Un homme peut dire à son voisin: "Remplissez ce récipient pour moi", mais pas avec la mesure [c'est-à-dire avec un récipient utilisé pour mesurer et vendre. Mais s'il n'est pas spécifiquement utilisé pour cela, même s'il «se tient» pour remplacer le récipient de mesure régulier s'il se brise, il est permis de le remplir (on yom tov)]. R. Yehudah dit: S'il s'agissait d'un récipient de mesure, [même s'il ne l'avait pas encore assigné comme tel], il ne peut pas le remplir. [La halakha n'est pas conforme à R. Yehudah.] Une fois, Abba Shaul b. Batnith remplit ses mesures le soir de yom, [il était interdit de mesurer le yom tov], et les donna à ses clients le jour même. Abba Shaul dit: Il l'a fait aussi sur Chol Hamoed (à cause du temps qu'il faut) pour déterminer la mesure exacte, [afin d'éviter de négliger l'étude de la Torah. Car beaucoup venaient lui faire des recherches sur Chol Hamoed, quand ils n'étaient pas occupés à leur travail; et il remplissait ses mesures la nuit, quand la maison d'étude n'était pas fréquentée, pour être libre le jour.] Et les sages disent: Il l'a fait aussi pendant la semaine à cause de l'épuisement des mesures. [Lorsqu'il a vendu de l'huile, il l'a fait avec de nombreuses mesures. Les clients apportaient leurs navires et il mesurait (le pétrole) pour chacun séparément. L'huile s'écoulait dans leurs vaisseaux toute la nuit pour qu'il ne reste plus d'huile sur les côtés de ses mesures et que les clients ne soient pas «trompés».] On peut aller chez un commerçant qu'il fréquente régulièrement et lui demander un certain nombre d'œufs ou noix; car il est de coutume que quelqu'un compte dans sa maison.
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
אבל לא במדה – a designated/special utensil for measuring that he measures and sells [produce] with it. But if it is not designated for this, even though it stands for the measurement, when this one that he measures with breaks, the other stands in its place, and he is permitted to fill with it.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Introduction
After having dealt with how one may get meat from a butcher on Yom Tov, our mishnah deals with how one can buy other food supplies from others or from a storekeeper.
We will see again that the mishnah is very concerned with protecting the atmosphere of Yom Tov. Cooking is permitted and therefore we must allow people to get things at the store (remember they had no refrigeration and probably stored very little food at home), but when they do so they should refrain from any action that would send the message that business is being conducted as usual.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
אם היה כלי של מדה – even though it has yet been designated for this purpose, he should not fill it up. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
A man may say [on Yom Tov] to his fellow, “Fill me this vessel,” but not in a specific measure. A person can bring a vessel to his friend or to a storekeeper and ask him to fill it up for him on Yom Tov with wine or oil but he may not mention to him a specific amount. Since this is not the way that business is usually conducted it is permitted on Yom Tov.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
ממלא מדותיו מעיו"ט – for we don’t measure on the Festival day.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Rabbi Judah says: if it was a measuring-vessel he may not fill it. Rabbi Judah says that this is not permitted if the vessel is one used for measuring. Although the person does not mention a specific amount, in other words, he does not say, “fill up this ten liter jug”, it is still forbidden because both he and the person giving him the wine or oil know exactly how much is being given.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
אף בחול המועד עושה כן – because of being idle from being in the House of Study, for many people would come to ask of him during the Intermediate Days when they are not busy with work and he would fill his measures at night which is not the time of study in the House of Study in order that he can be free during the daytime.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
It happened that Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to fill up his measures on the eve of Yom Tov and give them to his customers on Yom Tov. Abba Shaul says: he used to do so even during hol hamoed (the intermediate days of the, on account of clarifying the measures. But the sages say: he used also to do so on an ordinary day for the sake of the draining of the measures. In order to avoid the problem of measuring out wine or oil when giving it out on Yom Tov, Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to fill his measuring vessels before Yom Tov and then just give them out on Yom Tov. Abba Shaul says that Abba Shaul ben Batnit used to do the same thing on the intermediate days of the festival, hol hamoed. During these days people were not supposed to be doing work (we will learn this in Tractate Moed Katan) and so they had time to learn how to measure things out. Because there were so many people who came to him, he didn’t have time to fill up all of the measuring vessels that they should be completely full without any froth. Therefore he filled them up at night. Good manuscripts of the Mishnah do not contain the words “on account of clarifying the measures.” Indeed there is another explanation in the Talmud. There it says “on account of not attending the Bet Midrash.” Abba Shaul ben Batnit filled up his measuring vessels early so that he could spend all of hol hamoed teaching Torah. Rashi explains that many people would come to see him on hol hamoed because they were free from doing work, and hence he didn’t want to waste any time filling up his measures. Notice Abba Shaul ben Batnit was a businessman he just made sure that he conducted his business in a manner in which he could still teach and learn Torah. The sages say that Abba Shaul ben Batnit always filled up his measuring vessels ahead of time, even on ordinary weekdays. He would then pour from his vessels into his customers’ vessels and then wait overnight and fill them up more, depending upon how much the clay vessel had soaked up into its walls. This was his way of making sure that his customers received the full amount that they paid for.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
מפני מצוי המדות – when he would sell oil, he had many measurements, and the purchasers would bring their utensils and he would measure for each and every person with his own measuring utensil, and they would empty out everything into their utensils all night long, in order that there would be no remaining oil attached to the sides of the measuring device or on its walls and as a result he would be stealing from the purchasers.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
A man may go to a shopkeeper to whom he generally goes and say to him, “Give me [so many] eggs and nuts” since this is the way of a householder to reckon in his own home. A person can go to a storekeeper with whom he is familiar, one that will give him food now and not make him pay back until a later day. To this storekeeper he may even tell the number of eggs or nuts that he wants. This does not look like “business as usual” because the customer does not usually count the eggs or nuts until he goes home.
