[Avodah] Refusal to pay, BM 17a

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 08:15:01AM -0500, Yitzchak Schaffer wrote:
: On Jan 11, 2011, at 14:36, Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org> wrote:
: > But he doesn't claim he already paid. He says "ein lekha beyadi kelum".
: > Then after the eidim, "chazar ve'amar" (shades of another thread), he
: > change his story.

: I don't think we're talking about the same case. I'm at the top of 17a
: seven lines down, with Rashi's peshat at DH veha-edim me'idim...
: So: no lies, no changing of stories - just recalcitrance against BD,
: which knocks out his ne'emanus.

This is the gemara Rashi discusses:
    אמר רבה בר בר חנה א"ר יוחנן מנה לי בידך והלה אומר אין לך בידי כלום
    והעדים מעידים אותו שיש לו וחזר ואמר פרעתי הוחזק כפרן לאותו ממון
To transliterate (which is hard to read for this length of text, but not
everyone can figure out how to reach a copy that has Hebrew letters:
    Amar Rabba b"b Chanah, a"R Yochanan:
    "Maneh li beyadekha"
    Vehalah omer: "Ein lekha beyadi kelum"
    Veha'eidim mei'idim oso sheyeish lo [<- Rashi's dibur hamaschil]
    Vechazar ve'amar: "parati" [<- chazar ve'amar = he changes his story]
    Huchzaq kafran le'oso mamon

I see the gemara saying that the nit'an starts out saying "I don't owe
anything" (ein lekha beyadi kelum) and then he changes it (chazar) to
"I paid the money". The story is consistent, but there is a shifting in
how much he's willing to admit to.

I think that had he actually lied, we would wonder about his neemanus
in future cases. Not sure about that. But here he didn't; he decided to
omit a fact that he later concedes (that yes, there was a loan) -- once
it comes out in testimony.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It's nice to be smart,
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