Q&A: Half Slave and Half Free
Half Slave and Half Free
Question
I am studying in depth the passage in Gittin 43a about someone who is half slave and half free who betroths a woman, and likewise a woman who is half free and half maidservant who becomes betrothed, and I am having trouble understanding the discussion in the Talmud, especially the side that says betrothal takes effect in such a reality. If the assumption is that a slave and a maidservant cannot effect betrothal / become betrothed, then how can one make such a distinction regarding a person who is both? After all, every act that a half-slave and half-free person does is attributed to the whole person. It is not clear to me how the Talmud raises the possibility that he can effect betrothal, as though they split his personhood into two parts and relate to each part independently…
Answer
What is the problem? Even regarding his body itself, the Talmud in Kiddushin 6 raises the possibility of dividing it for purposes of betrothal. If his status is split, then each half has to be discussed separately. That is a straightforward legal conclusion.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t know what it means to divide an essence. There can be joint ownership over a person, and if one of the parties frees him, a shared status is created. Very simple.
You are right; my question is how, in the Talmud, they relate to each part separately for purposes of betrothal, when a person’s personhood is indivisible.
According to my understanding, the meaning of the shared status that is created is that every action is attributed to both parts, whereas the Talmud speaks of the “free side” / the “slave side,” which seems puzzling…
But that is exactly what is unclear to me—how do you divide an “essence” into two?