24B. The master pulled on the slave's beard and dislocated his lower jawbone. Rashi (D.H. "YOtzei Bo Lecharus") says that the bone will eventually dry up and fall off, even though "aino bitel malachto".
Does that phrase refer to preventing the slave's job or to the bone's ("aiver's") job from being performed?
I checked with a physician, and he assured me that the slave would be unable to chew. So I don't understand Rashi. Either way: the slave won't be able to eat properly; the teeth won't chew and the slave won't be able to work at full capacity.
Boruch Wolf, Baltimore, MD, USA
(1) The term "Eino Batel m'Melachto" certainly seems to mean that the organ cannot do its job. This is apparent from Rashi DH Batel who writes that the eye and tooth are considered Batel m'Melachto because the eye becomes blind or the teeth cannot chew, which suggests that it is the individual organ which becomes incapable, not necessary the slave as a whole.
(However, even if we would say that it means that the slave cannot work I am not convinced that pulling out the lower jawbone necessary constitutes this, because the Mishnah (Chulin 54a) states that even if the lower jawbone of an animal is removed it is not thereby rendered Tereifah. The Gemara (Chulin 55b) states that this refers to where the animal can be kept alive by forcing food down its throat. One sees that an animal can live at least 12 months this way, so possibly a human could live for a long time by such means also and may also be able to work quite adequately. At any rate it only affects the work ability of the slave in an indirect way, so it is probable that he would not go free because of this.)
(2) I saw in the Meiri (who is explaining the Rambam's position but this can help us to understand Rashi also) that when the jawbone is pulled out this does not cease the activity of the bone itself (presumably because it has no independent purpose as Rashi writes - "Lav Midi Havi Avid"). However it stops the teeth - which are fixed in the jawbone - from operation, as the Rambam in Hilchos Avadim 5:10 writes.
Therefore Rashi maintains that Batel m'Melachto means that an independent activity of the organ has to be abolished, which did not happen when the jawbone was dislocated. Even though this causes a situation where the teeth cannot chew, this is considered "Grama" - indirect - and is not a sufficient reason for the slave to go free.
(There is a similar concept in Rashi 21b DH Mi'et Sam, that to place an ointment on the ear which makes a hole is not sufficient for "Retzi'a" because the drug does not pierce as a direct result of the master's action, but rather works on it's own. Similarly, if the master pulls the jawbone out of place, this does not directly stop the function of the teeth, but the latter problem only develops later on.)
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