Kiddushin, Daf Tet Zayin, Part 3

 

Introduction

Today s daf begins to discuss the female Jewish slave. The laws for this type of slave are found in Exodus 21:7-11.

 

יתירה עליו אמה העבריה : אמר ר"ל אמה העבריה קונה את עצמה במיתת האב מרשות אדון מק"ו ומה סימנין שאין מוציאין מרשות אב מוציאין מרשות אדון מיתה שמוציאה מרשות אב אינו דין שמוציאה מרשות אדון

 

A Hebrew maidservant has more [ways of being acquired] than him:

Resh Lakish said: A Hebrew maidservant acquires herself by her father’s death, from a kal vehomer argument: if signs [of puberty] which do not free her from her father’s authority, free her master s authority; then how much more so the death [of her father], which frees her from her father’s authority, should free her from her master’s authority!

 

A female Jewish slave goes free when she hits puberty. But a girl does not automatically leave her father s authority at puberty she must also be at least 12 years old. So Resh Lakish argues that it is easier to leave the master s authority than to leave her father s authority. And if she leaves her father s authority upon her father s death (meaning she can now keep her own handiwork), so too she must leave her master s authority upon her father s death, even though she is no longer living with her father.

 

מיתיבי רב הושעיא יתירה עליו אמה העבריה שקונה את עצמה בסימנין ואם איתא ניתני נמי מיתת האב

 

R. Hoshaya raised an objection: A Hebrew maidservant has more [ways of being acquired] than him in that she acquires herself by signs ; but if this [Resh Lakish’s statement] is correct, let it also teach father’s death?

 

If the female slave goes out at her father s death, then the mishnah should have listed it.

תנא ושייר

מאי שייר דהאי שייר שייר מיתת האדון

אי משום מיתת האדון לאו שיורא הוא דכיון דאיכא נמי באיש לא קתני

 

He [the Tanna] teaches [some ways,] and omits [others].

But what else does he omit, that he omits this?

He omits her master’s death.

If it is on account of her master’s death, then that that is not considered an omission; since that applies to a male [slave] too, it is not taught.

 

The Talmud resolves R. Hoshaya s difficulty by saying that the mishnah simply omitted one way a female slave goes free.

The problem is that according to talmudic thinking, the mishnah would not just omit one detail it must omit at least two.

The first suggestion as to the other detail it omits is the death of the master. But the problem with this suggestion is that a male slave also goes out at the death of his master. So this is not a way in which a female slave goes out that a male slave does not.

ואלא ניתני תנא דבר שיש לו קצבה קתני דבר שאין לו קצבה לא קתני

 

Then let it be taught! That which is fixed is taught; that which is not fixed is not taught.

 

So now we are back to the difficulty why doesn t the mishnah teach that a female slave goes free at her father s death.

The answer is that her father s death can happen at any time, and the mishnah only teaches things that have a fixed time, such as the end of the six years or the Jubilee, or a fixed amount, her purchase price.

 

והא סימנין דאין להם קצבה וקתני אמר רב ספרא אין להם קצבה למעלה אבל יש להם קצבה למטה דתניא בן תשע שנים שהביא שתי שערות שומא מבן ט’ שנים ויום אחד עד בן י"ב שנה ויום אחד ועודן בו שומא ר’ יוסי בר’ יהודה אומר סימן

בן י"ג שנה ויום אחד דברי הכל סימן

 

But signs, which are not fixed, are nevertheless taught?

R. Safra said: They are not fixed above, yet they are fixed below. For it was taught: If a male, aged nine years, grew two hairs, it is a mole. From nine years and a day until twelve years and a day, and they are still there, they are a mole. R. Yose son of R. Judah said: They are a sign. At thirteen years and one day, all admit that they are a sign.

 

Signs of puberty are also not fixed and yet the mishnah taught that the female slave does go free at that point.

The answer is that while there is no latest date at which a sign can appear, there is an earliest date. If signs of puberty appear too early, they are not considered halakhically speaking to be signs of puberty.

There is a dispute about when a sign of puberty is considered to be a sign or just a mole. But all agree that after thirteen, any sign that appears on a boy is a sign of puberty.