Today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 49 deals with down payments. Does the down payment cover the entire purchase or just that amount of the purchase? If it only covers only part of the purchase, may the seller reneges on the deal if circumstances change. Here is a case study.

“The Gemara comments: This is as it was stated: There is an amoraic dispute with regard to reneging on a verbal commitment that was unaccompanied by an act of acquisition. Rav says: It does not constitute an act of bad faith. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It constitutes an act of bad faith.

“The Gemara raises an objection: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: What is the meaning when the verse states: “A just ephah, and a just hin, shall you have” (Leviticus 19:36)? But wasn’t a hin included in an ephah? Why is it necessary to state both (because there’s no extra word in the Torah; consequently, each word has to teach us something new-gg)? Rather, this is an allusion that serves to say to you that your yes [hen (it is a homonym-gg)] should be just, and your no should be just. Apparently, it is a mitzva for one to fulfill his promises. Abaye says: That verse means that one should not say one matter with his mouth and think one other matter in his heart. It is prohibited for one to make a commitment that he has no intention of fulfilling. Rav Kahana made his commitment in good faith and reneged due to changed circumstances. That is not prohibited.” (Sefaria.org translation)

We have often talked about buyer’s protection. This case suggests there’s also seller’s protection as well. No matter how you think about who is correct Rav or Rabbi Yoḥanan, the Gemara is emphasizing the importance of keeping your word. Abaye is also emphasizing the character trait we should all emulate. We should mean what we say. Studying this him today reminded me of the famous TV character for all of us of a certain age. Growing up watching the TV show Leave it to Beaver, you knew that Eddie Haskell didn’t mean what he said to Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver. He fooled nobody. Everybody saw right through him.  He was exactly what Abaye was warning us about.

If we want to merit our final redemption is coming Passover, we should live our lives that what we say and what we think in our hearts should be the same.

Is your word as good as gold? TB Baba Metzia 47b-48

Starting on daf TB Baba Metzia 47b and continuing today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 48 we study the major sugiya on what constitutes explicit acquisition of an object. Rabbi Yoḥanan holds by Torah law that handing over the money is sufficient to acquire the object is a Torah law. Nevertheless, the rabbis overruled the Torah law and taught the buyer explicitly had to  pull (meshikha-מְשִׁיכָה) the object to acquire it. Think of it as a buyer’s protection plan. “By Torah law money effects acquisition, i.e., when one pays money he acquires the item, even if he has not yet performed another act of acquisition. And for what reason did the Sages say that pulling acquires an item and money does not? This is a rabbinic decree lest the seller say to the buyer after receiving the money: Your wheat was burned in the upper story. If a fire breaks out or some other mishap occurs after a seller receives the money, he will not bother to save the goods in his house because they no longer belong to him, and the buyer may incur a loss.” (Sefaria.org translation) The rabbis wanted to “light a fire underneath the seller” to protect the interests of the buyer.

On the other hand, Reish Lakish holds that handing over the money doesn’t acquire the object at all. The buyer explicitly has to pull the object to acquired. “Reish Lakish says: The act of acquisition of pulling is explicit in the Torah, and it is not merely by rabbinic decree that payment of money does not effect acquisition of movable property. The Gemara asks: What is the reason for the opinion of Reish Lakish? He derives it from the Torah, as the verse states: “And if you sell to your colleague an item that is sold, or acquire from your colleague’s hand, you shall not exploit his brother” (Leviticus 25:14), and the reference is to an item that is acquired from hand to hand, i.e., by means of pulling.” (Sefaria.org translation)

If he is correct, how does  Reish Lakish understand the Mishna which states “But the Sages said: He Who exacted payment from the people of the generation of the flood, and from the generation of the dispersion (the Tower of Babel episode, see Genesis 11-gg, will in the future exact payment from whoever does not stand by his statement.” (Sefaria.org translation) Here is the problem. “But if you say that giving money does not effect acquisition of movable property, why does one who reneges after the money is paid stand subject to the curse: But the Sages said: He Who exacted payment? The Gemara answers: It is due to the fact that he reneged on a statement of his committing himself to buy the item.

