„[Określenie] wieku zależy od przedmiotu przysięgi” - jak to możliwe? Jeśli dziecko oceniało starca, musi zapłacić wartość starca, ale jeśli stary ocenił dziecko, musi zapłacić wartość dziecka. „[Płeć do] ocen jest zgodna z przedmiotem oceny” - jak to? Jeśli mężczyzna ocenił kobietę, to musiał zapłacić wartość kobiecie; ale jeśli kobieta oceniła mężczyznę , musi zapłacić wartość mężczyźnie. „[Wiek] ocen [jest określony] w czasie oceny” - jak to? Jeśli ocenił kogoś, kto miał mniej niż pięć lat i [w międzyczasie] stał się starszy niż pięć lat, lub jeśli [ocenił jednego], który miał mniej niż dwadzieścia lat i miał dwadzieścia lat, musi płacić [tylko] zgodnie z wiekiem w momencie oceny. Uważa się, że trzydziesty dzień jest poniżej tego wieku. Uważa się, że piąty lub dwudziesty rok życia jest poniżej tego wieku. Mówi bowiem: „A jeśli on ma sześćdziesiąt lat wzwyż” (Księga Kapłańska 27: 7), w ten sposób uczymy się o wszystkich innych od około sześćdziesięciu lat: podobnie jak sześćdziesiąty rok jest uważany za poniżej tego wiek, więc również piąty i dwudziesty rok są poniżej tego wieku. [Ale] czy tak jest? Tylko dlatego, że [Tora] podaje, że sześćdziesiąty rok jest poniżej tego wieku, a przez to jest bardziej rygorystyczny, czy powinniśmy uznać, że piąty lub dwudziesty rok jest poniżej tego wieku, aby być łagodnym ?! Pismo mówi „rok”, „rok” jako gezerah szawa [technika interpretacji halachicznej wykorzystująca ustalony związek między identycznymi lub prawie identycznymi słowami]: tak jak w sześćdziesiątym roku słowo „rok” oznacza, że jest rozważane w ramach tego wiek, więc słowo „rok” z piątym i dwudziestym rokiem jest uważane za poniżej tego wieku, niezależnie od tego, czy [skutkuje to] łagodnością, czy surowością. Rabin Elazar mówi: [ta reguła jest prawdą] dopóki nie minie miesiąc i dzień poza rokiem.
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
ילד – (who pledged the valuation of an elder) from age twenty until age sixty, for his value is fifty Shekel.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Introduction
Today’s mishnah, the final mishnah of chapter four, explains the sections of mishnah one that have not yet been explained.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
נותן כזמן הערך – as it is written (Leviticus 27:17): “[If he consecrates his land as of the jubilee year,] its assessment stands,” he does not give other than according to the time of the valuation.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
“And the age is according to the subject of the vow:” How so? If a child evaluates an old man, he must pay the value of an old man. And if an old man evaluates a child he must pay the value of a child. The amount owed is reckoned according to the person whose value was vowed, and not according to the age of the vower.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
יום שלשים כלמטה – if he stated that the valuation of so-and-so a minor child is upon me, and that minor was on that day was thirty [days old], it is like it is below that, and he did not say anything, for there is no valuation for less than a month [old], and thus it is written (Leviticus 27:6): “If the age is from one month [to five years, the equivalent for a male is five shekels of silver, and the equivalent for a female is three shekels of silver].”
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
The evaluation is according to the subject of the evaluation. How so? If a man evaluated a woman, he must pay the value of a woman. And if a woman evaluated a man, she must pay the value of a man. Similarly, the gender is determined by the one whose value is being vowed and not the gender of the vower.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
מבן ששים שנה ומעלה – implying that the sixtieth year was completed, and then he is judged like someone sixty [years old], but in the sixtieth year, he is judged as a child.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
“And the evaluations [shall be paid according to the rate prescribed] at the time of the evaluation.” How so? If he evaluated one who was less than five years of age, and he became [meantime] older than five years of age, or if [he evaluated one] who was less than twenty years of age and he became twenty years old, he must pay [only] in accord with the age at the time of the valuation. The value of a person is determined partly by age (and partly by gender). When we determine his age we determine it according to his/her age at the time the vow was made, and not at the time that the vow is paid off.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
הן אם עשינו – in astonishment. Meaning to say, and if this the case, if we made the sixtieth [year] like it is lower than this to be stringent for a valuation of an adult one should lessen from athe age of sixty for fifty Sela, but for someone older than age sixty, it is not other than fifteen [Sela].
