We continue our discussion of the status of property that comes to a woman as an inheritance and becomes melog property, and how it is to be handled.
Elderly slaves and maidservants that she inherited:
The Mishnah opens: "Naflu lah avadim ushfachos zekenim" - a woman who inherited slaves and maidservants who have already grown old. Since they are elderly, their value is limited in terms of the produce they are able to generate, and there is even a concern that they may die. Consequently, they offer the husband little benefit in terms of consuming the produce. The Mishnah therefore rules: "Yimacheru" - they are to be sold to whoever is willing to buy them; "velakach bahen karka" - with the money received, land, a field, is purchased; "ve'achal peiros" - and the husband consumes the produce of that land.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel disagrees and holds: "Lo timkor, mipnei shehi shevach beis aviha" - they are not to be sold, because they are the pride of her father's house. These slaves and maidservants are a sort of family asset bound up with her father's house, and one does not part with such a thing casually. They must therefore be retained as they are, and whatever they produce, they produce.
Elderly olive trees and vines:
The Mishnah continues: "Naflu lah zeisim ugefanim zekenim" - she inherited olive trees or vines that have grown old and no longer yield much of a crop. The law is: "Yimacheru le'etzim" - they are sold for lumber; "velakach bahen karka" - and with the proceeds land is purchased; "ve'achal peiros" - and the husband consumes its produce. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees, along the same lines as Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel regarding the slaves, and says: "Lo timkor, shehi shevach beis aviha" - they are like a family inheritance, and they are not to be sold.
The Gemara narrows the scope of the dispute:
In a field that is not hers: when the olive trees and vines are planted in another person's field, that is where the Tannaim disagree.
In a field that is hers: all agree that they are not to be sold, since they are considered the pride of her father's house.
The husband's expenditures on his wife's property:
The Mishnah discusses a man who laid out expenses on his wife's property, that is, he invested money in improving her melog property, and afterward the marriage ended and he divorced her. In such a case we do not enter into precise accounting: whether he spent much and consumed little of the produce, or spent little and consumed much - "mah shehotzi hotzi, umah she'achal achal". We do not calculate whether he should be reimbursed the amount of his expenses, or whether she is entitled to compensation because his investment was small. As long as he spent money and also consumed produce, the two are treated as offsetting one another, whatever the amounts may be.
But if "hotzi velo achal" - he invested money in improvement and consumed none of the produce at all, and now they are divorcing - the law is "yishava kamah hotzi veyitol": he must swear how much he spent, and collect that sum from the property.
The Gemara qualifies this ruling and defines it in the following ways:
When the improvement equals the expenditure or exceeds it: the husband swears how much he spent and collects the full amount of his expenses.
When the expenditure exceeds the improvement: he does not collect everything he spent, but only the value of the improvement - according to how much the property's value actually rose.
In summary: we learned that elderly slaves and maidservants that come to a woman are sold, land is bought with the proceeds, and the husband consumes its produce, while Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel disagrees on the grounds of the pride of her father's house; the same law applies to elderly olive trees and vines, which are sold for lumber, and Rabbi Yehudah disagrees - and their dispute is specifically where they are planted in a field that is not hers, but in a field that is hers all agree that they are not to be sold. We also learned regarding expenditures: when he spent and consumed - what he spent, he spent, and what he consumed, he consumed; and when he spent and did not consume - he swears and collects, provided that he does not collect more than the value of the improvement.