Mishnayos Eruchin Perek 4 Mishnah 4
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ערכין פרק ד׳ משנה ד׳
The sum fixed by the Torah based on the years of age is in accordance with the age of the subject of the vow; how so? A youth who valuated an elder gives the valuation of an elder, and an elder who valuated a youth gives the valuation of a youth. And the distinction based on sex that is written in the halakhot of valuations is stated with regard to the one valuated; how so? A man who valuated a woman gives the valuation of a woman, and a woman who valuated a man gives the valuation of a man. And the different valuation based on the age of the one valuated is determined at the time one takes the vow of valuation; how so? If one valuated another when he was less than five years old, when his valuation is five shekels, and before payment to the Temple treasury the subject of the vow became more than five years old, when his valuation is ten shekels; or if one valuated another when he was less than twenty years old, when his valuation is ten shekels, and before payment to the Temple treasury the subject of the vow became more than twenty years old, when his valuation is fifty shekels, in all these cases he gives payment according to the age of the subject of the valuation at the time of the valuation. The Torah provides three age categories that determine the amount of the valuation: From the age of one month until age five, from age five until age twenty, and from age twenty until age sixty. For anyone less than one month old there is no valuation. The halakhic status of the thirtieth day is like that of the period preceding thirty days, and therefore the one who took the vow is exempt. Likewise, the halakhic status of the fifth year and the twentieth year is like that of the period preceding them. As it is stated: “And if it is from sixty years old and upward” (Leviticus 27:7), and we derive all the other age categories from the sixtieth year: Just as the halakhic status of the sixtieth year, where upward is written, is like that of the period preceding it, so too, the halakhic status of the fifth year and the twentieth year is like that of the period preceding them. The mishna asks: Is that so? Can one derive a halakha in this manner? If the Torah rendered the halakhic status of the sixtieth year like that of the period preceding it in order to be stringent and require one who valuated a sixty-year-old person to pay his valuation to the Temple treasury, shall we render the halakhic status of the fifth year and the twentieth year like that of the period preceding them in order to be lenient and pay a lower sum? Therefore, the verse states “year” with regard to the fifth and twentieth years (see Leviticus 27:3–6), and “year” with regard to the sixtieth year (Leviticus 27:7), for a verbal analogy. Just as the halakhic status of the year stated with regard to the sixtieth year is like that of the period preceding it, so too, the halakhic status of the year stated with regard to the fifth year and the twentieth year is like that of the period preceding them, both in order to be lenient and in order to be stringent. Rabbi Eliezer says: Their halakhic status remains like that of the period preceding it, until they will be aged one month and one day beyond the fifth, twentieth, and sixtieth years.
שָׁנִים בַּנִּדָּר כֵּיצַד, יֶלֶד שֶׁהֶעֱרִיךְ אֶת הַזָּקֵן, נוֹתֵן עֵרֶךְ זָקֵן. וְזָקֵן שֶׁהֶעֱרִיךְ אֶת הַיֶּלֶד, נוֹתֵן עֵרֶךְ יֶלֶד. וַעֲרָכִים בַּנֶּעֱרָךְ כֵּיצַד, אִישׁ שֶׁהֶעֱרִיךְ אֶת הָאִשָּׁה, נוֹתֵן עֵרֶךְ אִשָּׁה. וְאִשָּׁה שֶׁהֶעֱרִיכָה אֶת הָאִישׁ, נוֹתֶנֶת עֵרֶךְ אִישׁ. וְהָעֵרֶךְ בִּזְמַן הָעֵרֶךְ כֵּיצַד, הֶעֱרִיכוֹ פָּחוּת מִבֶּן חָמֵשׁ וְנַעֲשָׂה יוֹתֵר עַל בֶּן חָמֵשׁ, פָּחוּת מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים וְנַעֲשָׂה יוֹתֵר עַל בֶּן עֶשְׂרִים, נוֹתֵן כִּזְמַן הָעֵרֶךְ. יוֹם שְׁלֹשִׁים, כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנּוּ. שְׁנַת חָמֵשׁ וּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים, כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנּוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא כז), וְאִם מִבֶּן שִׁשִּׁים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה אִם זָכָר, הֲרֵי אָנוּ לְמֵדִים בְּכֻלָּם מִשְּׁנַת שִׁשִּׁים. מַה שְּׁנַת שִׁשִּׁים כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה, אַף שְׁנַת חָמֵשׁ וּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה. הֵן. אִם עָשָׂה שְׁנַת שִׁשִּׁים כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה לְהַחֲמִיר, נַעֲשֶׂה שְׁנַת חָמֵשׁ וּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה לְהָקֵל. תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר, שָׁנָה שָׁנָה, לִגְזֵרָה שָׁוָה. מַה שָּׁנָה הָאֲמוּרָה בִשְׁנַת שִׁשִּׁים, כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה, אַף שָׁנָה הָאֲמוּרָה בִשְׁנַת חָמֵשׁ וּשְׁנַת עֶשְׂרִים, כִּלְמַטָּה מִמֶּנָּה, בֵּין לְהָקֵל בֵּין לְהַחֲמִיר. רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר, עַד שֶׁיִּהְיוּ יְתֵרוֹת עַל הַשָּׁנִים חֹדֶשׁ וְיוֹם אֶחָד:
Bartenura
ילד. מבן עשרים ועד בן ששים, דהוי ערכו חמשים שקלים:
נותן כזמן הערך. דכתיב (ויקרא כ״ז:י״ז) כערכך יקום, אינו נותן אלא כזמן הערך:
יום שלשים כלמטה. אם אמר ערך פלוני קטן עלי, ואותו קטן היה באותו יום בן שלשים, הוי כלמטה ולא אמר כלום. דאין ערך לפחות מבן חודש. דהכי כתיב [שם] ואם מבן חודש:
מבן ששים שנה ומעלה. משמע ששלמה שנת ששים ואז הוא נדון כששים, אבל בשנת ששים נדון כילד:
הן אם עשינו. בתמיה. כלומר, וכי כן הוא, אם עשינו [שנת] ששים כלמטה להחמיר דערך גדול יש לפחות מבן ששים חמשים סלע, וליותר מבן ששים אינו אלא חמשה עשר:
כלמטה ממנה להקל. דערך יותר על בן עשרים, גדול הוא מפחות מבן עשרים. וכן בבן חמש. כדכתיבי בקראי:
רבי אליעזר אומר. לעולם שנת חמש ושנת עשרים ושנת ששים כלמטה, עד שתשלם כל השנה וחודש ויום אחד משנה האחרת. דיליף גזירה שוה למעלה למעלה מבכור, נאמר כאן מבן ששים שנה ומעלה, ונאמר בבכור אדם (במדבר י״ח:ט״ו-ט״ז) ופדויו מבן חודש ומעלה, מה להלן חודש ויום אחד, שאין בכור נפדה פחות מבן חודש ויום אחד, אף כאן עד שיוסיף על ששים חודש ויום אחד. ושנת חמש ושנת עשרים ילפינן בגזירה שוה שנה שנה משנת ששים כדיליף ת״ק לעיל ואין הלכה כר׳ אליעזר:
ילד – (who pledged the valuation of an elder) from age twenty until age sixty, for his value is fifty Shekel.
נותן כזמן הערך – as it is written (Leviticus 27:17): “[If he consecrates his land as of the jubilee year,] its assessment stands,” he does not give other than according to the time of the valuation.
יום שלשים כלמטה – if he stated that the valuation of so-and-so a minor child is upon me, and that minor was on that day was thirty [days old], it is like it is below that, and he did not say anything, for there is no valuation for less than a month [old], and thus it is written (Leviticus 27:6): “If the age is from one month [to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and the equivalent for a female is three shekels of silver].”
מבן ששים שנה ומעלה – implying that the sixtieth year was completed, and then he is judged like someone sixty [years old], but in the sixtieth year, he is judged as a child.
הן אם עשינו – in astonishment. Meaning to say, and if this the case, if we made the sixtieth [year] like it is lower than this to be stringent for a valuation of an adult one should lessen from athe age of sixty for fifty Sela, but for someone older than age sixty, it is not other than fifteen [Sela].
כלמטה ממנה להקל – that the valuation is more for someone who is twenty years old, an adult who is a less than twenty years, old, and similarly, with someone who is five [years old]. As it is written in Biblical verses.
רבי אליעזר אומר (the foregoing applies so long as they are a month and a day more than the years [which are prescribed]) - Always the fifth year and the twentieth year and the sixtieth year are like less than that age. That we derive from an analogy comparing from the usage of the word "למעלה" and "למעלה". It is stated here (Leviticus 27:7): “If the age is sixty years or over/מבן-ששים שנה ומעלה, [the equivalent is fifteen shekels in the case of a male and ten shekels for a female],” and it is stated (Numbers 18:16): “Take as their redemption price from the age of one month up/ופדויו מבן חודש ומעלה [the money equivalent of five shekels by the sanctuary weight which is twenty gerahs],” just as there it is it is one month and one day, for a firstling is not redeemed any younger than from one month and one day, so even here, until he adds on to the sixty months and one day. And the fifth year and the twentieth year we derive from an analogy – שנה שנה /a year, a year (see the Mishnah), from the sixtieth year, as the first Tanna/teacher derives above, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.