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Kesubos 108a

כתובות ק״ח ע״א

Ketubot 108a

Learn Kesubos 108a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Someone forbidden by a vow to benefit from his fellow: may the fellow pay his half-shekel, repay his debt, or return his lost object? רב אושעיא and רבא explain how repaying a debt can be allowed.

Overview

This amud continues a משנה about a person who is forbidden by a נדר to get any benefit from his fellow. The משנה says the fellow may still give the half-shekel for him, pay off his debt, and return his lost object. The גמרא accepts the half-shekel and the lost object, because each one is a מצוה and gives no real personal benefit. It then challenges the debt payment, since paying someone's debt seems to save him money. רב אושעיא answers that the משנה follows חנן, who holds that whoever pays another person's obligation has simply 'lost his money.' רבא answers differently: even the רבנן agree, because the case is a loan taken on the condition that the borrower need not repay it. The גמרא then asks why רב אושעיא did not accept רבא's answer. רב אושעיא's reply begins at the end of this amud and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שׁוֹקֵל לוֹ אֶת שִׁקְלוֹ,

He may weigh out his shekel for him,

וּפוֹרֵעַ אֶת חוֹבוֹ,

and he may repay his debt,

וּמַחֲזִיר לוֹ אֲבֵידָתוֹ.

and return to him his lost object.

וּבְמָקוֹם שֶׁנּוֹטְלִין שָׂכָר —

And in a place where people take a fee,

The steps (7)

  1. StatementWhat the fellow may still do for the one forbidden by the vow
  2. ProofGiving the half-shekel is just a מצוה, not a benefit
  3. ChallengeBut repaying his debt clearly helps him
  4. ResolutionThe משנה follows חנן: the payer just lost his money
  5. Resolutionרבא: The loan never had to be repaid
  6. QuestionWhy didn't רב אושעיא give רבא's answer?
  7. Responseרב אושעיא begins his reason