פירוש על עבודה זרה 77:17
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
An am ha’aretz is a person who is by definition not a haver, meaning the person is not assumed to act with a high level of scrupulousness in certain matters such as tithing and purity.
To be trusted as a haver, meaning to move from being an am ha’aretz to being a haver, one has to formally accept upon himself or herself to act in accordance with these ways. Indeed, the laws of conversion were probably patterned after these laws. So if a woman who grew up as an am ha’aretz married a haver (pretty remarkable in and of itself) she must accept upon herself these responsibilities. So too with a slave joining a haver’s household. The trust her husband has does not accrue to her immediately.
But if a woman marries out—meaning she marries an am ha’aretz, R. Meir says that she maintains her reliability as haver. R. Judah says she does not. Since she grew up as a haver, she never had to accept this responsibility on herself. But now she does. R. Shimon b. Elazar cleverly illustrates how a woman can move from being married to a haver, considered an honorable, trustworthy person, can lose her level of piety by being married to a tax collector, a position considered somewhat disgraceful in rabbinic society, associated with robbery and violence.
To be trusted as a haver, meaning to move from being an am ha’aretz to being a haver, one has to formally accept upon himself or herself to act in accordance with these ways. Indeed, the laws of conversion were probably patterned after these laws. So if a woman who grew up as an am ha’aretz married a haver (pretty remarkable in and of itself) she must accept upon herself these responsibilities. So too with a slave joining a haver’s household. The trust her husband has does not accrue to her immediately.
But if a woman marries out—meaning she marries an am ha’aretz, R. Meir says that she maintains her reliability as haver. R. Judah says she does not. Since she grew up as a haver, she never had to accept this responsibility on herself. But now she does. R. Shimon b. Elazar cleverly illustrates how a woman can move from being married to a haver, considered an honorable, trustworthy person, can lose her level of piety by being married to a tax collector, a position considered somewhat disgraceful in rabbinic society, associated with robbery and violence.
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