פירוש על בבא מציעא 4:7

האונאה ארבעה כסף – for the purchase of a Selah which is a twenty-four silver Ma’ot. It is found that fraud is one-sixth as we have said. And [the Tanna of the Mishnah] repeated it because he had to teach about pleas/claims which are two silver Ma’ot (see Mishnah Shevuot, Chapter 6, Mishnah 1).

Introduction Mishnayoth seven and eight are not directly connected to the subject matter of the chapter. Rather they both contain lists of laws that revolve around certain amounts of money. Mishnah seven lists minimum amounts of money that are needed to enact certain laws. Mishnah eight lists “fifths”, places in Jewish law where a person must pay an added fifth of something. Remember, the Mishnah is oral law. Lists such as these were probably easy to remember.

הטענה שתי כסף – for there is no oath imposed by the judges on a claim which is less than two silver [M’ah], for his plea is equivalent to two silver M’ah that I have in your hand, and he would admit from them the equivalent of a Perutah/penny, and denies the rest, or he admits to the entire thing and denies a Perutah.

Fraud is four pieces of silver. As we learned in mishnah three of this chapter, fraud is considered to be an overcharge or an undercharge of 1/6 of a sale. Four pieces of silver are 1/6 of a sela which consists of 24 pieces of silver. If the sale was over or under by four pieces of silver per sela, the sale is potentially fraudulent.

ההודאה שוה פרוטה – to be a partial admission that he would be liable to take an oath.

A claim is [a minimum] of two pieces of silver. An admission is [a minimum] of that which is worth a perutah. If Reuven claims in court that Shimon owes him a certain amount of money and Shimon admits that he owes part of the amount but not the full amount, the court can make Shimon swear that he does not owe the full amount. In order for the court to make Shimon swear he must deny owing an amount not less than two pieces of silver (the claim, section one) and admit to owing an amount not less than a perutah, the smallest coin that exists (the admission, section two).

המוצא שוה פרוטה – but less than this, he is not obligated to announce, as it is written (Deuteronoomy 22:3): “[…and so too shall you do with anything] that your fellow loses [and you find: you must not remain indifferent],” except for a lost object that is not worth the equivalent of a Perutah.

There are five [rules involving] that which is worth a perutah: An admission is [a minimum] of that which is worth a perutah. A woman can be betrothed with that which is worth a perutah. Someone who benefits a perutah’s worth from that which belongs to the sanctuary has committed sacrilege. One who finds that which is worth a perutah must proclaim it [as a lost object]. One who steals that which is worth a perutah from his fellow and swears [falsely] to him [that he did not steal it], must go after him [to return it] even as far as Medea. The mishnah lists five laws for which a perutah is the required amount. 1) The admission mentioned in the previous section of the mishnah. 2) A woman can be betrothed by the man giving her something which must be worth at least a perutah (see Kiddushin 1:1). Today this is usually done by giving a ring. 3) If a person benefits from something that belongs to the Temple he has committed sacrilege and he will have to bring a sacrifice to atone for his sin. He is only obligated for this sacrifice if this benefit was worth a perutah. 4) If a person finds something worth a perutah and it is one of the things which must be proclaimed as lost, he must proclaim it. If, however, it is worth less than a perutah he need not proclaim it. 5) If a person steals from his fellow and then falsely swears to him that he did not steal, in order to make atonement he must return the object to its owner no matter how far away the owner may be (See Bava Kamma 9:5). If, however, the stolen item was worth less than a perutah he need not do so.

יוליכנו אחריו – if he admit that he swore falsely, for then, he has no atonement until he actually returns it to his hand, and not to the hand of his agent, as it is written (Numbers 5:7): “…giving to him who he has wronged.”