Kiddushin 43

תמותות שחוטות ואל יאכלו בשר תמותות נבילות (דברים כא, יא) וחשקת אע"פ שאינה נאה בה ולא בה ובחברתה

[animals] about to die, yet [ritually] slaughtered, than flesh of dying animals which have perished;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Without ritual slaughter. The first too is repulsive, but sanctioned.');">¹</span> 'and thou hast a desire' - even if she is not beautiful; 'unto her' - but not her and her companion;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The warrior must not take two.');">²</span> 'and thou shalt take' - thou hast marriage rights<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'taking'.');">³</span>

ולקחת ליקוחין יש לך בה לך לאשה שלא יקח שתי נשים אחת לו ואחת לאביו אחת לו ואחת לבנו (דברים כא, יב) והבאתה מלמד שלא ילחצנה במלחמה:

over her;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Though she is a heathen, and does not voluntarily accept conversion. - Also, she can only be taken as a legal wife.');">⁴</span> 'to thee to wife,' [teaching] that he must not take two women, one for himself and another for his father, or one for himself and another for his son: 'then thou shalt bring her home [to thine house].' teaching that he must not molest her on the [field of] battle.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Nevertheless one is able to bridle his desire in the knowledge that he will be able to satisfy it at home. Rashi. - War cannot be humanized, nor primitive passions subdued. Yet the Rabbis endeavoured to curb them as far as possible and minimize their evil effects: the captive was to be kindly treated, given the full legal status of a wife, and unmolested in actual battle, - possibly because in cool blood he would altogether recoil from his intentions.');">⁵</span>

ת"ר (שמות כא, ה) אם אמר יאמר עד שיאמר וישנה אמר בתחילת שש ולא אמר בסוף שש אינו נרצע שנאמר (שמות כא, ה) לא אצא חפשי עד שיאמר בשעת יציאה

Our Rabbis taught: But if the servant shall plainly say;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXI, 5: 'plainly' is expressed in Hebrew by the doubling of the verb.');">⁶</span> he must say and reiterate [it]. If he declares [thus at the beginning of the sixth year.

אמר בסוף שש ולא אמר בתחילת שש אינו נרצע שנאמר אם אמר יאמר העבד עד שיאמר כשהוא עבד

but not at the end, he is not bored, for it says.' I will not go out free': [hence] he must say it when about to depart. If he says it at the end of the six[th year], but not at the beginning, he is not bored, for it is said: 'But If the slave shall plainly say': he must say it while still a s

אמר מר אמר בתחילת שש ולא אמר בסוף שש אינו נרצע שנאמר לא אצא חפשי מאי איריא מלא אצא חפשי תיפוק ליה דבעינן (שמות כא, ה) אהבתי את אדוני את אשתי ואת בני וליכא

The Master said: 'If he declared [thus] at the beginning of the six[th year] but not at the end, he is not bored, for it is said: I will not go out free; [hence] he must say it when about to depart.' Why choose [to lear this] from 'I will not go out free': deduce it because we require [that he shall say].' I love my master, my wif and my children,' which is absent.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The passage is now assumed to mean: if he declares thus at the beginning of the six years.');">⁷</span>

ותו אמר בסוף שש ולא אמר בתחילת שש אינו נרצע שנאמר העבד אטו סוף שש לאו עבד הוא אמר רבא מאי בתחילת שש בתחילת פרוטה אחרונה ומאי בסוף שש בסוף פרוטה אחרונה:

Furthermore, 'if he says it at the end of the six[th year], but not at the beginning, he is not bored, for it is said. "the slave"': is he then not a slave at the end of the sixth year?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., on the last day of his term.');">⁸</span> - Said Raba: [It means,] At the beginning of the last perutah['s worth of service], and at the end thereof.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' When there is no longer left for him a perutah's worth of labour to perform, he is no longer regarded as slave.');">⁹</span> Our Rabbis taught: If he has a wife and children, but his master has no wife and children, he may not be bored, for it is said, because he loveth thee and thine house.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. XV, 26; 'thine house'= household, i.e., a wife and children.');">¹⁰</span>

ת"ר לו אשה ובנים ולרבו אין אשה ובנים אינו נרצע שנאמר (דברים טו, טז) כי אהבך ואת ביתך לרבו אשה ובנים ולו אין אשה ובנים אינו נרצע שנאמר אהבתי את אדוני את אשתי ואת בני

