This daf continues the halakhic discussion of betrothal using money forgiven from a loan. As we explained on Daf 46, a woman cannot be betrothed by allowing her to keep money she had previously borrowed. This is because the marriage bond needs to be effectuated via a transfer of a tangible object. The loan is not tangible, and even if the money was not spent and thus still tangible, the transfer of money to her domain occurred as a loan, and not an exchange for marriage.

An interesting application of this concept is that most poskim rule that one cannot fulfill the obligation of Mishloach Manos on Purim by forgiving a debt, even if we imagine that the debt was in tangible food items. Here too, though the person is getting something, the transfer of tangible food objects was prior to the act of Mishloach Manos. The mitzvah is to give a food gift to a friend, and here, though food was not given as a gift, there was merely the canceling of an obligation to return loaned food items. (For more about loans and Mishloach Manos, see ( click here))

Interestingly, there is one instance of non-tangible material that may be considered Mishloach Manos, and this is in regard to Chiddushei Torah. This is not some derash, but actually something seriously considered by some poskim, as Torah is compared to food (see Kol Bo 52:10 and Shir Hashirim 4:11, and Nitey Gavriel, Hilchos Purim 28, where he lists a number of authorities who sought to fulfill Mishloach Manos in the additional dimension of Torah). Rav Zinner adds a clever melitzah and remez from the verse in Esther (3:13), “And send Sefarim”, hinting that Sefarim can be sent as Mishloach Manos. It is notable that Zohar (Vayikra 94 and 95) implies that Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai fulfilled Seudah Shelishis via “consuming” divrei Torah (actually Ma’aseh Merkava) on Shabbos Erev Pesach, where the obligation for Seudas Shabbos and not eating a meal too close to the seder conflict with each other.

On a practical halakhic level, I seriously doubt that chidushei Torah can substitute for Mishloach Manos. However, the soul definitely needs to be fed.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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