031b – המוכר שדהו – פרק תשיעי – ערכין, דף לא ע”ב

Rava said: everyone agrees that one-sided interest^[1] is forbidden. Here the case is interest on condition of return, and they differ on it: one Sage holds it is forbidden, and the other holds it is permitted.

דכולי עלמא צד אחד ברבית - Even so it is forbidden, since originally it came into his hand as a loan. Here we are dealing with a case where they stipulated from the start that if the seller redeems within three [units not stated], the buyer returns the money to him, less the fruits he ate. Interest on condition of return is disputed, and our Mishnah and the beraisa dispute this: our Tanna holds that even one-sided [interest] is not forbidden, since it came into his hand as a sale; the beraisa holds that since it ultimately leads to interest, one-sided [interest] is like full interest, only the Torah permitted it.

The Mishnah: if the seller dies, his son redeems it.^[2]

Obviously.

What might one think? (Vayikra 25:29) "And if a man sells a dwelling house" - the Merciful One said it.

(איש כי ימכר אמר רחמנא): - The Merciful One said: "And if a man sells a dwelling house".

This one (the son) did not sell; it teaches us: "and its redemption is from any source" (Vayikra 25:29).

והיתה גאולתו מ"מ - It implies that had it meant only the seller, it should have written "he may redeem it until the end of the year of his sale". Since it wrote "and its redemption", it implies even through another person.

The Mishnah: if the buyer dies, [the seller] redeems it from the buyer's son, etc.

Obviously.

What might one think? "To the one who acquired it" (Vayikra 25:30) - the Merciful One said it.

לקונה אותו - It implies: "to the one who acquired it" - if it is not redeemed within a year it becomes final for the buyer; if the seller does redeem it, the buyer returns it. But the son is not covered by this, so the verse teaches "and its redemption" applies to him.

But he did not acquire it; this teaches us

"and its redemption is from any source" (Vayikra 25:29).

The year is counted only from the moment of the sale, etc.^[3]

The Sages taught: "I do not know whether it is the year of the first sale or of the second"; when it says "until a complete year is over for him", it is the year of the first.

שנה - It implies: had the verse said "until the year is complete" without "to him", one would not know whether it is the year of the first sale or of the second sale. For example: Reuven sold to Shimon in Nisan and Shimon sold to Levi in Tishrei; one might think Reuven, the first seller, reckons with Levi, and so may redeem until next Tishrei. Since it says "to him", it implies that the first seller (Reuven) is the one who gets it back.

To whom does it become final?

למי חלוט - When the year came for the first seller and it became final: which of the buyers gains this finality.

Rabbi Elazar says: it becomes final for the first; Rabbi Yochanan says: for the second.

לראשון חלוט - "For the first": Reuven has no further redemption from Shimon, but Shimon may still redeem from Levi until the year of the second sale arrives, since for Levi it has not become final. "For the second": Shimon may not redeem from Levi.

Granted, according to Rabbi Elazar, since it is for him that we count the year.

But according to Rabbi Yochanan, what is the reason?

Rabbi Abba bar Mamal said: the first sold to the second every right that would come into his hand.

Rabbi Abba bar Mamal gave an example: he sold two houses in walled cities, one on the fifteenth of the first Adar and one on the first of the second Adar.

The one sold to him in the second Adar: once the first day of Adar of the following year arrived, a year was counted for him.

עלתה לו שנה - Because the count is from day to day. The one who sold on the fifteenth of Adar: a year is not counted for him until the fifteenth of Adar of the next year. Although now there are thirteen months, since we require "from day to day", [the count runs] from the fifteenth of Adar to the fifteenth of Adar.

The one sold to him on the fifteenth of the first Adar: a year is not counted for him until the fifteenth of Adar of the following year.

Ravina objects: he should say to him, "I was first, a fiery boil^[4] before yours," because he said to him, "you entered the leap^[5] year."

ולימא ליה לוקח ראשון ללוקח שני אנא קדים שחין נורא - "I was first, a fiery boil": the first buyer says to the second, I heated [myself] and used the house before you. Yours becomes final on the first of Adar, but mine will not become final.

את נחתת לעיבורא - You entered the leap month, so you lose [the count]: the verse writes "complete", to give him the leap month. But I did not enter it.

Rabbi Abba bar Mamal said: two lambs^[6] were born to someone, one on the fifteenth of the first Adar and one on the first of the second Adar.

נולדו לו שני טלאים - And they are firstborn, and he is commanded to offer them within their year, as written (Devarim 15:19): "you shall eat it year by year".

