Bava Batra 90b — the Talmud in English

And thus Shmuel interpreted the words of the verse: Is it possible to say that the

“mane,”

which is of the sacred, is sixty shekels, which are

two hundred and forty

dinars,

is it so!?

But in a mane there are only one hundred dinars, which are merely twenty-five shekels!

Rather,

Shmuel proves,

infer from it

from the words of this verse

three,

three novel laws:

1.

Infer from it: a sacred mane —

was doubled.

That is, originally it contained fifty shekels, double the twenty-five of the non-sacred [mane].

And afterward they added five shekels to a non-sacred mane, which are an addition of one-sixth, and made it thirty shekels. Therefore the sacred mane, which is doubled, is sixty shekels, which are two hundred and forty dinars.

2.

And infer from it: additions may be made to measures,

and likewise additions may be made to coins; therefore they were able to increase the non-sacred mane to thirty shekels, and the sacred mane to sixty shekels. And there is no concern lest the merchant not profit, because it is not common that the merchant will not hear about the addition to the measures or the coins, and with regard to something that is not common, there is no concern about preventing profit.

And additions are not made

to measures and coins

more than one-sixth.

These are the words of Shmuel in themselves, and they are not learned from this verse; rather, they are Shmuel’s addition. For only concerning the profit did they have no concern that a merchant who had not heard about the addition would suffer a loss, since this is something uncommon; but concerning the loss of the principal of more than one-sixth, we do have concern.

3.

And infer from it: one-sixth,

the calculation of the one-sixth for this purpose is made according to a calculation

from the outside,

from the outside. That is, the measure of the addition is measured according to the ratio between the addition and the total sum of the principal together with the addition, and they do not measure the one-sixth from the principal itself.

For example, here, the calculation of one-sixth from the outside is one-sixth of the combined sum of the ten additional shekels and the fifty shekels, and altogether they are sixty. And the ten shekels are one-sixth of the whole, of the principal together with the addition.

But if the calculation of the addition had been “from within,” the addition would have been one-sixth of fifty, which are eight shekels and one dinar and one-third. And when we add this sum to the fifty shekels, a total of fifty-eight shekels, one dinar, and one-third would result. Whereas the verse says that in a sacred mane there are sixty shekels.

Rav Pappa bar Shmuel established a measure of three

kapizei,

he established in his city a new measure that contained nine log.

In a kav there are four log.

In a tarkav there are three kav, which are twelve log.

In a half-tarkav there is one and a half kav, which are six log. “

Kapiza” is a measure of three-quarters of a kav, that is, three log.

And since the new measure that Rav Pappa bar Shmuel established contained three kapizei, there were nine log in it.

And it follows that the new measure, which contains nine log, is an addition of one-third over the measure of a half-tarkav, which contains six log, and it is a reduction of one-quarter from the measure of a tarkav, which contains twelve log.

They said to him: But Shmuel said: Additions are not made to measures more than one-sixth!?

Yet you added one-third to the measure of a half-tarkav, and reduced one-quarter from the measure of a tarkav!

He said to them: I,

I did not add anything to the measure of a half-tarkav, nor did I reduce anything from the measure of a tarkav. Rather,

I established a completely new measure!

I established for them a completely new measure of nine log, and they would not come to err that it was a half-tarkav.

He sent it,

Rav Pappa bar Shmuel sent this measure

to Pumbedita, and they did not accept it.

They did not agree to use it.

He sent it to Paphonia, and they accepted it, and they called it,

this measure, “

Roz Pappa”

A sign

for several baraitot brought below:

stockpilers of produce, they do not stockpile, and they do not export, and they do not profit twice on eggs, they sound alarms, and they do not export]

The Sages taught: Stockpilers of produce,

those who purchase large quantities of produce in the market and cause a shortage of produce, and this brings about an increase in prices, and then they sell it dearly and thereby cause a loss to the poor,

and those who lend at interest, and those who reduce the ephah,

those who deceive with measures of weight,

and those who drive up prices,

who sell at a price higher than the market price —

Concerning them

the verse

in the Book of Amos [chapter 8

says]: “

Hear this, you who pant after the needy, to annihilate the poor of the land.

Saying,

When will the month pass” [the price-drivers say this, for at threshing time, when grain is available to everyone cheaply, they cannot drive up the price, and therefore they await when a month’s time from the days of threshing will pass],

this is what those who drive up prices say: At the time of the threshing floor, when grain is available to everyone cheaply, they cannot drive up the price, and therefore they wait for the month following the time of the threshing floor to pass],

and we will sell grain at a profit, [then they will already be able to earn an excessive profit by driving up the price of grain].

then they will already be able to earn an excessive profit by driving up the price of grain].

