Commentary for Kiddushin 33:16
האי מיבעי ליה לכדתניא יכול לא יהו מעניקין אלא מצאן גורן ויקב מנין לרבות כל דבר ת"ל אשר ברכך יי' אלהיך א"כ מה ת"ל צאן גורן ויקב לומר לך מה צאן גורן ויקב מיוחדים שישנן בכלל ברכה אף כל שישנן בכלל ברכה יצאו כספים דברי ר' שמעון רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר יצאו פרדות
R'Eliezer B'Jacob said: excluding mules.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which were considered unproductive; cf. Meg. 13 b, Gen. Rab.41 ; the mule was held to be a hybrid. cf. Pes. 54a: Adam took two animals (of different kinds) . . and from them 'came forth a mule': v. Lewysohn, Zoologie, p. 144.');"><sup>22</sup></span> And R'Simeon?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Why does he not exclude mules?');"><sup>23</sup></span> - Mules are themselves capable of improvement.
Daf Shevui to Kiddushin
The Talmud now weaves in a baraita in which tannaim debate what types of things a master may not grant the slave. The grant must come from things that are considered a blessing. R. Shimon excludes from here money. Money is easily lost, devaluated etc. And therefore, it is problematic. [One might thing that today we value money over many things, but we really do not. That’s why we put most of our money in a bank where it is transformed into an investment. Furthermore, our money is totally symbolic. In fact, most of the money in the world, probably well over 99 per cent is just a number in a computer. In the ancient world money was actual silver. But this is a larger topic]. R. Eliezer ben Jacob excludes mules. The rabbis had two problems with mules. 1) They were considered violent. 2) They do not reproduce. [I discuss this in volume 1 of Reconstructing the Talmud.]
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy