Não se pode dizer ao seu vizinho: "Empresta-me um kor de trigo, e eu o devolverei na época da colheita"; mas ele pode dizer-lhe: "Empresta-me até meu filho chegar" ou "até que eu encontre a chave". [Pois, como ele produz (é produzido), é legítimo, os sábios decretaram (contra) somente quando ele não o possui. E mesmo que ele tenha apenas um sa'ah, ele pode emprestar vários kor nele. Pois, com cada um de nós dizemos, esse será o seu substituto, não sendo adquirido pelo credor e permitido ao mutuário vendê-lo ou comê-lo. E quando ele pede emprestado cada um, ele o faz licitamente.] E assim Hillel disse: Uma mulher não pode emprestar um pão ao seu vizinho até que o "converta" em dinheiro, para que o trigo não se torne mais caro e eles venham a ribith (transgressão) . [A halachá não está de acordo com Hillel, mas com os sábios, que dizem que alguém pode emprestar e retribuir "sem graça" (isto é, sem "conversão")].
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
הלויני עד שיבוא בני – because he has it (i.e., a Kor of wheat), it is all right. For the Rabbis did not make the decree other than when he didn’t have i. And if he didn’t have it other than one Seah, he would lend upon it several Kors, and on each one we would say, “this is in its place,” for it is not purchased/acquired by the lender, and it is in the hand of the borrower to sell it or to consume, and when he lends it ech one of them, he is lending with legal permission (i.e., it is a legitimate action).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
One should not say to his fellow, “Lend me a kor of wheat and I will repay you at the threshing time”, but he may say, “Lend it to me until my son comes”, or “until I find my key”. As we learned in the previous mishnah one cannot lend wheat and ask to receive the same amount of wheat in the future lest the wheat rise in price. If, however, the borrower has other wheat at the time he borrows from the other person, then it is permitted. The reason that this is permitted is that the borrower could have repaid the wheat immediately after receiving the loan before the price might potentially rise. The mishnah states that the borrower may say “loan me some wheat and I will repay you wheat as soon as my son comes to open my storehouse or I find the key to my storehouse”, where assumedly the borrower has wheat.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bava Metzia
וכן היה הלל אומר לא תלוה אשה – but the Halakha is not according to Hillel, but rather the Halakha is according to the Sages who say that we lend undefined and collect debts undefined.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
But Hillel used to forbid this. Moreover Hillel used to say, “A woman may not lend a loaf of bread to her neighbor unless she determines its value in money, lest wheat should rise in price and they are found to be engaging in usury.” Hillel was stricter in this matter and forbid this type of loan even if the borrower has wheat in his possession. Hillel forbid even a casual loan of a loaf of bread from one woman to her neighbor unless she set a price in money. Again, Hillel is concerned that the price of wheat would rise and she would receive interest in return for giving her bread to her friend.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bava Metzia
Questions for Further Thought: • Why would the mishnah teach a stringency that Rabban Gamaliel accepted upon himself if it is not obligatory upon others? • What is the difference between Rabban Gamaliel and Hillel?
