Se uno fosse mezzo bondman e mezzo free [come quando era il bondman di due maestri, e uno di loro lo liberava], oppure quando il suo padrone riceveva da lui metà del suo valore e ne liberava metà per quel denaro], serve il suo padrone un giorno e se stesso l'altro giorno. Queste sono le parole di Beth Hillel. Beth Shammai disse loro: "Hai 'modificato' il suo padrone, [che non perde nulla], ma non l'hai modificato!" Non può sposare una schiava, perché è mezzo libero. Non può sposare una donna libera, perché è mezzo schiavo. Non sposarsi—Il mondo non è stato creato per fecondità e moltiplicazione, vale a dire. (Isaia 45:18): "Non per nulla l'ha creato; per essere abitato l'ha formato". Piuttosto, a causa del "bene generale", il suo padrone è costretto a liberarlo, e lui (il servo) scrive una fattura del debito per metà del suo valore. [Lo stesso vale se fosse il servo di un centinaio di soci e uno di loro lo liberasse. Tutti sono costretti a liberarlo.] E Beth Hillel si è invertita per governare secondo le parole di Beth Shammai.
Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
מי שחציו עבד וחציו בן חורין – such as a slave of two partners, who was freed by one of them. Alternatively, his master received from him half of his financial worth, and freed that half on account of those funds.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Introduction
This mishnah deals with a person who is half a slave and half free. This could happen if he was owned jointly by two masters and one of his masters freed him but not the other.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
תקנתם את רבו – who is not lacking for anything
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
One who is half a slave and half free works for his master one day and for himself one day, the words of Beth Hillel. Beth Hillel seems to make a reasonable suggestion for what to do in this situation. The half-slave splits his time between working for his master and working for himself.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
לישא שפחה אינו יכול – because of the side of “freedom” within him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Beth Shammai said to them: you have set things right for the master but you have not set things right for the slave. He cannot marry a female slave because he is already half free, and he cannot marry a free woman because he is half a slave. Shall he then decease [from having children]? But wasn’t the world only made to be populated, as it says, “He did not create it as a waste, he formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18)? Rather because of tikkun olam we compel his master to emancipate him and he writes a document for half his purchase price. Beth Shammai responds in what is in my opinion one of the more remarkable statements in the Mishnah. Beth Hillel’s solution for the half slave is beneficial to his master but leaves the half slave in an untenable position. Slaves and free people cannot marry. Since this person is a half slave, he can marry neither a slave nor a free woman. However, the commandment of having children “be fruitful and multiply” applies to everyone, even slaves and half slaves. The halakhah cannot allow a situation where a person has no one to marry. The world, after all, was formed by God for it to be inhabited, and not for it to lay desolate of human beings. Therefore, because of tikkun olam, his master is forced to free him, thereby allowing him to marry a free woman. The slave merely writes a document for half of his value and owes that amount to the owner.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
בת חורין אינו יכול – because of the side of enslavement within him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Gittin
Beth Hillel retracted [their opinion and] ruled like Beth Shammai. Indeed, Beth Shammai’s argument was so compelling that Beth Hillel changed their opinion and ruled like Beth Shammai.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Gittin
כופין את רבו ועושהו בן חורין – And the same law applies if he was the slave of one-hundred partners and one of them freed him; we force all of them to free him.
