Gittin, Daf Yod, Part 2

Introduction

The sugya today begins to compare the attitude that this mishnah has towards Samaritans with the attitude expressed in another source.

גְּמָ׳ מַנִּי מַתְנִיתִין לָא תַּנָּא קַמָּא וְלָא רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר וְלָא רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל

דְּתַנְיָא מַצַּת כּוּתִי מוּתֶּרֶת וְאָדָם יוֹצֵא בָּהּ יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בַּפֶּסַח רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹסֵר לְפִי שֶׁאֵין בְּקִיאִין בְּדִקְדּוּקֵי מִצְוֹת רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר כׇּל מִצְוָה שֶׁהֶחֱזִיקוּ בָּהּ כּוּתִים הַרְבֵּה מְדַקְדְּקִין בָּהּ יוֹתֵר מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל

Gem: Who is the author of our mishnah? It is not the first opinion (in the following baraita), it is not Rabbi Elazar and it is not Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel:

As it was taught: Matzah made by a Samaritan is permitted and one can use it to fulfill his obligation on Pesah.

R. Elazar prohibits because they are not experts in the precise laws of matzah.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel says: Any commandment to which the Samaritans clung, they are more cautious about it than Jews.

In this baraita we have three opinions about how well the Samaritans keep the commandment of matzah in particular and commandments in general. The first opinion holds that we can trust that their matzah is not hametz and that it was made for the right purpose. R. Elazar disagrees. Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel seems to disagree with Rabbi Elazar. If the Samaritans observe a mitzvah, they do so with greater caution than do Jews.

Tomorrow s section will correlate these three opinions with our mishnah, which is about divorce documents.