In the times of the Mishnah, a donkey was used for two different purposes. It was used to ride on, and it was also used to carry burdens. The main thing that a donkey did was to ride people around. It was used as a mode of transportation. A secondary purpose was to carry burdens on its back and take items from one place to another.
The question becomes: when a donkey is sold, what is included in the sale? We’re going to see that all of the opinions in the following Mishnah say that the gear needed for riding on top of the hamor (donkey) is included in the sale. It’s considered to be an essential part of the donkey. Therefore, the saddle that goes on it is included in the sale. The question becomes: what about the gear needed for the donkey to carry items—a sack or saddlebags? Are those included in the sale?
We’ll have a three-way machloket (dispute) in this Mishnah. The Mishnah says: “Somebody sells a donkey; he has not sold the carrying gear with it.” The items that the donkey needs to carry items on its back are not included in the sale. Even if the donkey was wearing these items at the time of the sale, according to Tanna Kamma (first tanna) over here, the donkey is mainly used for riding. Therefore, the carrying gear is not an essential component of the donkey, and it’s not included in the sale.
Second opinion: Nachum HaMadi omer (says), “If somebody sells a donkey, if the carrying gear is on the donkey at the time of the sale, then the carrying gear is part of the sale.” If the donkey was not wearing the carrying gear, then even Nachum HaMadi would say that it is not included in the sale.
The third opinion here, Rabbi Yehuda, is going to sort of be a hybrid. He’s going to agree with Tanna Kamma that the carrying gear is not included, even if the animal was carrying it. But there is a unique circumstance where the carrying gear would be included in the sale. Rabbi Yehuda omer: according to Rabbi Yehuda, there are times when the carrying gear is sold with the animal, and there are times when it is not. What’s the situation? If there was a donkey standing in front of the buyer, and that donkey was wearing the carrying gear, and the buyer told the seller, “Sell me this donkey of yours,” we say that the carrying gear is included. The carrying gear would be included since the buyer threw in the extra word over here. Rabbi Yehuda omer, “Sell me this donkey.” That word zeh, which means this is extra. He could have simply said, “Sell me your donkey.” So that extra word is him trying to specify that he wants it as is. He wants it with the carrying gear that the animal is wearing included.
But if the buyer saw the donkey and asked the seller, “Is this your donkey?” and was told in the affirmative, and then bought it, the carrying gear would not be included in the sale. Even if the donkey was wearing the carrying gear at the time of the sale, it would not be included.