Talmud for Gittin 81:17

Rebbi Abun said, it³⁶⁸The statement of R. Simeon ben Eleazar that R. Meïr requires the intervention of a third party in the manumission of a slave by document. follows Rebbi, since Rebbi said that a person can free half of his slave³⁶⁹Babli Giṭṭin 23b, 41b; in Temurah 25b ascribed to R. Meïr. It is clear that “half of his slave” means “any part of his slave.” Why would anybody want to partially emancipate his slave? By Mishnah Giṭṭin 4:5, the master is then forced to emancipate the slave completely and the slave has to write an IOU for the part of him that was not manumitted. If the slave is not worth his upkeep, the slave has no interest in being freed but his master is interested in getting rid of him and even having the chance of collecting some money from the IOU. (In Roman law, partial emancipation is accepted by Ulpian I 18 but rejected by most other earlier authorities. The Mishnaic law also appears in Egyptian sources and is incorporated in Justinian’s Code; cf. R. Taubenschlag, The Law of Greco-Roman Egypt in the Light of the Papyri, New York 1944, p. 75.). But do the rabbis not hold that a person can free half of his slave? They admit it for a slave held in partnership³⁷⁰Since the partial owner eliminates all of his ownership in the slave.. But there is a difference for a slave who entirely belongs to him, for it is as if he gave something from his right into his left hand³⁷¹Since for R. Meïr the slave’s hand is his master’s hand.. Does Rebbi hold that it is not as if he gave something from his right into his left hand? He admits it if he gave to him through a third party. Do the rabbis not hold that he may give to him through a third party? The rabbis hold that one who can acquire by himself can acquire through a third party; one who cannot acquire by himself cannot acquire through a third party. Rebbi says, even though he cannot acquire by himself, he can acquire through third parties.