Gittin

does he borrow for his food? — He borrows for extras. But the Sanctuary can say to him, 'Just as you could do without extras hitherto, so you can do without extras now'? — The Sanctuary itself prefers this, so that its slave should be in good condition. You say that he works and pays from his earnings. How can he do this, seeing that every penny as he earns it becomes sanctified?  — [He keeps on paying his earnings] before they amount to a perutah.  This view [that Rab's dictum refers to the case where the master provides the slave's keep] is borne out by this other dictum of Rab: If a man sanctifies the hands of his slave, that same slave can go on working for his keep, for if he does not work, who will look after him? If you say that the first dictum refers to the case where the master provides [the slave's keep], and that in consequence a master is not at liberty [to say to his slave, 'Work for me, but I shall not maintain you'], and that the latter dictum refers to a case where he does not provide for him, all is plain; but if you say that the first dictum refers to the case where the master does tot provide the slave's keep, and [so we rule that] he can say [to the slave, 'You must work for me etc.', what is the sense of saying [in the second dictum], 'if he does not work who will look after him?' Let anyone who will look after him!  We conclude therefore that the ruling is that a master cannot say [to his slave, 'Work for me, but I shall not support you.'] Come and hear: R. Johanan says that if a man cuts off the hand of another man's slave, he must make good to his master his 'loss of time'  and the cost of his medical attendance, and the slave must live on charity. We understand from this,  [do we not,] that the master can say to the slave, 'Work for me, but I shall not maintain you'? — No. Here we are dealing with a case in which the master does provide the slave's keep. If that is so, why [does it say that] he must live on charity? — This refers to extras. If that is so, it should say not 'live on' but 'be supported by'? We therefore conclude that the master can say [to the slave, 'You must work for me etc.']. This proves it. The Master said: 'He must make good to his master "loss of time" and the cost of his medical attendance'. [What need is there to tell me this in] the case of the 'loss of time', which is obvious? — The 'loss of time' is mentioned because the medical costs [had to be mentioned]. Surely the medical costs go to the slave, for he needs them for his cure? — This must be stated in view of a case where it was calculated that he requires five days [treatment] and by the application of a painful remedy he was cured in three. You might think that in this case [the whole of the estimated medical cost goes to the slave since] the extra pain is his; but now know [that it does not]. It has been taught R. Eliezer said: We said to R. Meir, Is it not a benefit for the slave to obtain his liberty? — He replied, It is a disability for him, since if he was the slave of a priest he can no longer eat of the terumah. We said to him: If the priest chooses not to give him his keep, is he not at liberty to do so?  — He replied: If the slave of a priest runs away, or if the wife of a priest flouts her husband,  they can still eat of the terumah, but this one cannot. For a woman, however, certainly it is a disadvantage [to be divorced] since she becomes disqualified to eat the terumah [if she was married to a priest] and forfeits her maintenance [in any case].  What did they mean by their question and what was the point of [R. Meir's] remark, [If a priest's slave runs away etc.]? — What he said in effect was this: 'You have refuted me in the matter of maintenance,  but what answer can you give in the matter of the terumah? For if you should say that, if the master likes, he can throw the writ of emancipation to the slave and so disqualify him [and therefore giving the writ to a bearer is not a disadvantage to the slave], [I answer that] the slave can [prevent this by] leaving him and running away.