BACKGROUND ON THE DAILY DAF
brought to you by Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Har Nof
Ask A Question on the daf
Previous daf
Shevuos 31
SHEVUOS 31 - sponsored by Uri Wolfson with warm Mazel Tov wishes to Carey
(Kalman) and Tammy Wolchok on the occasion of their wedding (on 22 Adar I
5763). May they merit to build together a Bayis Ne'eman b'Yisrael!
|
1) [line 1] KOLAR - the collar (a [Roman] prisoner's band or chain around
the neck)
2) [line 2] SIMAN TELASA TALMID U'SELAS BA'ALEI CHOV SEMARTUT SHOME'A
U'MAT'IM - this is a mnemonic device for remembering the nine statements of
the Beraisa that follow:
1. *Telasa Talmid* refers to *three* statements about students that begin
with the words, "Minayin *l'Talmid*..." (lines 4, 6, 10)
2. *u'Selas Ba'alei Chov* refers to *three* statements about creditors that
begin with the words, "Minayin l'Nosheh b'Chaveiro" or "Minayin l'Sheloshah
she'Noshin" (lines 20, 22, 25)
3. *Semartut* refers to "Echad Lavush *Semartutin*" (line 27)
4. *Shome'a* refers to "Minayin l'Dayan she'Lo *Yishma* Divrei Ba'al Din"
(line 29)
5. *u'Mat'im* refers to "Minayin l'Ba'al Din she'Lo *Yat'im* Devarav" (line
31)
3) [line 8] AMTIN LO - I will wait for him
4a) [line 8] ASATRENU - I will disprove it (lit. break it down)
b) [line 8] EVNENU MI'SHELI - and build it by myself (using my reasoning)
5) [line 12] EINI MEVADEH - I do not fabricate [any details about facts or
events]
6) [line 20] NOSHEH B'CHAVEIRO MANEH - one who demands from another person
the repayment of a loan of a Maneh (100 Zuz)
7a) [line 20] AT'ANENU B'MASAYIM - I will sue him for two hundred
b) [line 20] KEDEI SHE'YODEH LI B'MANEH V'YISCHAYEIV LI SHEVU'AH - in order
that he admit to one Maneh and will become obligated to swear to me [that he
does not owe me the difference] (MODEH B'MIKTZAS HA'TA'ANAH YISHAVA)
If a person admits that he owes part of a claim, we suspect that the claim
is true and that the debtor wants to temporarily postpone part of the
payment but does not have the audacity to completely deny the claim. He is
therefore required to take an oath, mid'Oraisa, that he does not owe the
part he denies (Shemos 22:8). If he refuses to take the oath, he must pay
the entire amount being claimed.
8) [line 21] VA'AGALGEL ALAV SHEVU'AH MI'MAKOM ACHER - [and once he is
making a Shevu'ah,] I will force him through Gilgul Shevu'ah to make a
Shevu'ah for another claim that I have against him (GILGUL SHEVU'AH)
(a) If a defendant has to take an oath in Beis Din in response to one claim
of a plaintiff, he can be required to include within his oath a response to
another outstanding claim from the same plaintiff, even though the second
claim was not the type of claim which normally requires an oath. This
Halachah is learned from the Shevu'ah of the Sotah woman (see Background to
Shevuos 5:4), where she is obligated to swear that she did not have
relations with the man whom her husband suspects. Beis Din is Megalgel onto
her oath the additional details that she did not have relations with any
other man, while she was an Arusah, etc., to which she must swear, also
(Sotah 18a).
(b) Examples of claims that can be included in a person's oath through
Gilgul are Shevu'os that pertain to land, Kofer ba'Kol (denying an entire
loan), and even an oath that the defendant is not the slave of the claimant
(Kidushin 28a).
(c) The Halachah of Gilgul Shevu'ah applies whether the Shevu'ah is a
Shevu'ah d'Oraisa such as the Shevu'ah brought about by the testimony of a
solitary witness, or a Shevu'ah d'Rabanan such as Shevu'as Heses (Shevu'os
48b; see RASHI there).
(d) The plaintiff in our Gemara wants to make the defendant take an oath
regarding another claim for which, under normal circumstances, he is not
obligated to take an oath. RASHI brings two examples: a claim to which the
defendant is not Modeh b'Miktzas, or a claim for which a Shevu'ah does not
exist through any other means besides Gilgul (such as a claim on real
estate).
