פירוש על דמאי 5:4

פלטר – he that purchases many loaves at one time from the bakery shop and afterwards sells them one-by-one in the marketplace.

Introduction In yesterday’s mishnah we learned of how one tithes when one buys loaves of bread from an am haaretz baker. Today we learn how one tithes when one buys from a bread seller, the merchant who buys bread from the bakers to sell it retail.

מעשר מכל דפוס ודפוס דברי רבי מאיר – for Rabbi Meir holds that a bakery shop that purchases from two or three bakers, and we say that this mold he brought from this baker and that mold [he purchased] from another baker. But Rabbi Yehuda holds that he bought [only] from one baker and even though they (i.e., the loaves) are from different molds, all of them are from one baker. Therefore, if all of them were from yesterday or all of them from today, he separates tithes from one to cover all of them according to the law of the baker.

If one bought from a bread seller he must tithe every mould [separately], the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Meir is strict and rules that one must separate tithes separately for each type of mould. Each baker would use a slightly different mould to shape his loaves, and therefore loaves of different moulds can be assumed to come from different bakers.

מנפול (a trading mart enjoying a monopoly)– he purchases from many bakery shops and sells to others, and since he is accustomed to purchase from many people, a person who purchases from him tithes for each and every one. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Judah says: he may give tithes from one mould for all the others. Rabbi Judah holds that bread dealers buy from only one baker. Therefore, even if there are different moulds, he can separate tithes from one for the other.

But Rabbi Judah agrees that one who bought from a monopolist he must tithe every mould [separately]. Rabbi Judah agrees that if one bread dealer has a monopoly over selling bread in the city, then he must tithe for each mould separately. In this case, since he is the only one selling bread in town and there is more than one baker, it is obvious that the bread seller has bought from more than one baker. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for “monopolist” is “monpol.” This is the first time I’ve ever seen that word in rabbinic Hebrew. Cool.