Bava Metzia 75b (עה:) — the Talmud in English

All the days of the dry season

—an expression denoting dryness, when the earth is dry during the summer, as no rain falls—

are one

that is, it is permitted to say: “Work with me on this day, during the dry season, and I will work with you on another day during the dry season,” and we are not concerned that one day might be longer or more difficult than the other.

And likewise,

the entire

period of

the days of rainfall

—the rainy season, so called because the rain makes the earth bow down—,

is one

that is, it is permitted to say: “Work with me on this day during the rainy season, and I will work with you on another day during the rainy season.”

But

he may not say to him: “Plow

with me

on this day

during the dry season, and I will plow with you

on another day

during the rainy season,”

because the days of rainfall are more difficult for working in the fields.

Rabban Gamaliel says: There is advance interest, and there is delayed interest

and both are forbidden as a rabbinic prohibition resembling interest.

How so? If he has set his sights on borrowing from him, and he sends

him

a gift,

saying: “It is because you will lend to me”—this is advance interest.

He borrowed from him and

has already

returned his money, and he sends him

a gift,

saying: “Because of your money

that was idle with me”—this is delayed interest.

Rabbi Shimon says: There is verbal interest

which is forbidden by rabbinic decree, such as:

the borrower may not say to him,

the lender, to inform him:

“Know that

so-and-so has arrived from

a certain place” [and it is forbidden only when he would not have done this had he not borrowed from him].

And these transgress

the Torah prohibitions concerning interest:

the lender, the borrower, the guarantor, and the witnesses. And the Sages say: Even the scribe

who writes the document

They transgress:

a.

because of ‘You shall not give

[Leviticus 25:37], b.

and because of ‘You shall not take from him

[ibid], c.

and because of ‘He shall not be to him as a creditor

[Exodus 22:24], d.

and because of ‘You shall not place upon him interest’

[ibid], e.

and because of ‘Before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block, and you shall fear your God; I am the Lord’

[Leviticus 19:14]. The intention is not that all of them transgress all these negative commandments. Rather, only the lender transgresses all of them, while as for the borrower, the guarantor, and the witnesses, the Gemara explains which of the negative commandments they transgress.

Gemara:

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says: From where is it derived that one who is owed a hundred dinars by another, and it is not customary for him

the borrower

to greet him

the lender

with a greeting of peace, is forbidden to greet him first? The verse states: ‘Interest on anything that bears interest’

[Deuteronomy 23:20].

Even speech is forbidden,

as is implied by the expression “anything.”

We learned in the Mishna:

“And these transgress”:

Abaye said: The lender transgresses all of them!

all five negative commandments listed in the Mishna: a. “You shall not give,” since he gives his money with interest at the time of the loan; b. “You shall not take,” since he takes interest at the time of repayment; c. “He shall not be to him as a creditor,” since he acts toward him as a creditor when he demands and pressures him,

d. “You shall not place upon him interest,” since he places interest upon him when the interest is stipulated;

e. “Before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block,” since he places a stumbling block before the borrower, causing him to violate “You shall not make your brother bear interest,” which is a warning addressed to the borrower.

The borrower transgresses

three negative commandments: a.

because of ‘You shall not make your brother bear interest’

[Deuteronomy 23:20]. The expression “you shall make bear interest” is in the causative form, meaning: You shall not cause your brother to make interest. b. Because of

‘And to your brother you shall not make bear interest’

[ibid. 21]. The Mishna did not mention these two negative commandments because it wished to list only those that are all transgressed by the lender. c. Because of

‘Before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block,’

since he places a stumbling block before the lender, causing him to violate all the negative commandments listed above.

The guarantor and the witnesses transgress only because of: ‘You shall not place upon him interest’.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon says: Those who lend at interest, more than they profit

from taking the interest,

they lose!

Their property is perpetually undermined [as explained above, 71a].

Moreover,

they sin by

making Moses our teacher appear foolish and his Torah appear false

[the terms “foolish” and “false” are expressions of sagui nahor],

and

those who lend at interest

say: ‘Had Moses our teacher known that there would be profit in the matter, he would not have written it

in the Torah, that it is forbidden to lend at interest.’”

When

he came,

Rav Dimi

from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia,

he said: From where is it derived that one who is owed a hundred dinars by another, and knows

that he has nothing

with which the borrower can repay,

is forbidden

for the lender

to pass before him

before the borrower,

the verse states: ‘He shall not be to him as a creditor.’

That is, when the lender knows that the borrower has nothing with which to repay, and he passes before him, he appears to the borrower as “a creditor,” and the borrower is embarrassed that he has nothing with which to repay.

And likewise,

Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi, both said:

If the lender passes before the borrower while knowing that he has nothing, this is

as though he had judged him

the lender having judged the borrower

with two judgments, as it is stated

[Psalms 66:12]:

‘You placed a man at our head’

We came

a.

through fire

and b.

through water.

That is, when the lender passes before the borrower when the borrower has nothing, the redness departs and paleness comes, and redness is of the attributes of “fire,” while paleness is of the attributes of “water.”

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Anyone who has money and lends it without witnesses transgresses the prohibition ‘Before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block’

because he causes the borrower to entertain the thought of denying the debt.

And Resh Lakish said: He causes

the lender

a curse for himself, as it is stated: ‘Let lying lips become mute, those that speak insolence against the righteous,’

that is, when the borrower, without witnesses, comes to demand repayment of his debt, and the borrower denies everything, people curse the lender and say that he speaks insolence against an innocent man—something untrue.

The sages of the academy said

the students of the yeshiva

to Rav Ashi: Ravina fulfills everything that the Sages said! Rav Ashi sent him

Rav Ashi sent a message to Ravina in order to test him and see whether what the students of the yeshiva had said about him was true.

Toward evening

at dusk

on the eve of Shabbat [

close to the onset of Shabbat],

let my master send [

that he should send]

me

as a loan

ten zuzim, as it happened [

that I happened]

upon a small parcel of land [

a small piece of land]

to purchase [

to buy it, and therefore I need a loan],

he sent him

Ravina sent a message to Rav Ashi:

Let my master bring [

bring]

witnesses

[witnesses]

and let a document be written [

a deed ],

He sent him

Rav Ashi sent a message to Ravina:

Even me as well?!

You mean that even I, who am a Torah scholar, am forbidden to lend without witnesses because of the prohibition of lifnei iver, “placing a stumbling block before the blind”? Surely I am not suspected of ever considering denying the loan !

He sent him

Ravina sent a message to Rav Ashi:

All the more so, my master, since you are preoccupied with your learning [

since you are preoccupied with your studies], and the concern is even greater

that you will forget

that you will forget the loan,

and

it will turn out that I

cause a curse to myself

as in the statement of Reish Lakish above.

The Sages taught: There are three who cry out

in an earthly court

and are not answered,

because they brought this upon themselves.

And these are they:

1.

One who has money and lends it without witnesses.

2.

One who acquires a master for himself.

3.

And one whose wife rules over him

who undertook to give her money

The Gemara asks:

“One who acquires a master for himself”—what is this?

The Gemara answers in several ways:

Some say: One who attributes his property to a gentile.

That is, in order not to appear wealthy, he says that his money does not belong to him but to a certain gentile. Sometimes the gentile hears these statements, has witnesses testify to them, and brings a claim against him in their courts.

And

some say: One who writes his property to his sons during his lifetime

and does not reserve for himself funds for food and sustenance.

And some say: When it is bad for him [

his fortune is poor]

in this city [

in this city]

and he does not go

and does not leave

to another city [

to a different city]. Yet we learned elsewhere [Rosh Hashana 16b] that a change of place is one of the things that tear up a person’s decree .

We have completed the chapter “What Is Neshekh?”

This chapter explains the laws governing the hiring of workers, whether they are day laborers or contractors.

Among other matters, it explains how the engagement between the employer and the worker takes effect, when either party may withdraw, and how one must act when one of them unlawfully breaches their hiring agreement.

Mishna:

The first Mishna concerns deceiving a worker at the time of his hiring, and breaching the agreement between the employer and the worker.

A.

One who hires artisans,

day laborers or craftsmen who work as contractors, to perform his work,

and they deceived one another,

see the note —

They have only a grievance against one another.

That is, although the one who was deceived has valid grounds for complaining against the other, he nevertheless cannot claim money from him; he may and is entitled only to complain against him.

This law will be explained in the Gemara.

B. If he

hired

a man,

a donkey driver,

one who leads a donkey bearing a load,

or

likewise if he hired a man

as a wagon driver,

who owns a wagon, in order

to bring trimmed branches,

fine, hewn wood, in order to make a palanquin from it,

or

to bring

flutes for a bride,

to rejoice her with their music on her festive day.

Or if he hired them to bring the flutes in order to lament with them

for the dead.

And

likewise if he hired

workers to raise his flax from the soaking pool,

in which flax is soaked while it is still in its stalks.

And

likewise if he hired workers for

anything that will be lost

if it is not done immediately, and he cannot postpone the work to another time.

And they withdrew,

the workers, and do not perform the work, while the employer cannot now find workers who will agree to work for the regular price in their place, for example

in a place where there are no people

to hire for the work at the regular market price,

he

hires replacement workers at their expense,

in their place, even at a high price. The first workers are required to pay the wages of the latter from their own wages.

Or he deceives them,

the employer deceives the first workers and promises to increase their wages so that they will not withdraw, but he is not obligated to fulfill his promise, since they are not permitted to withdraw and cause him a loss, as they were hired for work that will be lost.

But if the work is not work that will be lost, he may not deceive them. Therefore, if he hires other workers in their place at a higher price, the first workers are not required to pay the difference from their own funds.

One who hires artisans

to perform his work as contractors, who were not hired by the hour or by the day, but undertook to perform a particular task for a price fixed in advance, whether they worked for a long time or a short time,

and they withdrew

after they had begun their work,

their hand is on the lower side—

That is, if the workers’ wages have risen in the market, and he cannot now find workers to complete his work for wages similar to those agreed upon with the first workers, he may deduct from the first workers’ wages the amount that he will have to add to the wages of the replacement workers.

For example, if he agreed with the first workers that they would be paid one hundred zuz, and they performed only half the work and withdrew, and he can now find other workers to complete the remaining half only for sixty zuz, he pays the first workers only forty zuz. They are not permitted to cause him the loss of the amount he had to add to the wages of the replacement workers.

However, if the workers’ wages have fallen in the market and he can find other workers for thirty zuz, the first workers cannot claim seventy zuz from him on the grounds that the replacement workers took their place and the profit belongs to them. Rather, he pays them only fifty zuz, which is the payment for the half of the work that they agreed upon.