Hopefully I won’t go broke TB Gittin 38

Slavery is an evil wrong and cannot be tolerated in our modern era. Nevertheless, it was a reality in the ancient world and in the United States until 1865. Just like all other peoples, Jews owned slaves. There are two categories of slaves, Hebrew slaves who sold themselves off to pay their debts and Canaanite slaves. Each have their own set of rules.

Today’s daf TB Gittin 38 is a main source for the laws concerning Canaanite slaves. Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva disagree whether one is permitted to free a Canaanite slave. “The Sages taught: “Of them may you take your bondmen forever, (Leviticus 25:46)” is optional; this is the statement of Rabbi Yishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: It is an obligation. ” (Sefaria.org translation) Even though the halakha follows Rabbi Akiva, there are countless stories in the Talmud where rabbis freed their slaves. There is one even on our daf! “There was an incident involving Rabbi Eliezer, who entered a synagogue to pray, and he did not find a quorum of ten men, and he emancipated his slave and had him complete a quorum of ten.” (Sefaria.org translation)

A Canaanite slave had a quasi-Jewish status. He was circumcised, taken to the mikvah, and obligated to observe all the commandments that a Jewish woman had to. However, he was only permitted to marry another Canaanite slave and not a Jewish woman. Once he was emancipated, he became a full-fledged member of the Jewish people and could marry a Jewish woman. Rav and Shmuel disagree whether he needed a bill of manumission in order to marry Jewish woman. Rav said yes and Shmuel said it wasn’t necessary.

Rabba must have followed Rabbi Akiva concerning emancipating a slave when he taught that God punishes a person who does the following three things. “Rabba said: With these three matters homeowners become impoverished: That they emancipate their slaves; and that they inspect their property on Shabbat; and that they set their meals on Shabbat at the time of the sermon in the study hall, so that they miss it, as Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: There were two families in Jerusalem, one that set its meal on Shabbat and one that set its meal on the eve of Shabbat, and both of them were uprooted. One family was uprooted because they caused the suspension of Torah study, and the other was uprooted because by eating their meal on Shabbat eve, they did not properly distinguish between Shabbat and Shabbat eve.” (Sefaria.org translation)

We can appreciate why inspecting property on Shabbat is an inappropriate activity. It sends the message that his property is more important than the observance of Shabbat. We can also understand the rabbis self-serving proclamation listening to a sermon should take priority over running home to eat a meal on Shabbat. (I don’t have to worry about leaving before the sermon, since I often give the sermon.) But what’s so bad about eating a meal on the eve of (Erev) Shabbat?

Rashi provides to different answers. If one has a big meal Friday night, he will by necessity have a smaller meal Saturday afternoon when the essence of honoring the Shabbat should be observed. Alternately, by having a big meal Friday afternoon, the person won’t enter Shabbat with an appetite. There is also other concerns that other commentators have. By having a big meal Friday afternoon, the person won’t have time to set a Shabbat table in honor of Shabbat. (Ramban) By eating and concluding the meal before Shabbat, the person would not have fulfilled the mitzvah of kiddush since kiddush has to be accompanied by a meal. (Shita Mekubetzet)

During the summertime when Shabbat began so late, we don’t like to eat such a late supper. We will eat dinner 1 ½ hours before I go to services. Services last approximately an hour. When I come home we observe all the Shabbat rituals singing Shalom Aleichem and Eishet Hayil, reciting kiddush over the wine and motzi over the hallah. Then we eat the best part of dinner-dessert! Afterwards I recite Grace after meals. We always have a good meal Shabbat afternoon thanks to our synagogue’s kiddush luncheon. Hopefully we satisfy all the potential stumbling blocks that Rabba warned about.