And

likewise they await the coming of

the Sabbatical year,

the year of release,

and

then

the grain will be opened,

the grain stores that we stored in our possession, at an expensive price. And these are the stockpilers of produce.

To reduce the ephah,

for they are “those who reduce the ephah.”

And to increase the shekel,

that is, those who lend at interest.

And to falsify deceitful balances.”

And it is written

concerning their punishment, further in that passage:

“The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: If I will ever forget any of their deeds.”

And the Gemara explains:

Stockpilers of produce—for example, who!? —

Rabbi Yohanan said: For example,

a man named

Shabbtai, a stockpiler of produce.

He stockpiled produce with the intention of making the price of the produce more expensive, so that afterward he could sell it to the poor at a high price, and it follows that he caused a loss to the poor.

But if he stockpiled the produce at a time of cheapness, so that he would have produce in his possession to sell to the poor at the time of expensiveness at a cheap price, then even though by his purchase he causes the price to rise somewhat, there is no prohibition in the matter, because his intention is for the benefit of the poor.

Shmuel’s father

was concerned for the benefit of the poor, that they should have cheap grain throughout the entire year, and therefore he

sold produce to them at an “early-market price,”

he sold all his produce at the early price of threshing time, which is a cheap price, and he did not stockpile it, and he did so

because it was early,

so that everyone else would also sell their grain at threshing time and would not stockpile it, and thereby the price of grain would be cheap throughout the entire year.

Whereas

his son Shmuel would hold back the produce,

he would indeed stockpile the grain,

and sell it to them,

selling the produce throughout the entire year

at a late-market price,

when the price was high,

like the early-market price,

at the cheap price; and thereby he lowered the market price after it had become expensive. And he did this even though, by initially stockpiling his produce, he caused the price of the produce in the market to rise somewhat.

They sent from there,

from the Land of Israel:

“The good of the father,

what Shmuel’s father did,

is better than the son’s,”

than what his son, Shmuel, did, although both did what they did for the benefit of the poor.

And the Gemara explains:

What is the reason?

Why is the deed of Shmuel’s father preferable to the deed of Shmuel?

Because

a price that is made wide remains wide.

It is preferable to establish the cheap price from the outset, as Shmuel’s father did, because a cheap price that is established at the outset continues in this manner throughout the entire year. But lowering the high price, which Shmuel would do, is difficult to carry out after the high price has already been established in the market.

Rav said: A person may make his kav

a stockpile.

That is, a person is permitted to stockpile a small quantity, not for commerce, for the sustenance of his household, from what grew in his field. And likewise, if he does not have what grew in his own place, he is permitted to purchase and stockpile for the sustenance of his household.

It was taught likewise: One may not stockpile produce—things in which the sustenance of life is found—such as wines, oils, and fine flours.

But spices, cumin, and peppers are permitted

to stockpile.

In what case are these words said,

that it is forbidden for him to stockpile,

when he purchases from the market

a large quantity in order to stockpile it.

But when he brings in from his own,

for the sustenance of his household,

it is permitted.

And it is permitted for a person to stockpile produce in the Land of Israel

in the sixth year, a large quantity even in order to sell it to other people during

three years: the eve of the Sabbatical year, the Sabbatical year, and after the Sabbatical year,

because at that time produce will not be available for people to purchase.

And in years of famine, he may not stockpile even a kav of carobs, because he brings a curse into the prices,

for he causes a great increase in the prices.

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina said

who lived in the Land of Israel,

to Puga, his attendant,

his servant:

Go out,

go out to the market, and

stockpile produce for me

for

three years: the eve of the Sabbatical year, the Sabbatical year, and after the Sabbatical year.

The Sages taught: One may not export from the Land of Israel produce—things in which the sustenance of life is found—such as wines, oils, and fine flours.

Rabbi Judah ben Beteira permits exporting

wine, because

the absence of wine

reduces frivolity.

The foolishness, for once wine enters, a secret goes out , and it is preferable that there be less wine in the Land of Israel.

And just as one may not export from the Land of Israel to outside the Land of Israel, so one may not export from the Land of Israel to Syria,

since it does not possess the sanctity of the Land of Israel, despite the fact that King David conquered it, because an individual conquest is not a conquest that sanctifies the land.