9a) [line 27] SEMARTUTIN - rags
b) [line 27] ITZTELIS BAS ME'AH MANEH - a cloak that is worth one hundred
Maneh (each Maneh is worth 100 Zuz)
10) [line 29] SHELUFU PUZMUKAICHU V'CHUSU L'DINA - take off your light
(felt) shoes, socks (O.F. chalcon) [that are normally worn by men of means]
and start (lit. go down to) the case
11) [line 31] LO YAT'IM DEVARAV - he should not state his arguments before
the judge [before his opponent arrives]
12) [line 32] RAV KAHANA MASNI MI'"LO SISA," "LO SASI" - Rav Kahana learns
this Halachah (Lo Yat'im Devarav) by making a Derashah on the words, "Lo
Sisa [Shema Shav]," - "Do not accept [a false report]" (Shemos 23:1) by
reading them, "Lo Sasi," through which he interprets the verse, "Do not
cause [a false report] to be accepted [by the judge.]" (The source quoted by
the Torah Or, "Sham," which indicates Shemos 20, should be corrected to read
"Sham 23.")
13) [line 32] "[AVIV, KI ASHAK OSHEK, GAZAL GEZEL ACH,] VA'ASHER LO TOV ASAH
B'SOCH AMAV, [V'HINEH MES BA'AVONO.]" - "[His father, because he cruelly
oppressed others, robbed his brother,] and did that which is not good among
his people, [behold, he died for his iniquity.]" (Yechezkel 18:18)
14a) [line 33] ZEH HA'BA B'HARSHA'AH - this refers to a person who buys
power of attorney, which entitles the bearer to act on behalf of the issuer.
(If the buyer is a strongman or underworld figure, it will be less pleasant
for the debtor to deal with him than with the creditor. And even if he is an
ordinary person, he will be unable to make the compromises that the creditor
might have made.)
b) [line 33] ZEH HA'LOKE'ACH SADEH SHE'YESH ALEHA ASIKIN - this refers to
a person who buys a field about which there are protesters [claiming that
they had a lien on the field for a loan given to the seller or that the
field does not belong to the seller]
15) [line 35] MELECH (EDUS: MELECH)
The Mishnah states (Sanhedrin 18a) that a Jewish King is not permitted to
testify in court. The verse states, "Som Tasim Alecha Melech" - "You shall
surely set over yourself a king," from which the Mishnah learns she'Tehei
Eimaso Alecha - so that the awe of him will be upon you (Sanhedrin 22a). It
is considered a disgrace for the king to testify, since witnesses are
required to stand when they testify.
16) [line 35] MESACHEK B'KUVYA (PESULEI EDUS: MESACHEK B'KUVYA)
(a) The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 24b, and Gemara there; Rosh Hashanah 22a) lists
the people who are Pesulei Edus, those people who are disqualified to judge
or to give testimony.
(b) A Mesachek b'Kuvya is a person who gambles with dice (or other forms of
gambling -- RAMBAM Hilchos Edus 10:4) as his only livelihood. He is
disqualified mid'Rabanan from giving testimony. One opinion rules that he is
disqualified because gambling is deemed Asmachta, which is considered
stealing (see Background to Sanhedrin 24:51a-b). Another opinion rules that
the Mesachek b'Kuvya is disqualified since he is not Osek b'Yishuvo Shel
Olam, (lit. he is not working for the settlement of the world) i.e. he is
not an active member of the civilized world (Sanhedrin 24b).
17) [line 38] DON MINAH U'MINAH / DON MINAH V'UKI B'ASRAH
There are two methods that are employed by Chazal when they learn a Gezeirah
Shavah (see Background to Sanhedrin 87:5) between two topics of Halachah.
The first is called "Don Minah u'Minah," which means, "Judge from it and
[entirely] from it," i.e. an analogy must be carried through so that the
topic deduced agrees throughout with the topic from which the deduction was
made. The other method is called "Don Minah v'Uki b'Asrah," which means,
"Judge from it but place the deduction in its own context," i.e. let the
topic deduced by analogy be regulated by the rules that are appropriate to
that topic itself.
