The Weekly Daf #25 Bava Metzia 37-43 Week of 13-19 Av 5756 / 21-27 July 1994 By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions ========================================================================= This issue is dedicated in memory of Shimon Yishaya z"l ben HaRav Chono Menachem Mendel Shlit"a. ========================================================================= Rodent Rascals The Case: A man who is entrusted with safekeeping the grain of his neighbor stores this wheat together with his own. When the time comes to return the grain at the end of the year he is entitled to deduct a certain percentage which is assumed to be the normal loss due to rodents. For every 180 kav received he may deduct one fortieth -- 4 1/2 kav -- as the amount rodents customarily consume in the course of a year. The Problem: If rodents are only capable of consuming 4 1/2 kav of wheat why should he be able to deduct this amount from every 180 kav? What difference does it make to the rodents whether there is a lot or a little -- they always eat as much as they can and leave the rest? The Solution: The rodents are real rascals. When they see that there is a lot of wheat they not only eat themselves full but invite their friends to join them. Bava Metzia 40a ========================================================================= When 1 Means More Than 9 The Case: A man who is entrusted with safekeeping the grain of his neighbor notices that this grain is threatened with virtual annihilation by rodents or spoilage. If he takes the initiative of selling the grain he can return to the owner enough money to purchase nine kav of grain. If he allows the spoilage to proceed only a single kav of the original grain will remain. The ruling of the Sages is that he should not touch the grain but rather allow things to take their course. The Problem: Since there is a responsibility to restore lost property to its owner there should be an obligation on this man to prevent a loss to the owner of the grain by selling it before it spoils. The Solution: Human psychology is such that a person has a special attachment to something that he worked to produce. It is therefore assumed that the owner prefers being left with one kav of his own original grain to having even nine kav of someone else's grain as a result of his own grain being sold. Bava Metzia 38a ========================================================================= SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: dafyomi - "The Weekly Daf," Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into and comments on the seven pages of Talmud studied this week. Always interesting and CONTROVERSIAL reading! ask - Ask the Rabbi Column. Rabbi Yehoshua Karsh, of Ohr Somayach Jerusalem, answers YOUR questions on Judaism. weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion, plus summaries of commentaries from various sources. Designed for ALL readers, from INTRODUCTORY to ADVANCED. parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion. Includes the answers so you can check yourself! os-special A list devoted to bringing to you all the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach Institutions. Sho'el U'meshiv Join our "virtual Beis Medrash" and R. Efraim Yawitz will try to find you an answer to your question on Gemara, Rishonim, or Acharonim on any level welcome. This is NOT a list, but an exclusive one-on-one service offered by Ohr Somayach. Set your subject to "SHOEL:" and send your mail to the "newman" account. There is NEVER a charge for any of the above lists (though your local information provider, such as Prodigy or CompuServe, might charge a nominal fee). To subscribe to any of these lists, send the message: subscribe {listname} {firstname} {lastname} to: listserv@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il This address is only for SUBSCRIPTIONS. If you have any comments, questions and suggestions, we'd love to hear them! Send them to: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il Remember, these are all INTERNET addresses. Compuserve users must preface the address with "INTERNET:" ========================================================================= Dedication opportunities are available for The Weekly Daf Please contact us for details. ========================================================================= Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 02-810315 Fax: 02-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet: newman@jerusalem1.datasrv.co.il ========================================================================= (C) 1994 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission.