Kiddushin

If it were stated, [‘Then thou shalt take an awl,] and place his ear unto the door,’1 I would think, Let a hole be bored against his ear through the door; [hence,] only the door, but not his ear. ‘Not his ear!’ is it not written: ‘and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl’:2 — But I would say, the ear is to be bored outside and then placed on the door and a hole bored through the door opposite the ear:3 therefore it is stated, [‘and thou shalt thrust it] through his ear unto the door’. How so? He continues boring until the door is reached. ‘The door’: I understand [from this,] whether it is removed [from its hinges] or not: therefore it is stated, [‘unto the door, or unto] the doorpost’;4 just as the doorpost must be standing,5 so must the door be standing. Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai used to expound this verse as precious stone.6 Why was the ear singled out7 from all the other limbs of the body? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: This ear, which heard my Voice on Mount Sinai when I proclaimed, For unto me the children of Israel are servants, they are my servants,8 and not servants of servants, and yet this [man] went and acquired a master for himself9 — let it be bored! R. Simeon b. Rabbi too expounded this verse as a precious stone. Why were the door and doorpost singled out from all other parts10 of the house? The Holy One, blessed be He, said: The door and the doorpost, which were witnesses in Egypt when I passed over the lintel and the doorposts and proclaimed, For unto me the children of Israel are servants, they are my servants,11 and not servants of servants, and so I brought them forth from bondage to freedom, yet this [man] went and acquired a master for himself — let him be bored in their presence! MISHNAH. A HEATHEN SLAVE IS ACQUIRED BY MONEY, DEED, OR BY HAZAKAH,12 AND REACQUIRES HIMSELF BY MONEY THROUGH THE AGENCY OF OTHERS,13 AND BY DEED, THROUGH HIS OWN AGENCY:14 THIS IS R. MEIR'S VIEW. THE SAGES MAINTAIN: BY MONEY, THROUGH HIS OWN AGENCY, AND BY DEED, THROUGH THE AGENCY OF OTHERS;15 PROVIDING THAT THE MONEY IS FURNISHED BY OTHERS.16 GEMARA. How do we know this? — Because it is written: And ye shall make them [the heathen slaves] an inheritance for your children after you, to possess as an inheritance;17 just as a ‘field of possession’ is acquired by hazakah,18 so is a heathen slave acquired by money, deed, or hazakah. If so, just as ‘a field of possession’ reverts to its [original] owner at jubilee, so should a heathen slave revert to his [former] owner at jubilee? Therefore it is stated, of them shall ye take your bondmen for ever.19 A Tanna taught: [He may be acquired] by halifin20 too. And our Tanna?21 — What is absent in the case of movables he teaches; what is present in the case of movables he does not teach. 22 Samuel said: A heathen slave may be acquired by meshikah.23 How so? If he [the purchaser] seizes him [the slave] and he goes to him, he acquires him; if he [merely] calls him and he goes to him, he does not acquire him. As for our Tanna, it [the omission of meshikah] is well: what is absent in the case of movables he teaches; what is present in the case of movables he does not teach.24 But according to the outside Tanna,25 let meshikah be taught?26 — He teaches only what applies to both land and movables, but meshikah, which is possible in the case of movables but not of land, he does not teach. ‘How so? If he seizes him and he goes to him he acquires him; if he [merely] calls him and he goes to him, he does not acquire him.’ But it was taught: How [is an animal acquired] by mesirah?27 If he seizes it by its hoof, hair, the saddle which is upon it, the saddle-bag upon it, the halter in its mouth, or the bell round its neck, he acquires it. How [does one acquire] by meshikah? He calls it and it comes, or he strikes it with a stick and it runs before him, immediately it lifts a foreleg and a hindleg, he acquires it. R. Assi-others state, R. Aha — said: It must walk its full length before him!28 — I will tell you: an animal walks by its master's volition; a slave, by his own.29 R. Ashi said: A slave who is a minor is as an animal.30 Our Rabbis taught: How [is a heathen slave acquired] by hazakah? If he unlooses his shoes for him [the purchaser], or carries his baggage after him to the baths; if he undresses, washes him, anoints,31 scrapes,32 dresses him, puts on his shoes, or lifts him, he acquires him. R. Simeon said: Let hazakah not be greater than lifting, for lifting acquires everywhere. What does he mean? — Said R. Ashi: [The first Tanna implies,] if he [the slave] lifts his master, he acquires him; if his master lifts him, he does not acquire him. Thereupon R. Simeon observed: Hazakah should not be greater33 than lifting, seeing that lifting acquires everywhere. 34 Now that you say that if he lifts his master he acquires him — if so, a heathen bondmaid should be acquired by intercourse?35 — When do we say this, when one derives pleasure and the other pain;36 but here both derive pleasure. Then what can be said of unnatural intercourse?37 Said R. Ahaiy b. Adda of Aha:38 Who is to tell us that both do not derive pleasure? Moreover, it is written, [Thou shalt not lie with mankind] with the lyings of a woman:39 thus the Writ compared unnatural to natural intercourse. R. Judah the Indian was a proselyte who had no heirs. He fell sick and Mar Zutra went and paid him a sick visit.40 Seeing him in extremis41 he said to his [R. Judah's] slave, ‘Remove me my shoes and take them to my house’.42 Some maintain, He [the slave] was an adult:43 ,kscu respectively. the Dorshe Hamuroth (v. Sot. Sonc. ed. p. 80, n. 7.); (b) a ‘changed’ or ‘figurative’ meaning. V. Lauterbach J.Z. J.Q.A. (N.S.) I. pp. 503ff.] I.e., he deduced from it an important ethical principle — man's freedom. not affect the validity of the transaction. that his master shall have no rights therein, it is the master's, because R. Meir holds that a heathen slave cannot legally acquire anything without passing it on to his master. or has it given him, it belongs to his master. too. and Greeks, and had its cause in the hot climate, which causes all living bodies to emit an unpleasant odour; v. Krauss, T.A., I, 229 and 233. Hence here too, if the master lifts the slave, i.e., the article to be acquired, he gains a title to him. thereby become free.