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Week 108 - Monday - 17 December 2001

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 1

One who sells produce to his fellow and it did not grow, even flax seed - he is not responsible. Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel says: For garden seeds which are not eaten - he is responsible.

Kehati

One who sells produce to his fellow - without specifying if this is meant to be eaten or sown, and the buyer then planted them, and it did not grow -The seller can claim he sold the produce to be eaten, and there is no erroneous sale, even flax seed - which most people sow rather than eat; since, however, some do eat it, he is not responsible - because in financial questions we do not follow the majority (in this case, who sow rather than eat such seeds), so the seller can claim he sold the seeds as food.

Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel says: For garden seeds which are not eaten - Seeds which are not fit to be eaten, even if they were bought without any specification as to use and the buyer then planted them, he is responsible - It is an erroneous sale, for the seeds were obviously sold to be planted. The First Tanna also agrees with this, but he holds that all the seller must refund is the price of the seed, whereas according to R. Shimon b. Gamliel he must refund the entire loss sustained by the buyer. The halakhah does not follow Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel (Rambam in his explanation of this mishnah). Others (according to the Gemara) explain this entire mishnah as being in accordance with Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel, and this is their version of the text: "One who sold produce to his fellow and it did not grow, even flax seeds, he is not responsible; but for garden seeds that are not eaten, he is responsible; these are the words of Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel, for Rabban Shimon b. Gamliel says: for garden seeds which are not eaten he is responsible"(Rashbam; Bartenura).

BAVA BATRA: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 2

One who sells produce to his fellow, he accepts upon himself a quarter of refuse per se'ah; figs - he accepts upon himself ten wormy ones per hundred; a wine cellar - he accepts upon himself ten sourish ones per hundred; jars in Sharon - he accepts upon himself ten brittle ones per hundred.

Kehati

One who sells produce to his fellow - If a person sells grain to another, he - the buyer accepts upon himself a quarter of refuse per se'ah - the buyer expects to find a quarter of a kab of refuse in every se'ah. As there are six kabim in a se'ah, this means one twenty-fourth of the grain may be spoiled; figs - If a person sells figs to another, he accepts upon himself ten wormy ones per hundred - he accepts that up to one tenth of the figs will be wormy.

A wine cellar - If one sells a wine cellar to his fellow, he accepts upon himself ten sourish ones per hundred - he accepts that up to ten barrels of each hundred, or one tenth, will be spoiled (see Bartenura and other commentators, who quote details with respect to these laws).

Jars in Sharon - If a person in Sharon (the area between Jaffa and Haifa) sells pottery jars to another, he accepts upon himself ten brittle ones per hundred - the buyer accepts the fact that up to ten per cent of the jars will not have been dried sufficiently and are liable to crack.

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