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Text Excerpt
נתן ארבע לראשונה ואחת לשניה — ידי שניה יצא, ידי ראשונה לא יצא, כולהו משעבדן לראשונה.
By contrast, if he first gave 4 sela for payment of the first vow and then one sela for payment of the second vow, he has fulfilled his obligation with regard to the second vow, because all he had at that stage was one sela. But he has not fulfilled his obligation with regard to the first vow, because all 5 sela in his possession were liened for payment of the first vow, and therefore he did not fulfill his obligation by paying only 4.
בעי רב אדא בר אהבה: היו בידו חמש סלעים ואמר ״שני ערכי עלי״ בבת אחת, מהו? כיון דבבת אחת נדר — כי הדדי תפסן, יהיב תרתי ופלגא להאי ותרתי ופלגא להאי, או דלמא כולהו חזיא להאי וכולהו חזיא להאי? תיקו.
Rav Adda bar Ahava raises a dilemma: If one had in his possession 5 sela and he said: It is hereby incumbent upon me to donate my valuation twice, and consequently both obligations take effect simultaneously, what is the halakha? One can claim that since he vowed both vows simultaneously, they take effect together, and therefore he gives 2½ sela for this vow and 2½ sela for that vow; or perhaps all of the 5 sela are fit for this vow and all of them are also fit for that vow, and therefore he must pay 5 sela for each vow? The Talmud concludes: The dilemma should stand unresolved.
אין בערכין פחות מסלע ולא יתר כו׳. הא תו למה לי?
§ The Mishnah teaches at its conclusion that there is no payment of valuations less than a sela; nor is there a payment greater than 50 sela. The Talmud asks: Why do I also need this statement, as this halakha was already stated at the beginning of the Mishnah?
הא קמשמע לן: פחות מסלע הוא דליכא, הא יתר על סלע איכא; יתר על חמשים הוא דליכא, הא פחות מחמשים איכא, וסתמא כרבנן.
The Talmud answers: This additional statement teaches us that there is no payment of valuations less than a sela, but, by inference, there is a payment of valuations more than a sela. Similarly, there is no payment of valuations for a sum greater than 50 sela, but there is a payment that is less than 50 sela. And this unattributed statement of the Mishnah is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, who maintain that if one cannot pay the full amount of the valuation, he pays however much he can afford, even if it is more than a sela, rather than paying only one sela, as stated by R' Meir.