18) [line 39] PIKADON (SHEVU'AS HA'PIKADON)
(a) If a person claims that a fellow Jew owes him money or is unjustly
holding onto an item that belongs to him, the claimant has the right to
force the accused to take an oath that he holds no such money. The oath that
the accused takes to assert that he is not harboring someone else's money or
item is called Shevu'as ha'Pikadon.
(b) If the accused later admits to his sin, he must return what he stole,
pay a fine of Chomesh (a fifth of the ensuing total, or a *fourth* of the
original value of the money he withheld) and bring a Korban Asham to receive
atonement (Vayikra 5:20-26). However, he does not pay the fine of Chomesh,
nor does he bring a Korban Asham, unless he *admits* to having sworn
falsely, whether he admits before witnesses come and attest that he stole
the item, or whether he admits after witnesses come. However, if witnesses
testify that he swore falsely, and he does not admit to it, he does not pay
a Chomesh and he does not bring a Korban Asham as atonement for his false
Shevu'ah. (In certain circumstances he is even exempt from paying the
principle of the item that he stole, see Background to Bava Kama 106a.)
(c) The obligation to pay a Chomesh and to bring an Asham that is incurred
by swearing falsely applies whether he made a Shevu'ah due to the demand of
Beis Din, who obligated him to make a Shevu'as ha'Pikadon, or whether he
made a Shevu'ah, in Beis Din, on his own initiative ("Kafatz v'Nishba"), or
whether he made a Shevu'ah outside of Beis Din (Bava Kama 106a).
31b---------------------------------------31b
19) [line 5] DAYO LA'BA MIN HA'DIN LIHEYOS KA'NIDON - it is sufficient to
give the Halachah learned from a Kal va'Chomer the exact status of the
Halachah from which it was learned.
20) [line 13] UMI'PI ACHERIM EINO CHAYAV AD SHE'YICHPOR BO B'VEIS DIN - in
the instance that the litigant tried to induce him to make a Shevu'ah (but
he did not answer Amen), he is not obligated [to bring a Korban] unless he
denied [the fact that he holds money of the litigant] in court
21) [line 15] BEIN MI'PI ATZMO U'VEIN MI'PI ACHERIM KEIVAN SHE'KAFAR BO
CHAYAV - whether he made the Shevu'ah of his own volition (answering Amen to
the inducement of a Shevu'ah is considered like making a Shevu'ah) or the
litigant tried to induce him to make a Shevu'ah (but he did not answer
Amen), as long as he denies [the fact that he holds money of the litigant]
(whether he made the denial in Beis Din or not) he is obligated [to bring a
Korban]
22) [line 40] HO'IL V'EINAM YECHOLIN LACHZOR UL'HODOS - since they are not
able to retract and admit [that they swore falsely] (KEIVAN SHE'HIGID SHUV
EINO CHOZER U'MAGID)
Once a witness has testified, he cannot retract and testify again about the
same event. As such, when the witnesses swear in court that they do not know
any testimony, any subsequent Shevu'os are irrelevant. Therefore, if they
later admit that the Shevu'os are false, they will only be obligated to
bring one Korban, for the first Shevu'ah.
23) [line 41] B'ZEH ACHAR ZEH, HA'RISHON CHAYAV VEHA'SHENI PATUR - when they
testify one after the other (after "Toch Kedei Dibur" of the previous
witness) the first [witness] is obligated [in a Korban Shevu'ah] and the
second [witness] is exempt (SHEVU'AH: ED ECHAD)
(a) Beis Din may not extract money in a court cased based upon the testimony
of a solitary witness. The Torah states "Al Pi Shenei Edim... Yakum Davar" -
"according to the testimony of two witnesses... shall a verdict be
established" (Devarim 19:15). However, Chazal learn (Shevu'os 40a) that the
testimony of one witness is effective to obligate the defendant to take an
oath that contradicts this testimony. If the defendant does not agree to
swear, Beis Din can then obligate the defendant to pay all of the
liabilities to which the one witnessed testified.
(b) In our Mishnah, once the first witness has denied that he knows
testimony about the case, the testimony of the second witness cannot bring
about a monetary loss, and as such, his denial will not obligate him in a
Korban.
24) [line 43] KITEI - groups
25) [line 47] RA'UHU SHE'RATZ ACHAREIHEN - they (the witnesses) saw him (the
litigant) running after them [and they assumed that he wanted them to
testify for him in court]
Next daf
|