פירוש על קידושין 104:3
Daf Shevui to Kiddushin
The onions do not belong to the sharecropper—they are jointly owned by him and the owner of the field until they split them up. Therefore, the sharecropper cannot betroth a woman with a handful of onions.
However, if the sharecropper takes a standard amount, what is called here a bundle (maybe akin to a bushel today), then we can say that these onions are fully his. The owner will take a bundle in its place. In other words, the problem is not that the sharecropper took onions. The issue is taking onions but then not dividing the rest evenly. This would be considered robbery.
It is interesting to note how far we’ve come—they used to betroth with onions, now with diamond rings. Gotta admit, onions taste far better than diamonds!
However, if the sharecropper takes a standard amount, what is called here a bundle (maybe akin to a bushel today), then we can say that these onions are fully his. The owner will take a bundle in its place. In other words, the problem is not that the sharecropper took onions. The issue is taking onions but then not dividing the rest evenly. This would be considered robbery.
It is interesting to note how far we’ve come—they used to betroth with onions, now with diamond rings. Gotta admit, onions taste far better than diamonds!
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