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Mishnayos Gittin Perek 4 Mishnah 6

גיטין פרק ד׳ משנה ו׳

6

In a case of one who sells his slave to gen-tiles, or even to a Jew outside of Eretz Yisrael, the slave is emancipated. Since the slave, who is partially obligated in the fulfillment of mitzvot, would be restricted in his ability to fulfill them in his new situation, either because he would be under the authority of a gentile or because he will no longer be in Eretz Yisrael, the Sages penalized his original owner that he should become a freeman, so that if he succeeds in escaping his new owner, he is a full-fledged freeman. The captives are not redeemed for more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world; and one may not aid the captives in their attempt to escape from their captors for the betterment of the world, so that kidnappers will not be more restrictive with their captives to prevent them from escaping. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For the betterment of the captives, so that kidnappers will not avenge the escape of the captives by treating other captives with cruelty. And Torah scrolls, phylacteries, or mezuzot are not purchased from the gentiles when they acquire these objects, if they request more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world, so as not to cause an increase in the theft of sacred Jewish ritual objects in order to sell them for large sums of money.

הַמּוֹכֵר עַבְדּוֹ לְגוֹי אוֹ לְחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ, יָצָא בֶן חוֹרִין. אֵין פּוֹדִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִים יוֹתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. וְאֵין מַבְרִיחִין אֶת הַשְּׁבוּיִין, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם. רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר, מִפְּנֵי תַקָּנַת הַשְּׁבוּיִין. וְאֵין לוֹקְחִים סְפָרִים, תְּפִלִּין וּמְזוּזוֹת מִן הַגּוֹיִם יוֹתֵר עַל כְּדֵי דְמֵיהֶן, מִפְּנֵי תִקּוּן הָעוֹלָם:

ו׳
Bartenura

בן חורין – if he fled from the heathen, or the or the court fined him [i.e., the original owner] to redeem him from the heathens, as we said – we force him to redeem him and after he has redeemed him, he does not free him, and this is a fine of the Sages, because he releases him from the commandments. And similarly, if he [i.e., the master], sold him outside of the Land [of Israel], he [i.e., the slave] goes free, since he took him outside of the Land of Israel.

מפני תקון העולם – they would not surrender the heathens themselves [to the authorities] to increase and bring captives when we see that they are selling them for more than their worth.

אין מבריחין את השבויין מפני תקון העולם – lest they arouse to anger the captives who will eventually come into their hands and place them in chains and put them on the splints of his legs.

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר מפני תקנת השבויין – Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel has not been concerned about the future as a captive, other than with those who are currently in captivity with him. If there is no other captive than him alone, we force him [to free him] and we are not concerned here about the decree of other captives when there are no others with him. And the Halakha is according to Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel.

יצא בן חורין. אם ברח מן הנכרי, או שקנסו אותו ב״ד לפדותו מן הנכרים, כדאמרינן כופין אותו לפדותו ואחר שפדאו לא ישתעבד בו. וקנס חכמים הוא, לפי שהפקיעו מן המצות. וכן לחו״ל יצא לחירות לפי שהוציאו מא״י:

מפני תקון העולם. שלא ימסרו הנכרים עצמן להרבות להביא שבויין כשרואין שמוכרין אותם ביותר מכדי דמיהם:

ואין מבריחין את השבויין מפני תקון העולם. שמא יקצפו על השבויין העתידים לבא לידם ויתנום בשלשלאות וישימו בסד רגלם:

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר מפני תקנת השבויין. דלא חייש רשב״ג על העתידים לבא בשביה, אלא על אותם שהם שבויים עתה עמו. שאם אין שבוי אלא הוא יחידי, מבריחין אותו, ואין לחוש כאן מפני תקנת שבויים אחרים כשאין שבויים אחרים עמו. והלכה כרשב״ג: