Mishnah
Mishnah

Halakhah for Pirkei Avot 5:10

אַרְבַּע מִדּוֹת בָּאָדָם. הָאוֹמֵר שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלִּי וְשֶׁלְּךָ שֶׁלָּךְ, זוֹ מִדָּה בֵינוֹנִית. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים, זוֹ מִדַּת סְדוֹם. שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלְּךָ וְשֶׁלְּךָ שֶׁלִּי, עַם הָאָרֶץ. שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלְּךָ וְשֶׁלְּךָ שֶׁלָּךְ, חָסִיד. שֶׁלִּי שֶׁלִּי וְשֶׁלְּךָ שֶׁלִּי, רָשָׁע:

There are four middoth (i.e., character types) in a man: One who says: "Mine is mine and yours is yours" [I don't want to give you anything of mine, and please don't give me anything of yours.] This is a median middah. Some say: This is the middah of Sodom. [It approaches the middah of Sodom. For if one habituates himself to it, then even if his neighbor benefits (from what he gives him) and he lacks nothing, he will not want to give it to him. This was the middah of Sodom, their intent being to drive others away from them — even though their land was a rich one and they lacked for nothing.] "Mine is yours and yours is mine" — am ha'aretz (an ignoramus). [For he takes and gives equally, and this "settles the land." But he does not (have the sagacity to) know that (Proverbs 15:27): "the hater of gifts shall live." This is the general connotation of am ha'aretz, one who wants to make improvements but who lacks the wisdom to discriminate between what is and what is not an improvement.] "Mine is yours and yours is yours" — a chasid. [He benefits men with his possessions and he does not benefit from the possessions of others. He is a chasid, acting above and beyond the letter of the law.] "Mine is mine and yours is mine" — a wicked one.

Gray Matter IV

The Mishnah (Avot 5:10) condemns individuals who act in the manner of Sedom by claiming, “What is mine is mine, and what is yours is yours.” This implies that one should not always demand from another exact payment to which one is entitled. Thus, one should not demand payment for gas and tolls from another who has asked him to ride home in his automobile if the latter did not take the former out of his way. Despite the fact that the rider has saved money, since he does not have to pay transportation costs, it is nonetheless Somodite behavior for the driver to demand payment if he has lost nothing. In fact, the Ri (presented in Tosafot ad. loc.) implies that the rule of kofin al middat Sedom is a Torah level law and not merely a rabbinic enactment.
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