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Shevuos 31

SHEVUOS 31 - sponsored by Uri Wolfson with warm Mazel Tov wishes to Carey (Kalman) and Tammy Wolchok on the occasion of their wedding (on 22 Adar I 5763). May they merit to build together a Bayis Ne'eman b'Yisrael!

1) [line 1] KOLAR - the collar (a [Roman] prisoner's band or chain around the neck)

2) [line 2] SIMAN TELASA TALMID U'SELAS BA'ALEI CHOV SEMARTUT SHOME'A U'MAT'IM - this is a mnemonic device for remembering the nine statements of the Beraisa that follow:

1. *Telasa Talmid* refers to *three* statements about students that begin with the words, "Minayin *l'Talmid*..." (lines 4, 6, 10)
2. *u'Selas Ba'alei Chov* refers to *three* statements about creditors that begin with the words, "Minayin l'Nosheh b'Chaveiro" or "Minayin l'Sheloshah she'Noshin" (lines 20, 22, 25)
3. *Semartut* refers to "Echad Lavush *Semartutin*" (line 27)
4. *Shome'a* refers to "Minayin l'Dayan she'Lo *Yishma* Divrei Ba'al Din" (line 29)
5. *u'Mat'im* refers to "Minayin l'Ba'al Din she'Lo *Yat'im* Devarav" (line 31)
3) [line 8] AMTIN LO - I will wait for him
4a) [line 8] ASATRENU - I will disprove it (lit. break it down)
b) [line 8] EVNENU MI'SHELI - and build it by myself (using my reasoning)
5) [line 12] EINI MEVADEH - I do not fabricate [any details about facts or events]
6) [line 20] NOSHEH B'CHAVEIRO MANEH - one who demands from another person the repayment of a loan of a Maneh (100 Zuz)

7a) [line 20] AT'ANENU B'MASAYIM - I will sue him for two hundred

b) [line 20] KEDEI SHE'YODEH LI B'MANEH V'YISCHAYEIV LI SHEVU'AH - in order that he admit to one Maneh and will become obligated to swear to me [that he does not owe me the difference] (MODEH B'MIKTZAS HA'TA'ANAH YISHAVA)
If a person admits that he owes part of a claim, we suspect that the claim is true and that the debtor wants to temporarily postpone part of the payment but does not have the audacity to completely deny the claim. He is therefore required to take an oath, mid'Oraisa, that he does not owe the part he denies (Shemos 22:8). If he refuses to take the oath, he must pay the entire amount being claimed.

8) [line 21] VA'AGALGEL ALAV SHEVU'AH MI'MAKOM ACHER - [and once he is making a Shevu'ah,] I will force him through Gilgul Shevu'ah to make a Shevu'ah for another claim that I have against him (GILGUL SHEVU'AH)
(a) If a defendant has to take an oath in Beis Din in response to one claim of a plaintiff, he can be required to include within his oath a response to another outstanding claim from the same plaintiff, even though the second claim was not the type of claim which normally requires an oath. This Halachah is learned from the Shevu'ah of the Sotah woman (see Background to Shevuos 5:4), where she is obligated to swear that she did not have relations with the man whom her husband suspects. Beis Din is Megalgel onto her oath the additional details that she did not have relations with any other man, while she was an Arusah, etc., to which she must swear, also (Sotah 18a).
(b) Examples of claims that can be included in a person's oath through Gilgul are Shevu'os that pertain to land, Kofer ba'Kol (denying an entire loan), and even an oath that the defendant is not the slave of the claimant (Kidushin 28a).
(c) The Halachah of Gilgul Shevu'ah applies whether the Shevu'ah is a Shevu'ah d'Oraisa such as the Shevu'ah brought about by the testimony of a solitary witness, or a Shevu'ah d'Rabanan such as Shevu'as Heses (Shevu'os 48b; see RASHI there).
(d) The plaintiff in our Gemara wants to make the defendant take an oath regarding another claim for which, under normal circumstances, he is not obligated to take an oath. RASHI brings two examples: a claim to which the defendant is not Modeh b'Miktzas, or a claim for which a Shevu'ah does not exist through any other means besides Gilgul (such as a claim on real estate).

