Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : there shall be no needy among you” (Deuteronomy 15:4). This verse can be understood as a command, indicating that it is incumbent upon each individual to ensure that he will not become needy. Therefore, your assets take precedence over the assets of any other person.
לֹא יִהְיֶה בְּךָ אֶבְיוֹן״ – שֶׁלְּךָ קוֹדֵם לְשֶׁל כׇּל אָדָם,
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara concludes: Rather, the verse is necessary to derive the exemption from returning the lost item in the case where he was an elderly person and it is not in keeping with his dignity to tend to the item.
אֶלָּא לְזָקֵן וְאֵינָהּ לְפִי כְּבוֹדוֹ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rabba says: If there was a lost animal and the elderly person began the process of returning it, e.g., if he struck it even once to guide it in a certain direction, he is obligated to tend to it and return it. The Gemara relates: Abaye was sitting before Rabba and saw these goats standing nearby. He picked up a clod of dirt and threw it at them, causing them to move. Rabba said to him: You have thereby obligated yourself to return them. Arise and return them to their owner.
אָמַר רַבָּה: הִכִּישָׁהּ – חַיָּיב בָּהּ. אַבָּיֵי הֲוָה יָתֵיב קַמֵּיהּ דְּרַבָּה, חֲזָא לְהָנָךְ עִיזֵּי דְּקָיְימוּ, שְׁקַל קָלָא וּשְׁדָא בְּהוּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אִיחַיַּיבְתְּ בְּהוּ, קוּם אַהְדְּרִינְהוּ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : A dilemma was raised before the Sages: In a case of a person for whom it is his typical manner to return an item of that type in the field, where there are fewer onlookers, but it is not his typical manner to return an item of that type in the city, what is the halakha? Do we say that for one to be obligated to return a lost item we need an unequivocal obligation to return it that applies in all cases, and since it is not his typical manner to return an item of that sort in the city, let him not be obligated to return such an item at all? Or perhaps, he is obligated in any event to return the item in the field, and once he is obligated to return it in the field, he is also obligated in the city. The Gemara concludes: The dilemma shall stand unresolved.
אִיבַּעְיָא לְהוּ: דַּרְכּוֹ לְהַחְזִיר בַּשָּׂדֶה, וְאֵין דַּרְכּוֹ לְהַחְזִיר בָּעִיר, מַהוּ? מִי אָמְרִינַן הֲשָׁבָה מְעַלְּיָא בָּעֵינַן, וְכֵיוָן דְּלָאו דַּרְכֵּיהּ לְהַחְזִיר בָּעִיר – לָא לִחַיַּיב? אוֹ דִלְמָא בַּשָּׂדֶה מִיהַת הוּא דְּאִיחַיַּיב לֵיהּ, וְכֵיוָן דְּאִיחַיַּיב עֲלֵיהּ בַּשָּׂדֶה – אִיחַיַּיב לֵיהּ בָּעִיר? תֵּיקוּ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rava says: In any case where he would recover his own item and would consider it to be in keeping with his dignity, he is also obligated to return another’s item. And any case where he unloads and loads his own animal’s burden, he is also obligated to unload and load the burden of another’s animal.
אָמַר רָבָא: כֹּל שֶׁבְּשֶׁלּוֹ מַחְזִיר, בְּשֶׁל חֲבֵירוֹ נָמֵי מַחְזִיר. וְכֹל שֶׁבְּשֶׁלּוֹ פּוֹרֵק וְטוֹעֵן, בְּשֶׁל חֲבֵירוֹ נָמֵי פּוֹרֵק וְטוֹעֵן.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara relates: Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, was walking on the road. A certain man encountered him, and that man was carrying a burden that consisted of sticks of wood. He set down the wood and was resting. The man said to him: Lift them for me and place them upon me. Since it was not in keeping with the dignity of Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, to lift the wood, Rabbi Yishmael said to him: How much are they worth? The man said to him: A half-dinar. Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, gave him a half-dinar, took possession of the wood, and declared the wood ownerless.
רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי הֲוָה קָאָזֵיל בְּאוֹרְחָא, פְּגַע בֵּיהּ הָהוּא גַּבְרָא, הֲוָה דָּרֵי פִּתְכָּא דְאוֹפֵי, אוֹתְבִינְהוּ וְקָא מִיתְּפַח, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: דְּלִי לִי, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: כַּמָּה שָׁוִין? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: פַּלְגָא דְזוּזָא, יְהַיב לֵיהּ פַּלְגָא דְזוּזָא וְאַפְקְרֵהּ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The man then reacquired the wood and again requested that Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, lift the wood for him. Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, again gave him a half-dinar, again took possession of the wood, and again declared the wood ownerless. He then saw that the man desired to reacquire the sticks of wood. Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, said to him: I declared the sticks of wood ownerless with regard to everyone else, but I did not declare them ownerless with regard to you.
