Me’ilah 21b

מעילה כ״א ע״ב

Meilah 21b

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

Open Me’ilah 21b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Agents and deposits with הקדש money: the robe-and-cloak case, when a holder of deposited money commits מעילה, and a holy coin mixed into a purse.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a משנה. An agent was sent with a gold דינר of הקדש money to buy a robe, but he bought a robe for three סלעים and a cloak for three. The תנא קמא says both men committed מעילה. רבי יהודה says the בעל הבית did not, because he got a small, poor robe. The גמרא tries to learn from this that an agent who does only part of his job still acts for the owner. The proof is pushed back by reading the case as a bargain, and the גמרא then explains רבי יהודה's complaint and supports it with a ברייתא about legumes, which רב פפא limits to a fixed-price market. A new משנה follows. It teaches when someone holding deposited הקדש money commits מעילה by spending it: a money changer, a בעל הבית, and a storekeeper, about whom רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה disagree. It then rules on a holy פרוטה mixed into a purse, where רבי עקיבא and the חכמים disagree, except in the wording 'a פרוטה from this purse.' The גמרא brings two reports of ריש לקיש's challenge to that last ruling, and רבי יוחנן answers both the same way: the man meant that the last coin left in the purse would be the holy one.

Opening lines

The steps (17)

1. StatementThe agent bought a robe and a cloak: both are liable
2. Statementרבי יהודה: the homeowner is not liable
3. ProofLearning from the משנה that a partly done job still counts
4. RejectionPushback: maybe the agent found a bargain
5. ChallengeChallenge from רבי יהודה's words: the robe was small and poor
6. ResolutionSmall and poor compared to what he could have gotten
7. ProofSupport from רבי יהודה agreeing about legumes
8. ChallengeDon't legumes also get cheaper in bulk?
9. Resolutionרב פפא: a place where each container has a fixed price
10. StatementUsing deposited money: money changer versus בעל הבית
11. StatementIs a storekeeper like a בעל הבית or a money changer?
12. StatementA consecrated coin mixed into a purse
13. StatementWhen רבי עקיבא agrees with the חכמים
14. ChallengeWhy the first case is different from the last case
15. ResolutionThe last case means the purse will not be left without הקדש
16. Challengeרבין's version: purses versus bulls
17. ResolutionHe meant the last coin, not the best coin