9a) [line 27] SEMARTUTIN - rags
b) [line 27] ITZTELIS BAS ME'AH MANEH - a cloak that is worth one hundred Maneh (each Maneh is worth 100 Zuz)

10) [line 29] SHELUFU PUZMUKAICHU V'CHUSU L'DINA - take off your light (felt) shoes, socks (O.F. chalcon) [that are normally worn by men of means] and start (lit. go down to) the case

11) [line 31] LO YAT'IM DEVARAV - he should not state his arguments before the judge [before his opponent arrives]

12) [line 32] RAV KAHANA MASNI MI'"LO SISA," "LO SASI" - Rav Kahana learns this Halachah (Lo Yat'im Devarav) by making a Derashah on the words, "Lo Sisa [Shema Shav]," - "Do not accept [a false report]" (Shemos 23:1) by reading them, "Lo Sasi," through which he interprets the verse, "Do not cause [a false report] to be accepted [by the judge.]" (The source quoted by the Torah Or, "Sham," which indicates Shemos 20, should be corrected to read "Sham 23.")

13) [line 32] "[AVIV, KI ASHAK OSHEK, GAZAL GEZEL ACH,] VA'ASHER LO TOV ASAH B'SOCH AMAV, [V'HINEH MES BA'AVONO.]" - "[His father, because he cruelly oppressed others, robbed his brother,] and did that which is not good among his people, [behold, he died for his iniquity.]" (Yechezkel 18:18)

14a) [line 33] ZEH HA'BA B'HARSHA'AH - this refers to a person who buys power of attorney, which entitles the bearer to act on behalf of the issuer. (If the buyer is a strongman or underworld figure, it will be less pleasant for the debtor to deal with him than with the creditor. And even if he is an ordinary person, he will be unable to make the compromises that the creditor might have made.)
b) [line 33] ZEH HA'LOKE'ACH SADEH SHE'YESH ALEHA ASIKIN - this refers to a person who buys a field about which there are protesters [claiming that they had a lien on the field for a loan given to the seller or that the field does not belong to the seller]

15) [line 35] MELECH (EDUS: MELECH)
The Mishnah states (Sanhedrin 18a) that a Jewish King is not permitted to testify in court. The verse states, "Som Tasim Alecha Melech" - "You shall surely set over yourself a king," from which the Mishnah learns she'Tehei Eimaso Alecha - so that the awe of him will be upon you (Sanhedrin 22a). It is considered a disgrace for the king to testify, since witnesses are required to stand when they testify.

16) [line 35] MESACHEK B'KUVYA (PESULEI EDUS: MESACHEK B'KUVYA)
(a) The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 24b, and Gemara there; Rosh Hashanah 22a) lists the people who are Pesulei Edus, those people who are disqualified to judge or to give testimony.
(b) A Mesachek b'Kuvya is a person who gambles with dice (or other forms of gambling -- RAMBAM Hilchos Edus 10:4) as his only livelihood. He is disqualified mid'Rabanan from giving testimony. One opinion rules that he is disqualified because gambling is deemed Asmachta, which is considered stealing (see Background to Sanhedrin 24:51a-b). Another opinion rules that the Mesachek b'Kuvya is disqualified since he is not Osek b'Yishuvo Shel Olam, (lit. he is not working for the settlement of the world) i.e. he is not an active member of the civilized world (Sanhedrin 24b).

17) [line 38] DON MINAH U'MINAH / DON MINAH V'UKI B'ASRAH
There are two methods that are employed by Chazal when they learn a Gezeirah Shavah (see Background to Sanhedrin 87:5) between two topics of Halachah. The first is called "Don Minah u'Minah," which means, "Judge from it and [entirely] from it," i.e. an analogy must be carried through so that the topic deduced agrees throughout with the topic from which the deduction was made. The other method is called "Don Minah v'Uki b'Asrah," which means, "Judge from it but place the deduction in its own context," i.e. let the topic deduced by analogy be regulated by the rules that are appropriate to that topic itself.

