Tikkun Olam Sources: Danan

(1) [With regard to] one who sends a bill of divorce to his wife [via a messenger], and then catches up with the messenger, or sent [another] messenger after the first, and said, "The bill of divorce that I gave to you is cancelled," then it is cancelled. If the husband preceded the messenger [in getting] to the woman, or if he sent [a second] messenger, and he said to her, "The bill of divorce that I sent you is cancelled," then it is cancelled. If [he makes this statement] from, [i.e., after,] the moment that the bill of divorce reached her hands, he can no longer cancel it.

(2) At first, a man [who had already sent his wife a bill of divorce by means of a messenger] would set up a religious court in a different place [from where the wife lived] and cancel [the bill of divorce]. Rabban Gamliel the Elder enacted that they not be able to do this, due to [the need for] repairing the world [Tikkun HaOlam]. At first, a man could change his name and her name, the name of his city, or the name of her city. Rabban Gamliel the Elder enacted that one would write: "The man, So-and-so, and any other name that he has, and the woman, So-and-so, and any other name that she has," due to Tikkun HaOlam.

(3) A widow may only collect [the debt owed from her ketubah, monetary settlement payable to a married woman upon divorce or the death of her husband] from the property of orphans by [taking] an oath. They stopped imposing an oath; Rabban Gamliel the Elder enacted that she may make a vow with regard to whatever they desire, and collects her ketubah. Witnesses sign on a bill of divorce, due to Tikkun HaOlam. Hillel instituted the pruzbul [a court-issued exemption from the Sabbatical year cancellation of a personal loan] due to Tikkun HaOlam.

(4) [With regard to] a slave who was kidnapped and they ransomed him, if [he was ransomed] in order to be a slave, he may be enslaved. If [he was ransomed] to be a free man, he may not be enslaved. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: "Either way he may be enslaved." [With regard to] a slave whose master mortgaged him to others, and then freed him, the baseline law is that the slave is not obligated at all. However, due to Tikkun HaOlam they force his [second] master to free him, and [the slave must] write a document [of debt] for his money's worth to him. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: "[The slave] does not write [a debt document], rather the [original] one who freed him [does]."

(5) One who is half slave and half free-man, serves his master one day and [works for] himself one day. These are the words of Beit Hillel. Beit Shammai said to them: "You have repaired [the situation] for his master, but for himself you have not repaired it. To marry a maidservant is impossible [i.e., forbidden], for he is half-free. [To marry] a free-woman is impossible, for he is half-slave. And was not the world created for the sake of reproduction, as it says (Isaiah 45:18) "Not for emptiness did He create it, but for settlement He formed it." Rather, due to Tikkun HaOlam, we force his master and he makes him a free-man, and [the slave] writes a document [of debt] for half his value. Beit Hillel retracted and ruled in accordance with the words of Beit Shammai.

(6) [With regard to] one who sells his slave to a non-Jew or to someone outside Eretz Yisrael, [the slave automatically] goes free. We do not ransom captives for more than they are worth, due to Tikkun HaOlam. We do not help captives escape, due to Tikkun HaOlam. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: "[It is] due to the enactment of the captives. We do not buy sefarim [books of the Tanach written in holiness, on parchment, and used for personal or public study, or for reading aloud in public. Sometimes the intent is specifically Torah scrolls], tefillin, and mezuzot from the non-Jews for more than their worth, due to Tikkun HaOlam.

(7) [With regard to] one who divorced his wife due to her bad reputation, he may not remarry her. If it was because of a vow [that she made], he may not remarry her. Rabbi Yehudah says, "[In the case of] any vow that was known to the public, he may not remarry her. [But for one] that was not known to the public, he may remarry her." Rabbi Meir says, "[In the case of] any vow that required the inspection of a Sage[to determine if it can be annulled], he may not remarry her. If it does not require inspection of a Sage, he may remarry her." Rabbi Eliezer said, "This one was only prohibited due to that one. Rabbi Yossi, son of Rabbi Yehudah, said, "There was an occurrence in Sidon with one man who said to his wife, "I take a vow if I do not divorce you, and he divorced her. The rabbis allowed them to remarry, due to Tikkun HaOlam.