The one born in the second Adar: once the first day of Adar of the following year arrived, a year was counted for him.

The one born to him on the fifteenth of the first Adar: a year is not counted for him until the fifteenth of Adar of the following year.

Ravina objects: he should say to him, "I ate the greens^[7] first, before yours," because he said to him, "you entered the leap year."

I did not enter the leap year.

Then why do I need this?

It is the same point.

One might have thought: there, it is written "complete"; here it is not written "complete".

לא כתב תמימה - And one does not give him the leap month; the year is taken away from him on the fifteenth of Shevat.

It teaches us: the word "year" is learned from one case to the other.

When it says "complete", etc., Rabbi says: the leap year is to be given to him.^[8]

The Sages taught: "a complete year" (Vayikra 25:29).

Rabbi says: he counts three hundred and sixty-five days, like the days of the sun (the solar year).^[9]

כמנין ימות החמה - Whether in a regular year or in a leap year.

And the Sages say: he counts twelve months from day to day; and if [the year] became a leap year, it became one for him.

י"ב חדש מיום ליום - As we fix [the months] for a lunar year.

נתעברה לו - For the seller, since "complete" is written.

The Mishnah: when the day of twelve months arrived and he did not redeem, etc.

The Sages taught: "forever" means completely.

Another explanation: "forever" includes the gift.

What is the reason? The verse says "forever" (tzemit tzemitut).

The Sages said it before Rav Pappa, as the view that does not hold like Rabbi Meir.

For if it follows Rabbi Meir, then he says: a gift is not like a sale.^[10]

האמר - In tractate Bekhorot, last chapter (52): a gift is not like a sale; in the Jubilee it does not return to the one who gave it.

Rav Pappa said: even if you say it is Rabbi Meir, here it is different, since the Merciful One said "forever".

The Rabbis said [the objection] to Rav Pappa.

Rav Huna son of Rav Yehoshua said to Rav Pappa:

But in the case of the Jubilee^[11] it is written "return" (tashuvu).

תשובו - "Return, each man to his property" (Vayikra 25:10); we expound there, in chapter 9, to include the gift.

And Rabbi Meir does not include [gifts] except in that case, which surely does not hold like Rabbi Meir.

The Sages taught: one who dedicates^[12] a house in a walled city - he may redeem it, and [he may redeem it] forever, even after it has passed from the Temple's hands.

וגואל לעולם - That is, it does not become final to the Temple forever; the Gemara explains the reason below.

If the day of twelve months arrived and he did not redeem, it became final for him.

הגיע יום שנים עשר חודש - From the time he took it from the treasurer (gizbar).

From where do we know this?

Shmuel said: "to the one who acquired it" (Vayikra 25:30), even from the Temple's hands.

And if it became final to the Temple, "to his generations" is written.

The property of the Temple is excluded, since it has no generations; it is not released in the Jubilee. Why is that needed?

שאין לו דורות - Since there is no "fruitfulness and multiplication" (no heirs) before Heaven.

לא יצא ביובל למה לי - Since "forever" is written.

Rav Safra said: it is needed only for the seller of a house in a walled city, when the Jubilee came upon him within his year.

One might think it should go out in the Jubilee^[13].

It teaches us: it does not go out in the Jubilee.

The Mishnah: At first, the buyer would hide himself on the twelfth month, so that it would become final for him.

מתני' היה נטמן - The buyer, on the twelfth month day, so that the seller would not find him to give him his money, and it becomes final for him. "Shall hide" (chalash) is as in (Yeshayahu 14:12) "who weakened over nations", and as we learn (Shabbat 148b) "lots are cast over dedicated property": he should cast his money into the chambers of the Temple court.

Hillel instituted that he should deposit his money in the chamber^[14], and that he may break open the door and enter.

ויהא שובר הדלת - Of the house he sold, and enters.

Whenever he wishes, the seller may come and take his money.

Rava said: from Hillel's enactment [we learn]:

"This is your get, on condition^[15] that you give me two hundred zuz."

גמ' מדעתו - That he accepts it willingly.

If she gave it to him willingly, she is divorced.

If against her will, she is not divorced.

Tosafot

רבא אמר דכולי עלמא צד אחד ברבית אסור - Rashi's explanation, quoted: the Mishnah and the beraisa dispute this: the beraisa's Tanna holds that since it ultimately leads to interest, one-sided [interest] is like full interest, only the Torah permitted it. And one can further explain that the Mishnah and the beraisa dispute as follows: for example, he entered the house on condition that he return to him the rent for the year if he comes to redeem within twelve months. The Mishnah's Tanna holds that interest on condition of return is permitted, and the beraisa's Tanna holds that it is forbidden. Or: each one says one thing, and they do not dispute at all: the Mishnah deals with the case where he returns the money to him if he redeems, and the beraisa deals with the case where he does not return it.

