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Siman - Shabbos Daf 58

Rabbi Avraham Goldhar
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  • Slave’s emblem

Our Mishna (57a) stated that a woman may not go out into a reshus harabim wearing a kavul. On Daf 57b, Rebbe Abahu identified the word kavul as an ornamental woolen cap. On our daf, Shmuel disagrees and identifies the kavul as a kavla d’avda, a slave’s emblem which is worn around his neck.

The Gemara asks that this a contradiction with another statement of Shmuel in which he permits a slave to go out on Shabbos with his emblem around his neck. The Gemara answers that the halachos differ based on who made the emblem.

• If the slave made the emblem, then Shmuel prohibits him from wearing it, since he might take it off and conceal it from others. This is the case of our Mishna.

• If the master made the emblem, the slave is permitted to wear it because he will not remove it out of fear of his master seeing him without it. If the master had it sewn into the slave’s cloak, Shmuel prohibits this because if it were to become detached, the slave might fold his cloak and place it over his shoulder to conceal the place where the emblem had been, which would result in the violation of hotzaah.

  • Metal utensil that produces sound

Rebbe Shmuel bar Nachmani taught that we learn that a utensil of metal designed to produce sound becomes susceptible to be mekabel tumah from the passuk, "כל דבר אשר יבא באש תעבירו באש" – Any item that has come into the fire, you shall pass through the fire and it will be purified. The superfluous word “davar”, teaches us that אפילו דיבור יבא באש – even items that produce sound must come into the fire to be purified.

  • Bells without clappers

The Gemara clarifies the difference between bells worn by children and those worn by adults. Bells worn by children are made for the purpose of producing sound, so the parents can know where the child is. Therefore, if they do not have clappers, the bells are useless utensils and cannot be mekabel tumah. Bells worn by adults, such as slaves, are worn for ornaments and therefore they can be mekabel tumah even if they do not have a clapper.