הַמְקַבֵּל עָלָיו לִהְיוֹת נֶאֱמָן, מְעַשֵּׂר אֶת שֶׁהוּא אוֹכֵל, וְאֶת שֶׁהוּא מוֹכֵר, וְאֶת שֶׁהוּא לוֹקֵחַ, וְאֵינוֹ מִתְאָרֵחַ אֵצֶל עַם הָאָרֶץ. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אַף הַמִּתְאָרֵחַ אֵצֶל עַם הָאָרֶץ נֶאֱמָן. אָמְרוּ לוֹ, עַל עַצְמוֹ אֵינוֹ נֶאֱמָן, כֵּיצַד יְהֵא נֶאֱמָן עַל שֶׁל אֲחֵרִים:
One who takes it on himself to be trustworthy must tithe that which he eats, and that which he sells, and that which he buys, and he may not stay as a guest of an <i>Am HaAretz</i> [one who is lax in observing tithes and purity laws]. Rabbi Yehudah says, “Even if he is a guest of an <i>Am HaAretz</i>, he is trustworthy.” They said to him, “[If] for his own consumption he is not trustworthy, how can he be trustworthy with that which belongs to another?”
Tosefta Demai
[If a man] was trustworthy but his wife was not trustworthy, we may purchase [produce] from him but we may not be guests at his house, and [that is so] even though the [Sages] said, behold, he is like one who dwells with a snake in a wicker basket (i.e., his wife will control what is served and he will not interfere). [If] his wife is trustworthy but he is not trustworthy, we may be guests and his house, but we may not purchase [produce] from them. [If] he is trustworthy and one of his sons is trustworthy, or one of his (male) servants is trustworthy [see Lieberman, ואחד מעבדיו נאמן], or one of his female servants is trustworthy, we purchase [produce] and we eat [their produce at their homes] on their word [that their produce is tithed] and we prepare food for them. [But] during Shevi'it (the seventh year of the agricultural cycle, when fields must lie fallow) as as to Taharot (foods requiring preparation in a state of ritual purity), we are not allowed to do that (i.e., trust them at their word). [Note: Unlike a chaver, one who is "only" trustworthy is only trusted in regards to tithing, but not as to whether produce was grown during Shevi'it, or in matters of Taharot, see, e.g., Dem. 2:2, Dem. 2:3, Dem. 3:4.]
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