דאי ר"מ הא אמר מתנה אינה כמכר - One can say: since a gift is not like a sale, there is no way for him to redeem it at all, not even within twelve months. According to this, what we asked above in chapter Hamakdish (Arakhin 28): since it is written "an eternal possession for them", we should have said that priests and Levites may not give their houses as gifts. But here we can explain that a gift is not like a sale, and the giver can redeem forever, even after twelve months; so it works out that priests and Levites may give their houses to another as a gift.

התקין הלל - Here it implies that in Hillel's days, in the Second Temple (as we said in the first chapter of Shabbat, daf 15: Hillel, Shimon ben Gamliel and Shimon held leadership before the Temple for a hundred years), the Jubilee was observed, since the law of houses in walled cities applied, as stated above (Arakhin 29): houses in walled cities exist only when the Jubilee is in effect. But Rashi's explanation in chapter Hasholeach (Gittin 36) is difficult: there the Mishnah says Hillel instituted the prozbul, and the Gemara asks: is there anything of Torah law that is released? and Hillel's enactment was that it should not be released. The Gemara answers that the release in our time is rabbinic. Rashi explains that Hillel held the release of loans in our time is rabbinic, and although Hillel in the Second Temple held that since the Jubilee was not in effect there, the sabbatical release was not of Torah law, as we say that counting Jubilees to sanctify the sabbatical years is rabbinic. Here, however, it seems that in the Second Temple the Jubilee was of Torah law. This is also shown in Keritot, chapter Arba'ah Mechusrei Kaparah, at the end (daf 11): "and they put forth their hands to send away their wives" (Ezra 10:19); Rav Chisda said: they were all wives who had been taken as a slave-maid, and a slave-maid who is half free is a betrothed maidservant to a Hebrew slave; and as stated above (Arakhin 29), a Hebrew slave applies only when the Jubilee is in effect; so Jubilees were observed in the Second Temple. The answer must be: indeed Jubilees were observed in the Second Temple, although not all Israel returned in Ezra's days, as written (Nechemiah 7:66) "all the assembly together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty"; from each tribe some returned, and that suffices, as stated below that "they counted Jubilees" even though not all returned. And the story in Gittin (36) must be explained: Hillel did not enact it for his own generation only; he knew the Temple was going to be destroyed, and therefore enacted the prozbul. Even though the question there is whether Hillel enacted for his generation or for all generations, that question was not asked of Abaye but of Rava, who answers there that a court's declaration is a declaration.

Notes

1. 1. Ribbis: a benefit from a loan, forbidden by the Torah (Vayikra 25:36-37). "One-sided interest" is a benefit to one party only; all agree it is forbidden.
2. 2. A house in a walled city may be redeemed by its seller within a year of the sale (Vayikra 25:29-30). If the seller dies, his son may redeem it.
3. 3. The year of redemption is counted from the day of the sale itself.
4. 4. Shechin nura, a burning boil: an idiom for having come first ("I was first"). Here it is the claim of the first buyer.
5. 5. Ibbur: a leap year, in which an extra month (second Adar) is added, making thirteen months.
6. 6. Bechor: the firstborn of a kosher animal is holy from birth and must be eaten in Jerusalem, year by year (Devarim 15:19-20).
7. 7. Achil yerokah (eating greens): a second idiom for having come first, parallel to shechin nura.
8. 8. Rabbi holds that the year must be complete, and that it includes the added month of a leap year.
9. 9. The solar year of 365 days, against the Sages' twelve lunar months (about 354 days).
10. 10. Rabbi Meir holds that a gift is not treated like a sale: it does not return in the Jubilee to its giver.
11. 11. The Jubilee (yovel): the fiftieth year, when lands return to their original families (Vayikra 25:10-13).
12. 12. Hekdesh: property dedicated to the Temple. According to the beraisa, a house in a walled city so dedicated may still be redeemed, even from the Temple's hands.
13. 13. The Gemara first assumes that the house goes out in the Jubilee, and then rejects this.
14. 14. Lishkah: a chamber in the Temple court where money was deposited with the treasurers (gizbarim).
15. 15. A conditional get: a bill of divorce whose effect depends on its condition, here payment of 200 zuz. It takes effect only if the wife accepts it willingly.