Study Gittin folio 41A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
ויאמר לו: ״עבדי אתה״ – כופין את רבו שני, ועושה אותו בן חורין, וכותב עבד שטר על דמיו. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר: אין העבד כותב אלא משחרר כותב.
and will say to him: You are my slave, because he was designated to be used as repayment for the debt, and lest the future children of this emancipated slave acquire the reputation of being disqualified, the court forces his second master, i.e., the creditor, and he makes him a freeman, and the slave writes a promissory note for his value, that he owes his own value to the creditor. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: The slave does not write a promissory note for his value. Rather, his first master, who emancipated him, writes a promissory note, and then pays the value of the slave to the creditor, as the master designated the slave to be used for repayment.
במאי קא מיפלגי? במזיק שיעבודו של חבירו קא מיפלגי – דמר סבר חייב, ומר סבר פטור.
The Talmud explains: With regard to what halakha do they disagree? They disagree with regard to the halakha in the case of one who causes damage to his friend’s lien, as one Sage, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, holds that one who causes damage to his friend’s lien is liable to pay for the damage, although the liened object itself does not belong to his friend. Therefore, in the case of the Mishnah, the one who emancipated the slave is required to write a promissory note for his value. And one Sage, the first tanna, holds that he is exempt. Consequently, it is the slave who is required to write a promissory note for his value.
איתמר נמי: המזיק שיעבודו של חבירו, באנו למחלוקת רבן שמעון בן גמליאל ורבנן.
It was also stated that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and the Rabbis disagree with regard to that issue: When discussing one who causes damage to his friend’s lien, we have arrived at the dispute between Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel and the Rabbis, which supports the above analysis.