(8) [With regard to] one who divorces his wife because she is an aiylonit [[a woman with arrested sexual development who cannot bear children], Rabbi Yehudah says, "He may not remarry her." The Sages say, "He may remarry her." If she married someone else, and she had children with him, and she demands her ketubah [from the first husband], Rabbi Yehudah says, "We say to her, 'Your silence is better than your speaking.'"

(9) [With regard to] one who sells himself and his children to a non-Jew, we do not redeem him. But we redeem the children after the death of their father. [With regard to] one who sells his field to a non-Jew, and a Jew buys it back from him, the buyer brings the first fruits from it, due to Tikkun HaOlam.

(1) The Sabbatical year cancels a loan [that was made] with a contract and [a loan that was made] without a contract. Store credit is not cancelled, but if it was made into a loan, it is canceled. Rabbi Yehudah says, the previous [of each subsequent purchase on credit] is cancelled. Wages owed to a worker are not canceled, but if it was made into a loan, it is canceled. Rabbi Yossi says, any type of work which must pause during the Sabbatical year, [wages owed for that work] are cancelled. But any work which need not pause during the Sabbatical year, [wages owed for that work] are not canceled.

(2) If one slaughters a cow and distributes it [to others] on [the post-Sabbatical] Rosh Hashanah [New Year's festival], if the [previous] month was full then [the debt owed the slaughterer is] canceled. [The fines for] rape, seduction, Motzi Shem Ra [husband who falsely accuses his bride of not having been a virgin], and any judicial court matter are not canceled. One who lends on collateral, and one who entrusts his contracts to the judicial court, [those loans] are not canceled.

(3) [Any loan made with a] Pruzbul [court exemption from the Sabbatical year cancellation of a loan] is not canceled. This is one of the matters that Hillel the elder instituted. When he observed that the nation withheld from lending to each other and were transgressing what is written in the Torah (Deuteronomy 15:9): "Beware lest there be in your mind a base thought," he instituted the Pruzbul.

(4) This is the body of the Pruzbul: "I entrust to you, so-and-so and so-and-so, who judge in such-and-such place, that any loan that I have, I may collect it any time that I wish." And the judges affix their signatures below, or the witnesses.

(5) A predated Pruzbul is effective, but a postdated one is ineffective. Loan-documents which are predated are ineffective, but postdated ones are effective. If one borrows from five different people, a Pruzbul must be written for each [of the lenders] individually. If five borrow from one person, only one Pruzbul may be written for all of them.

(6) A Pruzbul must be written with land [as collateral]. If he [the borrower] does not own [land], he [the lender] should give him [the borrower] any amount from his field. If he has a field under lien in a city; a Pruzbul may be written with it. Rabbi Chutzpit says, we may write one for a man with the property of his wife [as collateral]; or for orphans with the property of their guardian.

(7) A beehive, says Rabbi Eliezer, is like land, and one may write a Pruzbul upon it, and it does not contract impurity in its place, and one who detaches [honey] from it on Shabbat is liable. The Rabbis say it is not like land and one may not write a Pruzbul upon it, and it does contract impurity in its place, and one who detaches [honey] from it on Shabbat is exempt.

(8) If [a borrower] returns the loan during the Sabbatical year, [the lender] should say to him, "I cancel the debt." If [the borrower] says, "nevertheless," the lender may accept it from him, as it says (Deuteronomy 15:2), "This is the word of the Sabbatical." Similarly, a murderer who is exiled to an Ir Miklat [city of refuge for accidental murderers], and the inhabitants of the city wish to accord him honor; he should say to them, "I am a murderer." If they say, "nevertheless," he may accept it from them, as it says, "This is the word of the murderer."

(9) One who returns the loan during the Sabbatical year, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him. One who borrows from a convert whose family converted with him, need not repay his children. But if he did repay, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him. All movable property is acquired through taking physical possession, but anyone who fulfills his word, the spirit of the Sages is pleased by him.

And God made the expanse, and it separated the water that was below the expanse from the water that was above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’ And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.’ (Genesis 1:7-8) Why is it that ‘it was good’ is not written in connection with the second day?....Rabbi Chanina said, ‘Because on that day, a schism was created, as it is written, ‘let it divide the waters.’ R. Tavyomi said, ‘If because of a division made l’taken olam and to stabilize it, ‘it was good’ is not written in connection with that day, how much more so should this apply to a schism that leads to the confusion of the world.’...

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