Kiddushin - Daf 21
- If בתי ערי חומה can be redeemed by relatives
The Gemara on the previous Daf discussed if בתי ערי חומה – houses of walled cities which were sold, can be redeemed by halves, and concluded that the Rabbonon (as opposed to Rebbe Shimon) hold they cannot, based on a gezeira shavah (גאולתו גאולתו) from שדה אחוזה – an ancestrally-owned field.
Rav Huna bar Chinena asked Rav Sheishess: המוכר בית בבתי ערי חומה – One who sells a house among houses of walled cities, נגאל לקרובים או אין נגאל לקרובים – can it be redeemed by the seller’s relatives, or can it not be redeemed by relatives? Since there is a gezeirah shavah between בתי ערי חומה and שדה אחוזה, do we say that just as a שדה אחוזה cannot be redeemed by halves, but may be redeemed by relatives, so too בתי ערי חומה cannot be redeemed by halves, but may be redeemed by relatives? Or does the gezeirah shavah only teach about the law of redeeming by halves (which is written near the word גאולתו), but not the law of relatives redeeming? Rav Sheishess answered that בתי ערי חומה cannot be redeemed by relatives.
- Machlokes what may be used for רציעה
A Baraisa records a machlokes Tannaim regarding what is included in the Torah’s requirement of רציעה – boring the earing of the עבד עברי who wishes to remain. Rebbe Yose bar Rebbe Yehudah includes wooden implements, such as a peg or thorn, based on the word "ולקחת" – and you shall take, לרבות כל דבר שנקח ביד – to include anything which is taken by hand. Rebbe requires a metal instrument, similar to the awl of the Torah. The Gemara explains that Rebbe darshens the phrase "ולקחת את המרצע ונתתה באזנו ובדלת" as a כלל ופרט וכלל, which includes anything which is כעין הפרט – similar to the specification, which includes anything metal, like an awl. Rebbe Yose bar Rebbe Yehudah darshens the phrase with the more expansive ריבה ומיעט וריבה, which includes everything but one exception, which the Gemara identifies as סם – a potion which pierces the ear. Because the Torah wrote "המרצע" – “the” awl (using the definite article), a large awl is also included.
- An עבד עברי Kohen re: becoming a nirtza and the master giving him a maidservant
Yudan Beribi taught that the piercing is done in the earlobe. The Chachomim respond: אין עבד עברי כהן נרצע מפני שנעשה בעל מום – The law is that an עבד עברי who is a Kohen cannot become a nirtza, because he would thereby become a baal mum (possessing a disqualifying defect). If you say only the earlobe is pierced, how would he become a בעל מום!? Rather, the piercing must be in the upper portion of the ear. The Gemara later explains that the Kohen cannot become a בעל מום because the Torah says: "ושב אל משפחתו" – and he shall return to his family, למוחזק שבמשפחתו – teaching he returns to his former position in his family. The Gemara asks about an עבד עברי Kohen: מהו שימסור לו רבו שפחה כנענית – Can his master give a Canaanite slavewoman to him to produce offspring? Do we say that the permit for an עבד עברי to have relations with a maidservant is a novelty, so it applies equally to a Kohen, or perhaps Kohanim are different, הואיל וריבה בהן הכתוב מצות יתירות – since the Torah added more commandments for them? Rav says it is permitted and Shmuel says it is not. Rav Nachman told Rav Anan that he could have challenged Shmuel from the above Baraisa, which implies that a Kohen cannot be a nirtza only because he would become a בעל מום. If an עבד עברי who is a Kohen cannot marry a slavewoman, he would additionally lack the qualification of the servant “loving his wife”!? The Gemara concludes: תו לא מידי – There is nothing else to be said to this challenge.
