for the betterment of the world, so as not to cause an increase in the theft of sacred Jewish ritual objects in order to sell them for large sums of money.

GEMARA: Rav Budya said to Rav Ashi that one could infer the following from the mishna: It is for more than their actual monetary value that one may not purchase them; however, for their precise value, one may purchase them. Can one learn from the mishna that with regard to a Torah scroll that is found in the possession of a gentile, one can read from it after obtaining it from the gentile, and there is no concern that perhaps the gentile wrote it and it is unfit? Rav Ashi answered: Perhaps this does not mean that the Torah scroll is purchased in order to read from it, but rather in order to inter it and not to use it; however, it is nevertheless purchased so that it will not be desecrated by the gentiles.

Rav Naḥman says: We have a tradition that a Torah scroll that was written by a heretic should be burned; a Torah scroll written by a gentile should be interred; a Torah scroll found in the possession of a heretic, and it is not clear who wrote it, should be interred. With regard to a Torah scroll found in the possession of a gentile, some say it should be interred and some say that one may read from it.

The Gemara asks: With regard to a Torah scroll that was written by a gentile, it is taught in one baraita: It should be burned, and it is taught in another baraita: It should be interred, and it is taught in another baraita: One may read from it. There is a three-fold contradiction concerning the halakha of a Torah scroll written by a gentile.

The Gemara explains: This is not difficult: That which is taught in a baraita, that it should be burned, is the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer, who says: The unspecified intentions of a gentile are for idol worship, and therefore everything he wrote is assumed to be written for the sake of idolatrous worship and must be burned.

And that which is taught in a baraita, which said that it should be interred, is the opinion of this tanna, as Rav Hamnuna, son of Rava of Pashronya, taught: A Torah scroll, phylacteries, or mezuzot that were written by a heretic or an informer, a gentile or a slave, a woman or a minor, or a Samaritan or a Jewish apostate, are unfit, as it is stated: “And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand…and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house” (Deuteronomy 6:8–9). From this juxtaposition, one can derive the following: Anyone who is included in the mitzva of binding the phylacteries, i.e., one who is both obligated and performs the mitzva, is included in the class of people who may write Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot; but anyone who is not included in the mitzva of binding is not included in the class of people who may write sacred texts. This baraita equates the halakha of a Torah scroll written by a gentile to the halakha of Torah scrolls written by these other types of people, which are interred.

And concerning that which is taught in a baraita, i.e., that one may read from it, that baraita is in accordance with the opinion of this following tanna, as it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta, Avoda Zara 3:6): One may purchase Torah scrolls from gentiles in any location, provided that they are written in accordance with their halakhot. And there was an incident involving a gentile in Tzaidan who would write Torah scrolls, and Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel permitted the Jews to purchase the Torah scrolls from him.

The Gemara asks: And does Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel require that the preparation of the parchment of Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot be for their sake, i.e., for the sake of their use in a mitzva, but he does not require that the writing be for their sake?

The Gemara quotes the source that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel requires that the parchment be prepared for their sake: As it is taught in a baraita: If one took phylacteries and coated them with gold or patched them with the skin of a non-kosher animal, then they are unfit. However, if one patched them with the skin of a kosher animal, then they are fit, and this is so even though he did not prepare them, i.e., the skin, for their sake, i.e., for the sake of their use in a mitzva. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even if he patched them with the skin of a kosher animal they are unfit, until he prepares them for their sake. Being that he holds that the parchment needs to be prepared for their sake, their actual writing should certainly be done for their sake.

Rabba bar Shmuel says: That incident in Tzaidan involved a convert who returned to his previous corrupt ways [suro] by reverting to living like a gentile. He nevertheless remains a Jew. The Gemara asks: If he returned to his previous corrupt ways all the more so should the Torah scroll be rendered unfit, as he is a heretic. Once he learns the Jewish faith and abandons it, he is considered a heretic. Rav Ashi says: This means that he returned to his previous corrupt ways due to fear, and not because he rejected the Jewish faith. He ceased acting like a Jew out of fear of reprisal. Since he is a Jew, it is permitted for him to read from the Torah scrolls that he writes.

§ The Gemara clarifies the halakha from the mishna that one may not purchase sacred items from a gentile for more than their actual value. The Sages taught: One may increase payment beyond their value up to a terapa’ik. The Gemara asks: What is a terapa’ik? Rav Sheshet said: It is an istera, worth one half of a dinar.

The Gemara relates: There was a certain Arab merchant woman [taya’ata] who brought a sack [ḥayeta] of phylacteries in front of Abaye. He said to her: Would you give me each pair for a date? She became full of anger, and took the phylacteries and threw them into the river because Abaye offered her such a small amount in exchange for them. Abaye said in remorse: I should not have denigrated the phylacteries so much in her presence, but rather, I should have offered to pay her their actual value.

MISHNA: A man who divorces his wife due to her bad reputation, i.e., he heard that she had committed adultery, may not remarry her, even if it becomes clear that she did not in fact commit adultery. Similarly, if one divorces his wife due to a vow that she took, and he could not live with her under the conditions of her vow, he may not remarry her. Rabbi Yehuda says: If he divorces her due to any vow that the public was aware of, he may not remarry her, but if he divorces her due to a vow that the public was not aware of, he may remarry her.

The mishna continues: Rabbi Meir says: If he divorces her due to any vow that requires investigation and dissolution by a halakhic authority, he may not remarry her, but if he divorces her due to a vow that does not require investigation and dissolution by a halakhic authority, and is dissolved even without that, he may remarry her. Rabbi Elazar said: They prohibited him from remarrying her in this case, where she stated a vow that requires dissolution by a halakhic authority, only due to that case, where she stated a vow that does not require dissolution by a halakhic authority.

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, said: There was an incident in Tzaidan involving one man who said to his wife: It is konam, i.e., it is forbidden like an offering, if I do not divorce you, and he divorced her; and the Sages permitted him to remarry her for the betterment of the world.

GEMARA: Rav Yosef bar Minyumi says that Rav Naḥman says: And the halakha stated in the mishna, which says that in certain cases a man who divorces his wife may not remarry her, is only applicable when he said to her explicitly: I am removing you from the house due to your bad reputation,