Gemara Clarity

Kiddushin 22b

קידושין כ״ב ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 22b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kiddushin 22b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The end of רציעה for an עבד עברי, and the ways a עבד כנעני is acquired and freed: money, document, חזקה, חליפין, משיכה and service acts.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the ברייתא on רציעה of an עבד עברי. The awl goes through the ear and straight into the door in one boring, and the door must be standing and attached like a מזוזה. רבן יוחנן בן זכאי explains why the ear is pierced: it heard at הר סיני that Jews are servants of ה׳ alone. רבי שמעון בר רבי explains why the door and doorpost are used: they witnessed the Jews going free in מצרים. A new משנה then teaches that a עבד כנעני is acquired with money, a document, or חזקה. רבי מאיר and חכמים disagree about how he goes free. The גמרא learns these methods from a היקש to an inherited field, adds חליפין and שמואל's משיכה, and explains why calling works for an animal or a minor slave but not an adult slave. It then defines חזקה as the slave serving the master, and רב אשי explains the disagreement about lifting. The amud ends with מר זוטרא using a service act to acquire the slave of a dying גר, and that discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אִילּוּ נֶאֱמַר ״אׇזְנוֹ בַּדֶּלֶת״,

Had it said "his ear in the door,"

הָיִיתִי אוֹמֵר:

I would have said:

יִדְקוֹר כְּנֶגֶד אׇזְנוֹ בַּדֶּלֶת.

he should pierce into the door, opposite his ear.

דֶּלֶת – אִין, אׇזְנוֹ – לָא.

The door, yes; his ear, no.

The steps (38)

  1. StatementWhat we might have thought if the verse said 'his ear to the door'
  2. ChallengeBut another verse says the ear is pierced
  3. ResolutionThe real mistaken thought: pierce the ear first, then the door separately
  4. ConclusionThe verse teaches: one continuous piercing through the ear into the door
  5. StatementThe door must be attached and upright, like a doorpost
  6. QuestionWhy is the ear chosen over every other body part?
  7. ResponseThe ear that heard at Sinai 'they are My servants' is pierced
  8. QuestionWhy the door and doorpost?
  9. ResponseThe door and doorpost were witnesses in מצרים
  10. StatementNew משנה: how a עבד כנעני is acquired and freed, according to רבי מאיר
  11. Statementחכמים: how the slave goes free
  12. QuestionWhat is the source?
  13. ResponseThe slave is compared to an inherited field
  14. ChallengeShould the slave also return in יובל?
  15. ResolutionThe slave is owned forever
  16. StatementA ברייתא adds a fourth method: חליפין
  17. ChallengeWhy does our משנה leave out חליפין?
  18. ResolutionOur משנה only lists methods that are new for a slave
  19. Statementשמואל: a slave can be acquired through משיכה
  20. ChallengeWhy doesn't the ברייתא list משיכה?
  21. ResolutionThe ברייתא only lists methods that work for both land and movables
  22. StatementQuoting שמואל's rule again to examine it
  23. ChallengeDoes calling really not work? A ברייתא about animals
  24. ChallengeThe ברייתא: calling an animal counts as pulling
  25. ResolutionAn animal follows its master; a slave follows himself
  26. StatementA minor slave is like an animal
  27. StatementHow a slave is acquired through חזקה
  28. Statementרבי שמעון: חזקה is not stronger than lifting
  29. QuestionWhat is רבי שמעון adding?
  30. Responseרב אשי: who lifts whom
  31. Conclusionרבי שמעון: even the master lifting the slave acquires
  32. ChallengeShould a maidservant then be acquired through intercourse?
  33. ResolutionA service act works only when the master benefits and the slave makes an effort
  34. ChallengeWhat about intercourse in an unusual manner?
  35. ResolutionWho says both do not benefit?
  36. ResolutionThe פסוק treats both kinds of intercourse the same
  37. Statementמר זוטרא acquires the slave of a dying convert
  38. StatementSome say the slave was an adult