Gittin - Daf 39
- Does one transgress me’ilah by benefiting from his hekdesh slave’s hair that is ready to be cut?
It was taught in a Baraisa: המקדיש עבדו אין מועלין בו – If one is makdish his slave, one does not transgress me’ilah through benefiting from [the slave]. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: מועלין בשערו – One transgresses me’ilah through benefiting from his hair. The Gemara establishes that everyone agrees the slave becomes hekdesh but is not subject to me’ilah because a slave is considered like land, which is excluded from me’ilah. The machlokes is explained: בשערו העומד ליגזז קמיפלגי – they are arguing about hair which is ready to be cut. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds: כגזוז דמי – it is considered as if it is already cut and no longer considered “land”, and thus subject to me’ilah, and the Tanna Kamma holds it is not considered cut. The Gemara suggests this machlokes parallels another, regarding if one must swear about a claim about grapevines. Their dispute was about ענבים העומדות ליבצר – grapes that are ready to be harvested, where Rebbe Meir holds: כבצורות דמיין – they are considered already harvested, and subject to swearing (because only land is excluded), and the Chachomim hold they are still considered land and he does not swear. The Gemara says that the two disputes may not necessarily be parallel since Rebbe Meir may consider only grapes detached, because the longer they remain on the vine, the worse they become, but he may agree not to consider hair already cut, since it continues to improve as it remains attached.
- המפקיר עבדו יצא לחירות וצריך גט שחרור vs. a convert who dies and leaves over slaves
On the previous Daf, Rav said that one who is mafkir his slave, the slave goes free, but still requires a גט שחרור. Here, Ulla quotes the same from Rebbe Yochanan. Ulla was challenged from a Baraisa: גר שמת ובזבזו ישראל נכסיו – If a convert without heirs died, and Jews seized his ownerless possessions, והיו בהן עבדים - and among his possessions were slaves, בין גדולים ובין קטנים קנו עצמן בני חורין – both the adult and minor slaves acquire themselves as free men. Abba Shaul says the minor slaves cannot acquire themselves, and anyone may acquire them. We see that slaves can be fully free without a גט שחרור!? Ulla rejected the question, and Rav Nachman explains that he holds: עבדו דגר כי אשתו – A convert’s slave is like his wife (based on a gezeirah shavah), מה אשתו משתלחת בלא גט – Just as his wife is released without a get when he dies, אף עבדיו משתלחים בלא גט – so, too, his slaves are released without a גט שחרור when he dies. This is not the case with the slaves of an ordinary Jew, who are inherited by his heirs. The Gemara notes, however, that if a Jew is mafkir his slave and then dies, the slave would go free without a גט שחרור, since he is not inherited.
- Only a גט שחרור, and not paying money, completes the freedom of a שפחה חרופה
The Gemara quotes a Baraisa brought earlier, in which Rebbe says about a slave who is hekdesh: אף הוא נותן דמי עצמו ויוצא – Even he can give his own value to the treasurer and go free, מפני שהוא כמוכרו לו – because it is like [the treasurer] is selling [the slave] to himself. This is disputed by Rebbe Shimon, who says in the name of Rebbe Akiva: יכול יהא כסף גומר בה – One might think that paying money completes a slave woman’s freedom, כדרך ששטר גומר בה – the way that a גט שחרור completes her freedom, so the Torah teaches otherwise in the parshah discussing שפחה חרופה – designated slave woman, in which a Jew has relations with a partially freed slave woman who is designated to another man. After describing her being partially freed with money, the Torah concludes that the adulterers are not put to death "כי לא חופשה" – because she was not emancipated with a גט שחרור. This specification teaches: שטר גומר בה ואין הכסף גומר בה – Only a document (גט שחרור) completes her freedom, but paying money does not complete her freedom. Amoraim dispute whom the halachah follows.