הֲדַר זְכָה בְּהוּ, הֲדַר יְהַיב לֵיהּ פַּלְגָא דְזוּזָא וְאַפְקְרֵהּ. חַזְיֵיהּ דַּהֲוָה קָא בָּעֵי לְמֶיהְדַּר לְמִזְכֵּיה בְּהוּ, אֲמַר לֵיהּ: לְכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא אַפְקַרְ[תִּי]נְהוּ וְלָךְ לָא אַפְקַרְ[תִּי]נְהוּ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara asks: But is property rendered ownerless in a case like this? But didn’t we learn in a mishna (Pe’a 6:1) that Beit Shammai say: Property declared ownerless for the poor is thereby rendered ownerless. And Beit Hillel say: It is not ownerless, until the property will be ownerless for the poor and for the rich, like produce during the Sabbatical Year, which is available for all. As the halakha is in accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel, how could Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, declare the wood ownerless selectively, excluding the prior owner of the wood?
וּמִי הָוֵי הֶפְקֵר כִּי הַאי גַוְונָא? וְהָתְנַן, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: הֶפְקֵר לַעֲנִיִּים – הֶפְקֵר. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים: אֵינוֹ הֶפְקֵר עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא הֶפְקֵר לַעֲנִיִּים וְלַעֲשִׁירִים, כִּשְׁמִיטָּה.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : Rather, Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, actually declared the wood ownerless to everyone without exception, and it was with a mere statement that he prevented him from reacquiring the wood, i.e., he told the man not to reacquire the wood even though there was no legal impediment to that reacquisition.
אֶלָּא רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי לְכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא אַפְקְרִינְהוּ, וּבְמִלְּתָא בְּעָלְמָא הוּא דְּאוֹקְמֵיהּ.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara asks: But wasn’t Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, an elderly person and it was not in keeping with his dignity to tend to the item? Why did he purchase the wood and render it ownerless in order to absolve himself of the obligation to lift the burden if he had no obligation to do so in the first place? The Gemara answers: In the case of Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, he conducted himself beyond the letter of the law, and he could have simply refused the request for help.
וְהָא רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי זָקֵן וְאֵינָהּ לְפִי כְבוֹדוֹ הֲוָה! רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּרַבִּי יוֹסֵי לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין הוּא דַּעֲבַד.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara cites a source for going beyond the letter of the law in the performance of mitzvot. As Rav Yosef taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “And you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the path wherein they shall walk and the action that they must perform” (Exodus 18:20). The baraita parses the various directives in the verse. “And you shall teach them,” that is referring to the structure of their livelihood, i.e., teach the Jewish people trades so that they may earn a living; “the path,” that is referring to acts of kindness; “they shall walk,” that is referring to visiting the ill; “wherein,” that is referring to burial; “and the action,” that is referring to acting in accordance with the letter of the law; “that they must perform,” that is referring to acting beyond the letter of the law.
דְּתָנֵי רַב יוֹסֵף: ״וְהוֹדַעְתָּ לָהֶם״ – זֶה בֵּית חַיֵּיהֶם, ״אֶת הַדֶּרֶךְ״ – זוֹ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים, ״אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ״ – זֶה בִּיקּוּר חוֹלִים, ״בָּהּ״ – זוֹ קְבוּרָה, ״וְאֶת הַמַּעֲשֶׂה״ – זֶה הַדִּין, ״אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּן״ – זוֹ לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין.
Traduction française en préparation — version anglaise (Steinsaltz) : The Gemara analyzes the baraita. The Master said: With regard to the phrase “they shall walk,” that is referring to visiting the ill. The Gemara asks: That is a detail of acts of kindness; why does the baraita list it separately? The Gemara answers: The reference to visiting the ill is necessary only for the contemporary of the ill person, as the Master said: When one who is a contemporary of an ill person visits him, he takes one-sixtieth of his illness. Since visiting an ill contemporary involves contracting a bit of his illness, a special derivation is necessary to teach that even so, he is required to go and visit him.
אָמַר מָר: ״אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ״ – זֶה בִּיקּוּר חוֹלִים, הַיְינוּ גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים! לֹא נִצְרְכָה אֶלָּא לְבֶן גִּילוֹ, דְּאָמַר מָר: בֶּן גִּילוֹ נוֹטֵל אֶחָד מִשִּׁשִּׁים בְּחׇלְיוֹ, וַאֲפִילּוּ הָכִי מִבְּעֵי לֵיהּ לְמֵיזַל לְגַבֵּיהּ.