If his master has a wife and children, but he has no wife and children, he may not be bored, for it is said: 'I love my master, my wife, and my children'. If he loves his master but his master does not love him, he may not be bored, for it is said: 'because he is well with thee.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid.');">¹¹</span> If his master loves him but he does not love his master,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Yet he desires to remain on account of his wife and children.');">¹²</span>

הוא אוהב את רבו ורבו אינו אוהבו אינו נרצע שנאמר (דברים טו, טז) כי טוב לו עמך רבו אוהבו והוא אינו אוהב את רבו אינו נרצע שנאמר כי אהבך הוא חולה ורבו אינו חולה אינו נרצע שנאמר כי טוב לו עמך רבו חולה והוא אינו חולה אינו נרצע שנאמר עמך

he may not be bored, for it is said: 'because he loveth thee'. If he is an invalid but his master is no invalid, he may not be bored, for it is said, because he is well with thee.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Well' understood in the sense of healthy.');">¹³</span> If his master is an invalid but he is no invalid, he may not be bored, for it i said, with thee.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., just as thou art.');">¹⁴</span>

בעי רב ביבי בר אביי שניהם חולין מאי עמך בעינן והא איכא או דילמא כי טוב לו עמך בעינן והא ליכא תיקו:

R'Bibi B'Abaye propounded: What if both are invalids? Do we require, 'with thee' [to be applicable], and it is; or perhaps we require, 'because he is well with thee,' which is absent? The question stands.

ת"ר כי טוב לו עמך עמך במאכל עמך במשתה שלא תהא אתה אוכל פת נקיה והוא אוכל פת קיבר אתה שותה יין ישן והוא שותה יין חדש אתה ישן על גבי מוכין והוא ישן על גבי תבן מכאן אמרו כל הקונה עבד עברי כקונה אדון לעצמו

Our Rabbis taught: 'Because he is well with thee': he must be with [i.e., equal to] thee in food and drink, that thou shouldst not eat white bread and he black bread, thou drink old wine and he new wine, thou sleep on a feather bed and he on straw. Hence it was said: Whoever buys a Hebrew slave is like buying a master for himself. Our Rabbis taught: Then he shall go out from thee, he and his children with him:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XXV, 41.');">¹⁵</span>

ת"ר (ויקרא כה, מא) ויצא מעמך הוא ובניו עמו א"ר שמעון אם הוא נמכר בניו ובנותיו מי נמכרים מכאן שרבו חייב במזונות בניו כיוצא בדבר אתה אומר אם בעל אשה הוא ויצאה אשתו עמו א"ר שמעון אם הוא נמכר אשתו מי נמכרה מכאן שרבו חייב במזונות אשתו

R'Simeon said: if he is sold, are then his sons and daughters<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'And daughters' is absent in the 'Aruk and in Rashi's commentary on the Pentateuch, where this is quoted.');">¹⁶</span> sold?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Why state that they go out?');">¹⁷</span> Hence [we learn] that the master is liable for his children's keep.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And at Jubilee they 'go out', i.e., his liability ceases.');">¹⁸</span>

וצריכא דאי אשמועינן בניו משום דלא בני מיעבד ומיכל נינהו אבל אשתו דבת מיכל ומיעבד היא אימא תעביד ותיכול

Similarly you read: If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XXI, 3.');">¹⁹</span> R'Simeon said: If he is sold, is then his wife sold? Hence we learn that the master is responsible for his wife's keep.

ואי אשמעינן אשתו דלאו דירכה להדורי אבל בניו דדירכייהו להדורי אימא לא צריכא

Now, both are necessary. For if we were informed [this] of his children, [I would say] that is because they cannot work for a living;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'work and eat' - the reference is to minors.');">²⁰</span> but as for his wife, who can work for a living, I would say: Let her earn her keep.

ת"ר

While if we were informed [this] of his wife, that is because it is not meet for her to go begging; but as for his children, for whom it may be seemly to go begging,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Being minors, they suffer no disgrace thereby. - The existence of house-to-house begging in Talmudic times follows from certain passages: Pe'ah, VIII, 7; Shab. 2a, 151b; Sifre, Deut. 116 and elsewhere. But women did not beg, and in consequence it was held more meritorious to support a needy woman than a man (Hor. III, 7; J.D. 251, 8) .');">²¹</span> I might say: It is not so. Hence both are necessary. Our Rabbis taught: