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Gittin 44b

גיטין מ״ד ע״ב

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Topic

Whether a קנס of the Sages passes to the sinner's son, and the laws of a slave sold to a buyer outside ארץ ישראל.

Overview

The גמרא first asks whether a קנס of the Sages falls on the person who sinned or on his property. The answer matters because it decides whether his son must pay after he dies. Two traditions show that the penalty is on the person, not his son: a field fertilized in שביעית, and someone who made his friend's טהרות impure. Next, a ברייתא teaches that a slave sold to a buyer outside ארץ ישראל goes free, and רבן שמעון בן גמליאל adds that this depends on where the buyer really lives. רבי ירמיה asks about slaves a wife brings into a marriage with a man from בבל who plans to go back, and the question ends in תיקו. רבי יוחנן rules that a slave sold in סוריא goes free only if his master had planned to return. Finally, רב ענן recalls two rulings of שמואל but cannot remember which one returns the buyer's money. רב יוסף works it out: in the slave case the money is not returned, and in the field sold during יובל it is.

Opening lines

וְאִם תִּימְצֵי לוֹמַר:

And if you say:

״כִּוֵּון מְלַאכְתּוֹ בַּמּוֹעֵד,

"He planned his work for the festival's middle days,

וָמֵת – לֹא קָנְסוּ בְּנוֹ אַחֲרָיו״ –

and he died, they did not penalize his son after him"

מִשּׁוּם דְּלָא עֲבַד אִיסּוּרָא,

because he did not do a forbidden act,

The steps (25)

  1. QuestionIs the penalty on the person or on his property?
  2. ProofA source from the laws of the seventh year
  3. ResponseThe son may sow the field, so the penalty is on the person
  4. Statementאביי: the son does not pay for impure טהרות
  5. ResponseWhy: hidden damage is only a penalty from the Sages
  6. StatementA slave sold to someone outside the land goes free
  7. StatementIt depends on how the buyer is described
  8. ChallengeA ruling that seems to say the opposite
  9. ResolutionHouse versus inn in ארץ ישראל
  10. QuestionSlaves a wife brings to a husband from בבל
  11. QuestionThe question works under both opinions
  12. QuestionThe question under the view that the law is with her
  13. QuestionThe question under the view that the law is with him
  14. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
  15. StatementA slave sold by his master in סוריא goes free
  16. ChallengeChallenge from רבי חייא: the slave lost his right
  17. ResolutionIt depends on whether the master planned to return
  18. ProofA ברייתא supports this split
  19. ChallengeMust the slave go along?
  20. ResolutionRead it as 'went out', after the fact
  21. Statementרב ענן heard two rulings from שמואל
  22. StatementSelling a field in the יובל year itself
  23. Questionרב ענן forgets which case returns the money
  24. ProofProof that in the slave case the money is not returned
  25. ConclusionSo in the field case the money is returned