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Week 101 - Monday - 29 October 2001

BAVA METZIA: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 9

A man may not say to his fellow, "Lend me a kor of wheat, and I will return it at the threshing time," but he may say to him, "Lend me until my son comes," or "until I find the key"; but Hillel forbids. And this is what Hillel used to say: A woman may not lend a loaf to her fellow until she makes it money, lest wheat become more expensive and they come to interest.

Kehati

This mishnah deals (as was already mentioned in the introduction to mishnah 8) with the prohibition of lending "a se’ah for a se’ah."

A man may not say to his fellow, "Lend me a kor of wheat, and I will return it - a kor of wheat, to you - at the threshing time" - The reason for this, as was explained in the previous mishnah, is the fear that the wheat will become more expensive, with the result that he is returning to his fellow more than his fellow lent him.

But he may - i.e., he is permitted to - say to him - to his fellow -"Lend me until my son comes," or "until I find the key" - i.e., if he has wheat in his house, but does not have access to it until his son comes or until he finds the key, he is permitted to borrow wheat for wheat. Even if he has only one se’ah, he is permitted to borrow several kors against it, for the reason which we have explained in the introduction to mishnah 8. We have already mentioned (ibid.) that, according to Rambam, even if he has wheat in his house, it is forbidden to lend a se’ah for a se’ah to whoever fixes a time for the repayment of the wheat. It follows from this that, according to Rambam's opinion, even the first part of this mishnah forbids the loan even when the prospective borrower has wheat; since he said, "And I will return it at the threshing time," he established a time for the repayment. It is accordingly forbidden to loan him wheat for wheat, but Hillel forbids - lending wheat for wheat, even when the prospective borrower has wheat in his house, and wants to borrow until his son comes or until he finds the key.

And this is what Hillel used to say: A woman may not lend a loaf to her fellow until she makes it money - i.e., until she determines the monetary value of the loaf, and he repays a loaf for this amount - lest wheat become more expensive - in the meantime - and they - these women - come to interest - i.e., Rabbinically prohibited interest. The law is not in accordance with Hillel (see Yoreh De'ah 162:1).

BAVA METZIA: CHAPTER 5: MISHNAH 10

A man may say to his fellow, "Weed with me, and I will weed with you," or "Hoe with me, and I will hoe with you," but he may not say to him, "Weed with me, and I will hoe with you," or "Hoe with me, and I will weed with you." All the days of the dry season are one, and all the days of the rainy season are one. One may not say to him, "Plough with me in the dry season, and I will plough with you in the rainy season." Rabban Gamliel says, There is interest which is paid in advance, and there is interest which is paid later. How so? One intended to borrow from him; he sent him, and said, "So that you will loan to me" - this is advance interest. If one borrowed money from him, and repaid his money to him, and sent him, and said, "For your money which was idle with me" - this is interest which is paid later. Rabbi Shimon says, There is interest in words. He must not say to him, "Know that so-and-so has come from such-and-such a place."

Kehati

This mishnah deals with three types of interest: 1) Interest paid in labor, e.g., one says to his fellow, "Do this kind of work with me today, and I will do such-and-such a kind of work with you tomorrow"; 2) Advance or post payment of interest, e.g., a person sent a gift to his fellow before he was about to ask him for a loan, or after he had repaid the loan; 3) Interest in words, as will be explained in the mishnah.

A man may say to his fellow, "Weed with me, and I will weed with you - i.e., work with me today to uproot the bad weeds in my field, and I will do the same work with you tomorrow, "Hoe with me - today in my field, and I will hoe with you" - tomorrow in your field. We do not fear that perhaps the weeding or hoeing in his fellow's field tomorrow will be more difficult than the weeding or hoeing in his own field today, or that the workday in his fellow's field tomorrow will be more difficult than the weeding or hoeing in his field today, or that the workday in his fellow's field will be longer, since they do the same work together. But he may not say to him - to his fellow - "Weed with me - today, and I will hoe with you" - tomorrow - or "Hoe with me - today - and I will weed with you" - tomorrow. Since each one does a different kind of work with his fellow, there is a suspicion of interest here. One type of work is at times more difficult than another; if he were to do with his fellow work which was harder than the work which his fellow had done with him, this would be as if he gave an additional payment to his fellow as remuneration for waiting and not receiving the repayment of the work immediately.

All the days of the dry season - when the earth is dry - are one - i.e., have the same legal status. If A does work with B one day, and B does work with A another day, there is no fear that one day may be longer than the other; similarly, all the days of the rainy season are one - with the same legal status. In other words, the law in the first part of the mishnah, that a person is permitted to say to his fellow, "Weed with me today, and I will weed with you tomorrow," applies specifically when the two days are both in the dry season or the rainy season, but - One may not say to him, "Plough with me in the dry season, and I will plough with you in the rainy season" - since the work of plowing in the rainy season is difficult.

Rabban Gamliel says, There is interest which is paid in advance – in which the borrower gives the interest before the loan - and there is interest which is paid later - in which the borrower gives the interest after he has already repaid his loan.

How so? One intended to borrow from him - A intended to request a loan from B; he sent him - a gift - and said - "this present is for you - so that you will loan to me" - Others read this, "So that he will loan me," i.e., A thought to himself, I will give him a present so that he will loan me - this is advance interest - since the gift is interest.

If one borrowed money from him - A received a loan from B - and repaid his money to him, and sent him - to B - and said, "For your money which was idle with me" - I.e., "Here is a gift for you, for your money which was with me, and was not used" - this is interest which is paid later - The commentators explain that both advance interest or that which is paid later are only quasi-interest, i.e., they are only forbidden by Rabbinic injunction.

Rabbi Shimon says, There is interest in words - i.e., a person must also be careful of words which are interest. How so? - He - the borrower - must not say to him - the lender - "Know that so-and-so has come from such-and-such a place" - i.e., the borrower informs the lender of the arrival of a certain person whom the lender needs, and the borrower would not do this if he had not received a loan from him. A baraita in the Gemara teaches the following: What is the source of the teaching that if a man is his fellow's creditor for a maneh, the latter must not extend a greeting to him first, if that is not his usual practice? The text states, "Interest of any thing [davar, which may also mean "word"] that is lent on interest" (Deut. 23:20). "Any thing" was interpreted to mean that even speech is forbidden. Other commentators read this as "Know [i.e., learn] if so-and-so has come from such-and-such a place." They interpret this to mean that the mishnah's intent is that the lender may not tell the borrower to go and find out if a certain person is coming and tell him (the lender) about this. The lender is seemingly making use of the borrower as payment for his loan (Tur 160; Hil. Malveh u-Loveh 5:13; see Tosefot Yom Tov).

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