gives another explanation of the earlier case of a slave used as security for a loan. Then a ברייתא teaches that a slave collected by a גוי for a debt, or taken by a סיקריקון, does not go free. The גמרא defends this ruling against a ברייתא about grain seized by the king's officers and against רב's ruling about selling a slave to a gentile official. רבי ירמיה then asks about temporary sales, partial sales, and different kinds of buyers; only the גר תושב question is answered. רבי אמי rules that a master may take money for a slave who ran off to a foreign army, because he is only rescuing what he can. רבי יהושע בן לוי fines one who sells his slave to a גוי, and the גמרא brings two versions of how large the fine is compared to ריש לקיש's fine for selling an animal. The amud ends with רבי ירמיה asking whether the son is fined after his father dies. That question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאִי בָּעֵית אֵימָא:

And if you want, say:

בְּשֶׁלָּוָה עַל מְנָת לְמַשְׁכְּנוֹ,

where he borrowed on the condition that they would collect it,

וְלֹא מִשְׁכְּנוֹ.

but they did not yet collect it.

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן:

The Sages taught:

The steps (29)

  1. ResolutionAnother explanation: he agreed it could be taken, but it was not yet taken
  2. StatementA slave taken for a debt or by a robber does not go free
  3. ChallengeChallenge: taking property for a debt seems to count like a sale
  4. ResolutionThe grain case is different because the owner gains from it
  5. Challengeרב's case of selling a slave to a gentile official
  6. ResolutionHe should have calmed the official
  7. Statementרב's ruling quoted on its own
  8. QuestionWhat could the owner have done?
  9. ResponseHe could have calmed the official
  10. QuestionA sale for only thirty days
  11. ProofTrying to prove it from רב
  12. RejectionThe official never gives the slave back
  13. QuestionPartial sales and different buyers
  14. ResponseAt least the גר תושב question is answered
  15. QuestionMay the master take payment for a slave who joined an army?
  16. ProofA proof from a house that a gentile seized
  17. RejectionA house may be different from a slave
  18. Responseרבי אמי's public ruling: the master may take the money
  19. StatementSelling a slave to a gentile: fined up to one hundred times
  20. QuestionIs the number one hundred meant exactly?
  21. ProofProof from ריש לקיש: selling a large animal is fined only up to ten
  22. RejectionA slave is different because he loses מצוות every day
  23. StatementSecond version: ריב״ל says the fine is only up to ten
  24. QuestionSecond version: is ten meant exactly?
  25. ProofSecond version: ריש לקיש fines up to one hundred for an animal
  26. RejectionA slave is different because he does not come back
  27. ChallengeThat difference would only add one more
  28. ResolutionSelling a slave is uncommon, so חכמים did not decree a big fine
  29. QuestionIs the son fined after his father dies?