[Avodah] poalav vchamara

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Aug 27, 2025 at 05:48:08PM -0400, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> The gemara sometimes refers to poalav v'chamarav (see avoda zara 63a). Is
> this just a common expression or is there a possible halachic difference
> between a worker and a donkey driver?

Just guessing:

A po'el is paid per hour.

The usual person who is paid per job is the uman, but that means an
artisan. The implication of the word is higher class than unskilled
labor.

A chamar is paid per task, but without that impllication.

What sparked this idea was when I noticed that so many places in gemara
that my search found the idiom "po'alav vechamarav" have similar comments
by Rashi. Something about the din under discussion is because of their
being amei ha'aretz or possibly even ovedei AZ.

So I think chamarav is simply an uneducated person who is paid by job,
so that noone thinks "po'alav" is being used to refer to people paid by
time, for some reason.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Weeds are flowers too
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