Gittin 45 - June 30, 11 Tamuz

Today's daf is sponsored by the Hadran Women of Long Island in loving memory of Professor Gene Moshe Schramm, Yochanan Moshe ben Meir v'Rivka. "Beloved father of our friend and co-learner Deena Rabinovitch. May our learning be a zechut for him. תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים" If one lives in Israel and sells a slave to someone outside of Israel, the slave goes free. Why does the buyer get penalized? If a slave runs away from his master who was living abroad to live in Israel, we force the master to free the slave in order to allow the slave to keep the mitzvot that are dependent on living in Israel. Rabbi Achai b'Rabbi Yoshaya derives in from the verse in Devarim 23:16 "lo tasgir eved el adonav."  The Gemara brings three other interpretations of this verse. Redeeming captives, sifrei Torah, mezuzot, and tefillin for more than they are worth are forbidden because of tikkun olam. What are the reasons given for this takana? The daughters of Rav Nachman were considered to be very righteous as they would stir a pot on the fire with their bare hands and not get burned. Rav Illish was taken into captivity with them and when he received a premonition from birds that he should escape, he thought to take them with him, but first wanted to check that they were really righteous. After eavesdropping on their conversation in the bathroom, he realized they were not righteous at all and therefore did not bring them with him to escape and accused them of engaging in witchcraft. Can one read from a Torah  written by a gentile or found in the possession of a gentile? The Rabbis instituted a takana that if a man divorces his wife due to suspicions about her promiscuous behavior or because of a vow she made, he is unable to remarry her. Does this depend on what type of vow she took?