18) [line 39] PIKADON (SHEVU'AS HA'PIKADON)
(a) If a person claims that a fellow Jew owes him money or is unjustly holding onto an item that belongs to him, the claimant has the right to force the accused to take an oath that he holds no such money. The oath that the accused takes to assert that he is not harboring someone else's money or item is called Shevu'as ha'Pikadon.
(b) If the accused later admits to his sin, he must return what he stole, pay a fine of Chomesh (a fifth of the ensuing total, or a *fourth* of the original value of the money he withheld) and bring a Korban Asham to receive atonement (Vayikra 5:20-26). However, he does not pay the fine of Chomesh, nor does he bring a Korban Asham, unless he *admits* to having sworn falsely, whether he admits before witnesses come and attest that he stole the item, or whether he admits after witnesses come. However, if witnesses testify that he swore falsely, and he does not admit to it, he does not pay a Chomesh and he does not bring a Korban Asham as atonement for his false Shevu'ah. (In certain circumstances he is even exempt from paying the principle of the item that he stole, see Background to Bava Kama 106a.)
(c) The obligation to pay a Chomesh and to bring an Asham that is incurred by swearing falsely applies whether he made a Shevu'ah due to the demand of Beis Din, who obligated him to make a Shevu'as ha'Pikadon, or whether he made a Shevu'ah, in Beis Din, on his own initiative ("Kafatz v'Nishba"), or whether he made a Shevu'ah outside of Beis Din (Bava Kama 106a).

31b---------------------------------------31b

19) [line 5] DAYO LA'BA MIN HA'DIN LIHEYOS KA'NIDON - it is sufficient to give the Halachah learned from a Kal va'Chomer the exact status of the Halachah from which it was learned.

20) [line 13] UMI'PI ACHERIM EINO CHAYAV AD SHE'YICHPOR BO B'VEIS DIN - in the instance that the litigant tried to induce him to make a Shevu'ah (but he did not answer Amen), he is not obligated [to bring a Korban] unless he denied [the fact that he holds money of the litigant] in court

21) [line 15] BEIN MI'PI ATZMO U'VEIN MI'PI ACHERIM KEIVAN SHE'KAFAR BO CHAYAV - whether he made the Shevu'ah of his own volition (answering Amen to the inducement of a Shevu'ah is considered like making a Shevu'ah) or the litigant tried to induce him to make a Shevu'ah (but he did not answer Amen), as long as he denies [the fact that he holds money of the litigant] (whether he made the denial in Beis Din or not) he is obligated [to bring a Korban]

22) [line 40] HO'IL V'EINAM YECHOLIN LACHZOR UL'HODOS - since they are not able to retract and admit [that they swore falsely] (KEIVAN SHE'HIGID SHUV EINO CHOZER U'MAGID)
Once a witness has testified, he cannot retract and testify again about the same event. As such, when the witnesses swear in court that they do not know any testimony, any subsequent Shevu'os are irrelevant. Therefore, if they later admit that the Shevu'os are false, they will only be obligated to bring one Korban, for the first Shevu'ah.

23) [line 41] B'ZEH ACHAR ZEH, HA'RISHON CHAYAV VEHA'SHENI PATUR - when they testify one after the other (after "Toch Kedei Dibur" of the previous witness) the first [witness] is obligated [in a Korban Shevu'ah] and the second [witness] is exempt (SHEVU'AH: ED ECHAD)
(a) Beis Din may not extract money in a court cased based upon the testimony of a solitary witness. The Torah states "Al Pi Shenei Edim... Yakum Davar" - "according to the testimony of two witnesses... shall a verdict be established" (Devarim 19:15). However, Chazal learn (Shevu'os 40a) that the testimony of one witness is effective to obligate the defendant to take an oath that contradicts this testimony. If the defendant does not agree to swear, Beis Din can then obligate the defendant to pay all of the liabilities to which the one witnessed testified.
(b) In our Mishnah, once the first witness has denied that he knows testimony about the case, the testimony of the second witness cannot bring about a monetary loss, and as such, his denial will not obligate him in a Korban.

24) [line 43] KITEI - groups
25) [line 47] RA'UHU SHE'RATZ ACHAREIHEN - they (the witnesses) saw him (the litigant) running after them [and they assumed that he wanted them to testify for him in court]

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