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Kiddushin 24b

קידושין כ״ד ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 24b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kiddushin 24b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Which injuries free an עבד כנעני, whether he needs a גט שחרור, and the details of indirect, partial and accidental injuries

Overview

This amud keeps working out which injuries free an עבד כנעני. The גמרא explains why the תורה names both a tooth and an eye. It then reads the פסוק as a כלל ופרט וכלל with a ריבוי, so any visible injury that does not heal frees the slave, even if the limb still works. A ברייתא then brings a מחלוקת about whether the freed slave also needs a גט שחרור. רבי שמעון learns from a divorced wife that a document is needed, and רבי מאיר reads ״לחפשי ישלחנו״ to mean he is free at once. Next come cases: a blow near the eye or ear, which leads רב אשי to explain that a person hurt by noise really frightened himself. Then the גמרא discusses a weakened eye or loosened tooth, and a doctor master who blinds his slave while treating him, where רבן שמעון בן גמליאל requires intent to destroy. רב ששת rules that removing an already-blind eye frees the slave, with support from the law of bird קרבנות. A new ruling from רב begins at the end and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֵׁן דְּחָלָב,

even a baby tooth [would free him],

כְּתַב רַחֲמָנָא ״עַיִן״.

so the Merciful One wrote 'eye.'

וְאִי כְּתַב רַחֲמָנָא ״עַיִן״

And if the Merciful One had written only 'eye,'

הֲוָה אָמֵינָא מָה עַיִן שֶׁנִּבְרָא עִמּוֹ

I would have said: just as an eye was created with him,

The steps (33)

  1. ResolutionWhy the תורה needed both tooth and eye
  2. ChallengeChallenge: maybe only a tooth and an eye count
  3. ResolutionAnswer: the פסוק generalizes again at the end
  4. ChallengeWhy not require that the limb stop working too?
  5. ResolutionAnswer: ״לחפשי ישלחנו״ widens the law
  6. ChallengeIf it is a widening phrase, why doesn't a temporary injury free the slave?
  7. ResolutionTooth and eye must still limit the law
  8. StatementDoes the freed slave need a release document?
  9. StatementThe deciders split the ruling
  10. ChallengeIt's not a penalty, it comes from the פסוקים
  11. ResolutionIt means a Sages' derivation
  12. QuestionWhat is רבי שמעון's source?
  13. ResponseLearning the slave from a divorced wife
  14. Responseרבי מאיר: the word order shows he is already free
  15. StatementStriking the eye or ear itself versus striking near it
  16. ChallengeIsn't damage caused by sound real damage?
  17. ResolutionA person is different: he frightens himself
  18. ProofSupport from the law of one who frightens another
  19. StatementA weakened eye or a loosened tooth
  20. StatementAn eye already weak or a tooth already loose before the blow
  21. StatementWhy both teachings about a weak eye are needed
  22. StatementThe doctor master who blinds his slave while treating him
  23. Statementרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: the master must intend to destroy
  24. QuestionWhat do the Sages learn from 'and destroys it'?
  25. ResponseThe Sages use it for the unborn baby case
  26. QuestionHow does רבן שמעון בן גמליאל learn רבי אלעזר's case?
  27. ResponseHe learns it from the extra ending of the word
  28. QuestionWhy don't the רבנן use that same extra ending?
  29. ResponseThe רבנן do not read meaning into that difference
  30. StatementRemoving an eye that was already blind frees the עבד
  31. ProofA ברייתא: birds are not disqualified by blemishes
  32. ProofA bird missing a limb, such as a removed eye, is disqualified
  33. Statementרב begins a new ruling about the slave