Kiddushin, Daf Daled, Part 3
Introduction
Earlier we read a derashah that discusses when a young girl sold into slavery goes free. This sugya discusses that derashah.
גופא ויצאה חנם אלו ימי בגרות אין כסף אלו ימי נערות
ולכתוב רחמנא נערות ולא בעי בגרות
The [above] text [says:] And she shall go out for nothing this refers to the days of bagrut; without money this refers to the days of na’arut.
Let the Torah say na arut, and it would not need to say bagrut ?
The derashah states that a girl sold into slavery goes free at na arut (age 12) and at bagrut (12.5). This is obviously superfluous all the Torah needed to say is that she goes free at na arut, and then she ll already be free by bagrut.
אמר רבה בא זה ולמד על זה
Rabbah said: One comes and teaches about the other.
Rabbah explains that if we only had one word, we would assume she goes free at bagrut. We need both words to teach that she goes free at na arut.
מידי דהוה אתושב ושכיר דתניא תושב זה קנוי קנין עולם שכיר זה קנוי קנין שנים יאמר תושב ולא יאמר שכיר ואני אומר קנוי קנין עולם אינו אוכל קנוי קנין שנים לא כ"ש אילו כן הייתי אומר תושב זה קנוי קנין שנים אבל קנוי קנין עולם אוכל בא שכיר ולימד על תושב שאע"פ שקנוי קנין עולם אינו אוכל
As is the case with the toshav and sakhir, as was taught: Toshav (Leviticus 22:10): this refers to [a Hebrew slave] acquired in perpetuity; sakhir: this refers to one purchased for a period of [six] years. Now, let it say toshav, but not sakhir, and I would reason: if one acquired in perpetuity may not eat, how much more so one purchased only for a period of [six] years?
Were it so, I would say, toshav is one purchased for a period of [six] years, but one acquired in perpetuity may eat. Therefore sakhir comes and teaches [the meaning of] toshav, that although he is purchased for perpetuity, he may not eat.
The same phenomenon occurs with Leviticus 22:10 which teaches that a toshav and sakhir who are part of a priest s household may not eat terumah. What do these words mean, the rabbis ask? Toshav refers to a Hebrew slave acquired for perpetuity (meaning he was acquired for six years and then did not want to go free. He remains a slave until the Jubilee). And a sakhir is one acquired only for six years. Here too we can ask that if the one acquired for a longer time does not eat terumah, obviously one who is acquired for a lesser period does not eat. After all, he is less owned by the non-Jew. But if only one word had been stated, we would have said that it refers to one acquired for the shorter period he does not eat terumah. But one acquired for perpetuity does eat terumah. Therefore, I need both words.
א"ל אביי מי דמי התם תרי גופי נינהו דכי נמי כתב רחמנא תושב נרצע לא יאכל והדר כתב אידך הוה שכיר מילתא דאתיא בק"ו ומילתא דאתיא בק"ו טרח וכתב לה קרא
Abaye said to him: Is this so! There they are two persons, and even had the Torah [explicitly] written, a toshav whose ear was bored, and then added the other, sakhir would be something which might be inferred from a kal vehomer; and a thing which is derived from a kal vehomer the Torah takes the trouble to write.
Abaye says that the two cases are not similar. When it comes to the toshav and sakhir, these are two different people, and sometimes the Torah writes out a law that could be learned from a kal vehomer argument an all the more so type of argument. Therefore, they are not really superfluous.
אלא הכא חד גופא היא כי נפקא לה בנערות בגרות מאי בעיא גביה
But here [in the case of the Hebrew handmaiden] she is only one person: and since she departs at na’arut, what would she be doing with him in bagrut.
But here, Abaye continues, there is no reason for the Torah to write both, because if she goes free at na arut, she s not even there at bagrut. She s one person so the verse is truly superfluous.
אלא אמר אביי לא נצרכה אלא לבגר דאילונית סד"א בנערות תיפוק בבגרות לא תיפוק קמ"ל
Rather Abaye said: It is necessary only for a girl who reaches majority age and is an aylonit: I might have thought, she [a Hebrew maidservant] is freed only by na’arut, but not by bagrut: therefore it teaches us otherwise.
Abaye points out that not all girls who reach majority age will actually go through na arut. Na arut is more than just hitting 12. It is hitting 12 and developing signs of puberty. A girl can become a bogeret at the age of 20 without ever hitting puberty. Such a girl is called an aylonit (we learned the term in Ketubot it is sometimes translated as barren, but women can hit puberty and be barren. Still an aylonit is by definition barren). If only one word had been taught I might have thought that only a bogeret who had hit puberty would go free. Therefore, the second word teaches that a na arah goes free, and a bogeret who never becomes a na arah also goes free (although only at a later age).