“The Gemara asks: And does one who reneged on a statement of commitment stand subject to the curse: But the Sages said: He Who exacted payment? But isn’t it taught in a baraita:… And one who negotiates, where the negotiation culminates with a statement committing himself to acquire the item, did not acquire the item without a formal act of acquisition. But with regard to one who reneges on his commitment, the Sages are displeased with him.” (Sefaria.org translation)

We see there are three levels when comes acquisition of an object. The first level which is the best both buyer and seller agree to the deal, money changes hands, and the buyer acquires the object by explicitly pulling it. The second level discussed in the Gemara which in my view is the worst is after money is exchanged one of the parties reneges on the deal. God will punish him like He punished the people during the people of the flood and the generation of the dispersion. The third level is when a person commits himself to the deal, no money and no formal acquisition occurs and he reneges afterwards. The sages are not happy with this behavior at all for a person’s word should be as good as gold.

 

 

For the last couple days the Gemara has been discussing the laws of khalipin-חֲלִיפִין, a transaction of exchange which is done symbolically with a kinyan sudar-קִנְיָן סוּדָר. If you ever gone to a traditional Jewish wedding, the groom accepts the obligations written in the ketutbah when he pulls upon a handkerchief or a napkin held by the Rabbi. There’s been disagreements what may one use for a kinyan sudar, a durable good, produce, or money. Who gives whom the sudar, the buyer or the seller? Finally on today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 47 the Gemara comes to the conclusion as well as giving us the book of Ruth as the biblical source for this law.

“…in exchange for that pleasure the owner of the item experiences from the fact that the one acquiring the cloak accepted it from him, he resolves to transfer ownership to him. This is unlike the acquisition of movable items by means of a transaction of land, where both are acquired simultaneously. Here, the transfer of ownership of the cloak effects the subsequent transfer of ownership of the land.

“The Gemara comments: This dispute between Rav and Levi is parallel to a dispute between tanna’im. The verse states: “Now this was the custom in former time in Israel concerning redemption and concerning substitution, to confirm all matters; a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor” (Ruth 4:7). The verse is interpreted: “Redemption”; that is a sale. And likewise it says: “Neither shall be sold nor shall be redeemed” (Leviticus 27:28). “Substitution”; that is the transaction of exchange. And likewise it says: “He may neither exchange it nor substitute it” (Leviticus 27:10).

“With regard to the phrase “To confirm all matters; a man drew off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbor,” the baraita asks: Who gave the shoe to whom? Boaz gave his shoe to the redeemer, the closest relative of Elimelech, who had the right of first refusal to the land that Naomi, Elimelech’s widow, was planning to sell. The redeemer was transferring that right to the land to Boaz, who was acquiring it by means of his shoe. Rabbi Yehuda says: The redeemer gave his shoe to Boaz. The dispute between Rav and Levi is parallel to the dispute between the first tanna and Rabbi Yehuda.” (Sefaria.org translation) The buyer and not the seller gives the sudar.

Based upon the story in the book of Ruth, Rav Naḥman holds that the sudar must be a durable good just like the shoe in the story. “It was taught: One can acquire property through a symbolic exchange by using a vessel, even if it does not have the value of one peruta. Rav Naḥman says: The Sages taught that this symbolic exchange can be effected only by using a vessel, but not by using produce, i.e., any item other than a vessel. Rav Sheshet says: It can be effected even by using produce. The Gemara explains: What is the reason for the opinion of Rav Naḥman? The verse states: “His shoe” (Ruth 4:7), from which it is derived: With regard to a shoe and any other item similar to a shoe, i.e., a vessel, yes, the symbolic exchange can be effected; with regard to any item other than a vessel, no, it cannot be effected.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The Gemara concludes that the sudar must be a durable good, have the minimum valued of a prutah, and be clean. In other words, the rabbi is not allowed to use a handkerchief that he has blown his nose in.

Suggestions how to make your Passover Seder child friendly

 

I googled Passover games and Passover parodies. Here are some of the search results 

I.                Choosing the right Haggadah for your family Passover resources for families

II.              Do something different and get the children out of their seats.

a.      “So the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading bowls wrapped in their cloaks upon their shoulders.” (Exodus 12:34)”

b.     Crossed the Sea of Reeds using blue streamers.

c.      Have the children hide the afikomen from the adults

d.     Make a tent floor and hold the Seder there until the meal.

III.            Use magic to illustrate parts of the story. 

IV.            Passover parodies

a.      https://www.passoversongparodies.com/lyrics

b.     https://www.kosher4passover.com/passover-song-parodies.htm

c.      http://www.mazornet.com/holidays/passover/funnysongs.htm

V.              Passover games

a.      PJ library: https://pjlibrary.org/passover?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwztOwBhD7ARIsAPDKnkAWX2dV0bGKKxbuzDeSmDokIfyawjAvLEcOj4h6CexnAC4DYmLJ1G0aAsbJEALw_wcB 

b.     https://www.hisawyer.com/blog/passover-activities-for-kids-kids-seder-games-and-more#4

c.      https://www.signupgenius.com/Church/passover-games-and-activities.cfm

d.     https://www.education.com/resources/passover/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwztOwBhD7ARIsAPDKnkCAtyC3G6J3WRbawC8--4OaqTLmTcZ4P7ff1zscTQqhCnhaL1MlLhAaAjeSEALw_wcB

e.      Passover games for kids

These fun Passover games for kids will help keep everyone having fun and bonding throughout the celebration. Adults can join, too!

Afikomen search. This is a give-in, but one of the best Passover games for kids is the search for the afikomen. If the children are varied in age, consider pairing up the youngest and oldest children so they can work as a team.

Passover scavenger hunt. Why search for just the afikomen? Set up a full Passover scavenger hunt and ask the children to also find items like a size 12 shoe and meaningful memories like an old family story.

Matzah topping contest. Challenge the children in their family to create matzah creations and then let the family decide on the winners. There are so many benefits of cooking with kids, plus you might even find your new favorite Passover snack!

Passover BINGO. Create BINGO cards that are themed for Passover and your family. For example, you can put items from the seder plate and Passover dinner on the card as well as fun family moments like grandpa falling asleep on the couch.

f.      https://aish.com/10-ways-to-gamify-your-passover-seder/

Here are my 10 tips to how you can gamify your Seder. Ready?

1. In Six Words: Come up with discussion questions before the Seder about Passover, freedom, and related themes. When you ask the questions, your Seder participants must limit their answers to exactly six words: no more and no less.
2. Truth or Dare: Keep people on their toes! Prepare a bunch of cards beforehand. On some, write out Passover questions which are answered in the Haggadah (Ex: what is the 3rd question of the Mah Nishtana?). On others, write a dare that participants have to do at a specific point during the Seder. (Ex: Whip out your Egyptian dancing moves at the first mention of Egypt). This will lead to many truths and silly antics throughout the night.
3. Catch the Phrase: Using an online noun-generator before the Seder, prepare a bunch of cards. Each card should have two random nouns and one word related to Passover. (Ex: shoelace, pickle, Haggadah.) Each participant should get a card at the beginning of the Seder, and the challenge is to incorporate all three words in one sentence at some point during the meal. A player is successful if a full minute goes by after saying their sentence without being called out.
4. Stop and Pose: Challenge your Seder participants to come up with a yoga pose, based on an action from the Haggadah. They should name the pose and demonstrate it of course. (Ex: Walking through the split sea.)
5. Get Rid of the Chametz: Print out a paper containing a little piece of bread before the Seder. Instruct all your participants that the person who has the chametz in their possession at the end of the Seder loses. Get the game started by sneaking it into someone’s shoe or pocket. The fun begins.
6. Hidden Qs: Why just search for the afikomen? Hide little question slips of paper around the room. When participants find them, they answer the question and receive a point for the correct answer. Whoever has the most at the end of the night is the winner.
7. The Search: Beforehand, create a bunch of cards, each with a phrase from the Haggadah. Give out the cards at the beginning of the Seder, and instruct each participant to dance, cheer, or clap when their phrase appears.
8. Jeopardy: Throughout the Seder, keep people engaged by asking questions, Jeopardy-style. Ask the other participants to come up with the correct questions.
9. Reverse Charades: Create a bunch of cards before the Seder, each with an action or noun related to Passover. (Ex: the Seder plate, making matzah.) Throughout the Seder, have participants leave the room, one at a time. Pick a card and pass it around for everyone else at your Seder. Call back the player, and have everyone act the card out: together, until that player guesses correctly.
10. Two Truths and a Lie: I had to end with this one, of course. At the beginning of the Seder, ask everyone to come up with 3 statements about themselves, all relating to Passover. But only two should be true. Invite everyone to share their three at any point in the Seder, and everyone else has to guess which is the false statement.

g.     https://www.kveller.com/8-passover-activities-for-your-family-that-everyone-will-want-to-do/

 

Contestants try to complete a task in just one minute. With only 60 seconds on the clock, can anyone complete these Passover tasks? 

·        Frogs: Play spoon frog! Players must use a teaspoon to catapult another teaspoon into a glass. Check out the YouTube video for help.

·        Hail: You will need ping pong balls and spoons for this one (feel free to substitute marshmallows, golf balls or cotton balls if you don’t have ping pong balls handy). Give each player a spoon and ball of “hail” (ping pong ball). Each person must walk holding the spoon with the “hail” on the end to a designated point and back within the minute. 

·        Blood: Contestants carry water in small dixie cups to pitchers with red food coloring at the bottom. Can they fill the pitcher in 60 seconds?

·        Darkness: Blindfolded bowling! Contestants bowl blindfolded as many times as needed until they knock all the pins down or the minute is up. (Don’t happen to have a bowling set at home? Use plastic cups, toilet paper rolls, water bottles, etc.) 

h.     https://www.mainstages.com/blog/passover-kids-games/

i.       https://torahaura.com/products/matzah-ball-bingo-passover?variant=40579030974510&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwztOwBhD7ARIsAPDKnkD1ulsQhQl5ZcJvMqwVJuXRRZ7KfC0fGms59l6sxi8hmI9ngkkrjaAaAkIrEALw_wcB

j.       Computer games: https://akidsheart.com/holidays/days/pesachgm.htm

 

 

 

When does misappropriation actually begin? TB Baba Metzia 44

Starting with the Mishna on yesterday’s daf, we learn one last idea about misappropriation. When does misappropriation actually begin? When you resolve in your mind to take it or when you actually take it? This is an important question for your liability as a guardian. If you resolve to misappropriate something before you actually take it and it is considered as if you had already misappropriated it, then you’re liable for anything that happens to the object. “MISHNA: With regard to one who intends to misappropriate a deposit and voices that intent in the presence of witnesses, Beit Shammai say: He is liable to pay for any damage to the deposit from that point forward, and Beit Hillel say: He is liable to pay only if he actually misappropriates the deposit, as it is stated concerning a bailee: “Whether he has misappropriated his neighbor’s goods” (Exodus 22:7)” (Sefaria.org translation)

Today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 44 explains the underlining reason of Beit Shammai. “From where are these matters derived, that one is liable to pay for intent to misappropriate a deposit? It is as the Sages taught: It is written with regard to misappropriation: “For every matter of [devar] trespass” (Exodus 22:8). Beit Shammai say: The term devar, literally, word, teaches that one is liable to pay for a thought of misappropriation just as he is for an action. One pays for a matter of trespass even if there is no actual trespass.” (Sefaria.org translation)

The halakha follows Beit Hillel. What counts is what a person does and not what a person thinks. However, the sugiya concludes that the principle “There is no messenger to speak of an offense- אין שליח לדבר עבירה”  is one of the three times is not applicable. The person is liable for the misappropriation. “If so, what is the meaning when the verse states “for every matter of trespass”? (for Beit Hillel-gg) One might have thought: I have derived only that one is liable to pay if he misappropriated the deposit himself, but if he said to his slave or to his agent to misappropriate the deposit in his possession, from where is it derived that he is liable to pay due to their actions? The verse states: “For every matter of trespass,” from which it is derived that one’s speech renders him liable to pay for any misappropriation.” (Sefaria.org translation)

There is no messenger to speak of an offense is a rule in the Halacha , which states that the rule of a messenger of a person like him , which allows the execution of legal actions through a messenger , is not valid with regard to the commission of offenses . The rule imposes the responsibility and punishment for the offense on the messenger, even though it was done on the sender's instructions. (https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%9F_%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%97_%D7%9C%D7%93%D7%91%D7%A8_%D7%A2%D7%91%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%94)

What we say matters #Tazria#parashathashavua#devartorah

This week’s Torah portion Tazria diagnoses and purifying people afflicted with a skin disease known as  tzara’at, poorly translated as leprosy.  Tzara’at is not Hansen disease. “Playing on the linguistic similarity of the Hebrew for ‘leper’ (m’tzora) and the Hebrew for ‘one who gossips’ (motzi shem ra), the Sages considered leprosy to be a punishment for the sins of slander and malicious gossip  (Lev R. 16:1) They teach that gossip is like leprosy because is highly contagious.”  (Etz Hayyim commentary below the line , page 652)

A bumper sticker motto expresses the goal of a campaign to curb gossip: “Put the brakes on loshon hora.” The movement began with Rabbi Chaim Feld in Cleveland, Ohio, who says the Torah forbids speaking words that hurt people in any way. Loshon hora is a Hebrew phrase for negative or cruel speech—an evil that causes untold damage.