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
The thirtieth day is considered to be under this age. The fifth year or twentieth year is considered to be under this age. The rest of the mishnah states that the day that someone reaches a certain age, thirty days, five years, twenty years or sixty years, is not yet counted with the older age. Thus a kid who just turns thirty days does not yet have any value (value begins at thirty days). A kid who just turned five, still counts as a kid between the age of thirty days and five years.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
כלמטה ממנה להקל – that the valuation is more for someone who is twenty years old, an adult who is a less than twenty years, old, and similarly, with someone who is five [years old]. As it is written in Biblical verses.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
For it says: “And if he is from sixty years old and upward” (Leviticus 27:7), thus we can learn thus with regard to all others from what is said about sixty years: just as the sixtieth year is considered to be under this age, so also the fifth and twentieth years are under this age. The mishnah proves that the day of the birthday counts with the lower age by quoting the verse concerning the sixty year old. Since the Torah says that he is above sixty years, the implication is that one who is exactly sixty years still pays the higher amount of a person from 20-60.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Arakhin
רבי אליעזר אומר (the foregoing applies so long as they are a month and a day more than the years [which are prescribed]) - Always the fifth year and the twentieth year and the sixtieth year are like less than that age. That we derive from an analogy comparing from the usage of the word "למעלה" and "למעלה". It is stated here (Leviticus 27:7): “If the age is sixty years or over/מבן-ששים שנה ומעלה, [the equivalent is fifteen shekels in the case of a male and ten shekels for a female],” and it is stated (Numbers 18:16): “Take as their redemption price from the age of one month up/ופדויו מבן חודש ומעלה [the money equivalent of five shekels by the sanctuary weight which is twenty gerahs],” just as there it is it is one month and one day, for a firstling is not redeemed any younger than from one month and one day, so even here, until he adds on to the sixty months and one day. And the fifth year and the twentieth year we derive from an analogy – שנה שנה /a year, a year (see the Mishnah), from the sixtieth year, as the first Tanna/teacher derives above, but the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Is that so! Just because [the Torah] accounts the sixtieth year to be under this age, thereby being more stringent, shall we make the fifth or the twentieth year be considered under this age, in order to be lenient? The mishnah now critiques its own midrash. Treating a sixty year old as still belonging to the younger category creates a stringency his value is 50 and not 15. But treating a 5 year old or a 20 year in the younger category creates a leniency since the younger ages have lower values. The mishnah says that just because we treat a sixty year old as being in the younger category does not mean that we would necessarily treat 5 and 20 year olds as being in the younger category.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Scripture says, “Years,” “years” as a gezerah shavah: just as with the sixtieth year the word “years” means that it is considered under this age, so the word “years” with the fifth and with the twentieth year are considered under this age, whether this results in being lenient or being stringent. The mishnah now brings another midrash to defend the halakhah that we always treat a person on the day of the birthday as if he still belongs to the previous age category. This is done with a technique called a “gezerah shavah”. What this technique consists of is taking a law from one situation and applying it to another because the Torah uses the same word in both situations. In our case the word is “years” and it is used in connection to one who turns 60 and one who turns 5 and 20. Since it is used in both connections, the same halakhah applies to both.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Arakhin
Rabbi Elazar says: [this rule holds good] until they are a month and a day beyond the year. Rabbi Elazar extends the halakhah even further. A person doesn’t enter the new category until he is one month and one day into that category. For instance, one who is 60 doesn’t go down in value to 15 shekels until he is 60, one month and one day.
