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Me’ilah 21a

מעילה כ״א ע״א

Meilah 21a

Learn Me’ilah 21a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Me’ilah 21a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

מעילה through an agent: who is liable (בעל הבית, שליח, or חנווני), and how much must go against the instructions

Overview

First the גמרא finishes an earlier point. A שליח who adds to his errand does not cancel the בעל הבית's liability for מעילה. Then a new משנה rules that if the שליח follows the spoken instructions, the בעל הבית is liable, even if he claims he privately meant something else. If the שליח changes the instructions, the שליח is liable. When a חרש שוטה וקטן carries the money, the בעל הבית is liable if they do the errand, and the חנווני is liable if they do not. If the owner remembers that the money is הקדש in time, he can redeem it onto another פרוטה or a utensil. The גמרא explains that דברים שבלב אינם דברים. It gives two answers for how a חרש שוטה וקטן can carry out an errand: רבי אלעזר's vat of olives and רבי יוחנן's עירוב on an animal. רב ששת then settles a contradiction from a ברייתא: the חנווני is liable only when both the owner and the שליח remembered. A second משנה teaches that half a פרוטה is not enough for מעילה, but two full פרוטות can make both people liable, with רבי יהודה disagreeing about the owner. A new case about a gold dinar begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַהוּ דְּתֵימָא:

Lest you say:

עָקַר שָׁלִיחַ שְׁלִיחוּתֵיהּ דְּבַעַל הַבַּיִת,

the agent uprooted the agency of the homeowner,

וְלָא לִמְעוֹל –

and so the homeowner should not be liable for misuse —

קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן.

it teaches us otherwise.

The steps (20)

  1. ConclusionWhy the משנה had to teach that the homeowner is still liable
  2. StatementAgent followed instructions, owner claims he meant something else
  3. StatementAgent switched locations, so the agent is liable
  4. StatementSending through a deaf-mute, an imbecile, or a minor
  5. StatementOwner remembers it is consecrated before the agent reaches the store
  6. StatementThe fix: redeem the הקדש money onto something else
  7. QuestionWhat is the משנה teaching us?
  8. ResponseThoughts in the heart do not count
  9. ChallengeHow can a חרש, שוטה, or קטן be a שליח?
  10. ResolutionThey are like a vat of olives
  11. ProofThe source for the vat of olives
  12. ResolutionA monkey or elephant carrying an עירוב
  13. StatementBack to the משנה: a competent messenger
  14. ChallengeA ברייתא says the messenger is liable
  15. ResolutionThe משנה means both remembered
  16. StatementHalf lamps, half wicks: neither one is liable
  17. StatementSwapping the stores makes the messenger liable
  18. StatementOne אתרוג and one pomegranate: both are liable
  19. Statementרבי יהודה: the owner is not liable
  20. StatementNew case: a gold dinar sent for a robe