Rabbi Feld says, “If you’ve never met Michael, and someone tells you he is a jerk, then Michael has been murdered for you, before you even meet him.”

Someone has said, “When tempted to gossip, breathe through your nose.” That’s a good way to keep our mouths shut, but we also need a solution that gets to the heart of the issue 

The antidote to the poison of gossip is love, which neutralizes the toxin in our hearts before it escapes through our lips. The Torah tells us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:18)

Whenever we’re tempted to pass along a negative word about someone, even if it’s true, let’s seek God’s help in putting the brakes on gossip. Instead of loshon hora, let’s speak a word of kindness and love.

This week’s parasha is welcome reminder that we should refrain from loshon hora as we sit around the Seder table. Let’s speak words of kindness and love so that we may merit our final redemption.

 

What’s the connection between hametz and safeguarding money? TB Baba Metzia 42

Rabbi Abraham Twersky used to say that a coincidence is God working his miracles incognito. Yesterday we celebrated the new month of Nisan in which the holiday of Passover falls. Today’s daf TB Baba Metzia 42 cites a law concerning hametz to clarify proper guarding of money. A mere coincidence, I think not.

What was proper safekeeping of money back during the Talmud period? “Shmuel says: There is safeguarding for money only in the ground...(Sadly times changed and the Gemara recognizes that just bearing money was no longer sufficient and added-gg) And now that rummagers, who dig to find and steal buried property, are commonplace, there is safeguarding for money only in the beams of the roof of a house. The Gemara comments: And now that dismantlers, who attempt to find and steal property hidden in beams, are commonplace, there is safeguarding for money only between the bricks of a wall. Rava said: And Shmuel concedes that money can be safeguarded in the wall or, alternatively, between the corners of the house. And now that tappers, who tap on walls to find and steal property hidden there, are commonplace, there is safeguarding for money only in the handbreadth of the wall adjacent to the ground or in the handbreadth of the wall adjacent to the ceiling, as tapping on the wall will not reveal their existence.” (Sefaria.com translation)

How deep did one have to bury the money to be safeguarded? Perhaps the laws of Passover are relevant. We know that not only does the Torah commands us to eat matzot during Passover, it forbids us to own any hametz. “וְלֹֽא־יֵרָאֶ֨ה לְךָ֜ חָמֵ֗ץ וְלֹֽא־יֵרָאֶ֥ה לְךָ֛ שְׂאֹ֖ר בְּכָל־גְּבֻלֶֽךָ:-no leavened bread shall be found with you, and no leaven shall be found in all your territory.” (Exodus 13:7) To make sure we don’t have any leaven products in our house, we do three things. We sell the hametz to a non-Jewish person. The night before the Seder, we also search the house for any hametz and the next day we burn what we find (bedikat hametz and biur hametz). After we burn it, we annul all hametz we may have missed.

“Rav Aḥa, son of Rav Yosef, said to Rav Ashi: We learned in a mishna there (Pesaḥim 31b): The legal status of leavened bread upon which a rockslide fell is like that of leavened bread that was eliminated, as it will remain there forever. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: This ruling applies in any case where the leavened bread is covered to the extent that a dog is unable to detect it. And it is taught: How much is the measure of detection of a dog? It is three handbreadths. The question is: Here, what is the halakha? Do we require the money to be buried at a depth of three handbreadths or not?

"Rav Ashi said to Rav Aḥa: There, with regard to bread, it is due to the scent that we require three handbreadths to obscure it from the dog. Here, with regard to money, it is because it must be obscured from the eye that we bury it. Scent is not relevant, and therefore we do not need three handbreadths. The Gemara asks: And how deep must the money be buried? Rafram from Sikhera said: One handbreadth.” (Sefaria.org translation)

In the end the laws of hametz don’t elucidate proper safeguarding of money. Nevertheless, Today’s daf is a good review of some of the laws of hametz as we prepare for Passover. By the way, if you wish to use me as your agent to sell your hametz, message or email me your name, the address where the hametz is found, and authorize me as your agent, I will do the rest.