[41a - 34 lines; 41b - 48 lines]

1)[line 4]במזיק שיעבודו של חבירוMAZIK SHI'ABUDO SHEL CHAVEIRO (APOTIKI)

(a)A person may designate one of his pieces of land or possessions as security for a loan that he received or a debt that he owes without placing it in the possession of the creditor. This creates a Shibud, or lien, on the object, such that if the debt is not otherwise repaid, the creditor can collect his debt from the security. Such a security is called an "Apotiki." The debtor may specify (if the creditor agrees) that the creditor may only collect his debt from the Apotiki. In such a case, if it becomes impossible to collect the debt from the Apotiki, the debtor is no longer liable to the creditor.

(b)When a person chooses an object as the second type of Apotiki mentioned above (see TOSFOS DH b'Mazik), if someone damages the Apotiki or otherwise makes it impossible for the creditor to collect his debt from it (for example, if the Apotiki is a slave and he frees him), the Tana'im of our Mishnah argue as to whether he is liable for the damages or not. (Even those Tana'im that exempt payment in a case of Dina d'Garmi (see Background to Kesuvos 86:5) may rule that one may be liable for Mazik Shibudo Shel Chaveiro, since the damage is even more direct than Dina d'Garmi - TOSFOS ibid.)

2)[line 14]בהיזק שאינו ניכרHEZEK SHE'EINO NIKAR

(a)Hezek she'Eino Nikar is non-physical damage, such as the damage done by causing an object to become Halachically prohibited or invalidated for a particular use. The Tana'im argue whether a person may be held liable for such damages.

(b)In the case of our Mishnah, the creditor (for whom the slave was made an Apotiki), who has not yet acquired the slave, causes Hezek she'Eino Nikar when he hands the slave a Get Shichrur. As a result of this action, the owner of the slave (his debtor), will now be forced to free the slave because of Tikun ha'Olam.

3)[line 19]ושטפה נהרV'SHATFAH NAHAR- and a river flooded it

4)[line 19]אמי שפיר נאהAMI SHAPIR NA'EH- (lit. Ami the handsome) Ami Vardina'ah, Amora of Eretz Yisrael

5)[line 23]שמעתא דלא שפירןSHEMA'ATA D'LO SHAPIRAN- a teaching that is not pleasing, i.e. not correct

6)[line 24]פרעוןPERA'ON- payment

7)[line 29]לבעל חובBA'AL CHOV- a creditor

8)[line 31]לחזרL'CHAZER- to go around [to Beis Din tracking down the exact buyer from whom to extract the field]

9)[line 32]מי שחציו עבד וחציו בן חוריןMI SHE'CHETZYO EVED V'CHETZYO BEN CHORIN- a person who is part slave (Eved Kena'ani), part freeman; e.g. a slave originally owned by partners, one of whom freed his half

41b----------------------------------------41b

10)[line 3]"... לא תוהו בראה לשבת יצרה""... LO SOHU VERA'AH, LA'SHEVES YETZARAH..."- "[For thus says HaSh-m Who created the heavens; HaSh-m himself Who formed the earth and made it; He has established it,] He did not create it in vain, He formed it to be inhabited; [I am HaSh-m; and there is no one else.]" (Yeshayah 45:18)

11)[line 9]"והפדה לא נפדתה או חופשה לא נתן לה""...V'HAFDEH LO NIFDASAH O CHUFSHAH LO NITAN LAH..."- "[And whoever has illicit relations with a woman, who is a slave betrothed to a man,] and not wholly redeemed, nor freedom given her, [inquiry shall be made; they shall not be put to death, because she was not free.]" (Vayikra 19:20) - The word Pediyah (from "v'Hafdeh Lo Nifdasah") refers to redemption through Kesef (paying money) or Shaveh Kesef (items of value). Chufshah refers to redemption through a Get Shichrur.

12)[line 15]הקישאHEKEISHA (HEKESH)

(a)One of the methods that Chazal use for extracting the Halachah from the verses of the Torah is Hekesh, in which two subjects that are mentioned in a verse are compared. If there are a few possible Halachos that the Hekesh teaches, we learn them all ("Ein Hekesh l'Mechtzah"). We do not say that it teaches us only one or two of the Halachos (unless we have an explicit teaching that excludes a specific Halachah).

(b)Normal questions that can invalidate a Kal va'Chomer (see Background to Yevamos 68:10:c) or a Gezeirah Shavah (see next entry) will not invalidate a Hekesh ("Ein Meshivin Al ha'Hekesh").

13)[line 15]גז''שGZ''S (GEZEIRAH SHAVAH)

(a)In the Introduction to the Sifra (the Halachic Midrash to Vayikra), Rebbi Yishmael lists thirteen methods that Chazal use for extracting the Halachah from the verses of the Torah. One of them is Gezeirah Shavah, which is a Halachic device by which two similar words in the Torah from different subjects teach us that laws from one subject apply to the other.

(b)A sage is only permitted to use the method of Gezeirah Shavah if he received a tradition from his teachers that a Gezeirah Shavah exists between the two words. However, the comparison that he makes regarding which laws are applied from one subject to the other may be his own, if he did not learn it directly from his teachers.

(c)MUFNEH MI'SHNEI TZEDADIM - If two similar words in the Torah are free of any Derashah, they may be used unconditionally for the inference of a Gezeirah Shavah between the two topics.

(d)MUFNEH MI'TZAD ECHAD - If only one of the words is free, there is a Machlokes whether they may be used unconditionally for the inference of a Gezeirah Shavah (Lemedin v'Ein Meshivin), or if they can only be used for a Gezeirah Shavah if we have no logical argument against learning the Gezeirah Shavah (Lemedin u'Meshivin).

(e)EINO MUFNEH KOL IKAR - If both words are used for another Derashah, there is a Machlokes whether they can only be used for a Gezeirah Shavah if we have no logical argument not to learn the Gezeirah Shavah, or if they cannot be used at all for a Gezeirah Shavah.

14)[line 21]דברה תורה כלשון בני אדםDIBRAH TORAH K'LASHON BNEI ADAM

Every word in the Torah is holy and contains worlds of insights and nuances. However, certain sages of the Mishnah felt that there were some phrases recorded in the Torah that paralleled people's speech, and should not be used for homiletics or insights.

15)[line 30]כח דהיתירא עדיף ליהKO'ACH D'HETEIRA ADIF LEI - The lenient ruling has [the potential to teach] more

If a person rules stringently, we cannot know his true opinion on the matter. He may either have decided that the stringent ruling is correct, or else he may be in doubt, since a person who is in doubt must take a stringent stance in any case. We therefore stand to learn more from the Torah sage who rules leniently, since we learn from him his true view in the matter at hand. He must be convinced that his lenient ruling is the true Halachah or else he would not have passed a lenient ruling.