Bava Batra 90 – Market Distorters

Those who hoard produce, who lend on interest, who reduce the size of their measures, and who distort the markets, concerning them it says, "...you who swallow up the needy and cause the poor of the land to fail...God has sworn... I will never forget any of their deeds."

Hoarders are market manipulators who engineer price increases in food staples by hoarding large stores of food and then selling at these higher prices. Lending money on interest by one Jew to another is prohibited. Reducing the size of the measure means cheating the buyer. Market manipulators are those who cause staple food prices to rise artificially. The prohibition does not apply to specialty food items, such as spices.

Art: A Day at the Market by Albert Chevallier Tayler

Bava Batra 89 – Honest Measures

The punishment for false measures is more severe than that for illicit relationships. Regarding "..all these..." illicit relationships, a shorter form of "these" - "el" is used, but regarding false measures, "...all who do these..." a more extended form, "eleh" is used. Why? One cannot remember all those he has cheated and return money to them.

"You shall not have false measures in your house..." - why in your house? It is forbidden everywhere! This teaches that "you shall not have in your house" because of false measures.

In some places, sellers customarily add a little extra to the scale on which the produce is weighted, while in others, they add a little after weighing. Deviating from the prevailing custom is not recommended because it may lead an onlooker to make a mistake in the future.

Art: The Courtship by Thomas Cowperthwait Eakins

Bava Batra 88 – Just Weights

A wholesaler must wipe his measures clean once every thirty days and a householder once every twelve months. This law applies to measures used for liquids that leave a residue, such as wine or oil. Since the residue tends to settle in the measure and congeal, the measure must be cleaned periodically. Since a wholesaler sells frequently, his measure tends to gather residue more quickly.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that the opposite is true. Since the wholesaler uses the measure more frequently, the residue that gathers in it does not congeal between uses. Therefore, the wholesaler must wipe his measures once every twelve months and a householder – once every thirty days.

The phrase “A perfect and just weight you shall have...” also teaches that the seller must act justly and give the buyer a little extra.

Art: An Old Man Weighing Gold by Quiringh Gerritsz van Brekelenkam

Bava Batra 87 – Selling Wine or Oil

If one was selling wine or oil to his fellow, and after the price was fixed, the merchandise appreciated or depreciated, who stands to gain or lose?

If the price changed before the measuring vessel was complete, it changed for the seller. If the price increases, the seller can retract and insist on a higher price. If it fell, the buyer can retract and hold out for a lower price. Once the measure is filled, the buyer acquires the merchandise, and the deal is final.

But how can this ruling be true? If the container belongs to the seller, he owns the merchandise until the buyer takes delivery. And if it belongs to the buyer, he acquires every measure as it is poured in. The answer is that the container belongs to a middleman, who loans it to the seller while filling it, then loans it to the buyer after it's full.

Art: Still Life - Post, Bottle, Cup, and Fruit by Paul Cezanne

Bava Batra 86 – Pulling is Ineffective if Lifting is Possible

As we have learned elsewhere, movable items can be formally acquired by pulling them into the buyer's domain. However, this is only true for items that are generally not lifted. Items that are usually lifted can't be acquired by pulling at all.

But is that true? Consider the following case: one who steals a bag of money on Shabbat by pulling it out of the house is not liable to pay since he is liable with his life for carrying on Shabbat. We see that he acquires the bag by pulling it, even though usually, money bags are lifted!

Rebuttal: You know what we are dealing with here? A bag that's too big to be lifted. Therefore, the rule stands, and pulling is usually ineffective as a method of acquisition if lifting is possible.

Art: Pulling a Dory by Winslow Homer

Bava Batra 85 – One's Container Formalizes Acquisition

Rav and Shmuel both said, "A person's container can formalize acquisition for him in any place – except in the public domain." Rabbi Yochanan and Resh Lakish both said, "Even in the public domain."

A person's container can act as his courtyard to acquire items placed in it, provided that the container is placed in a domain where the owner has the right to place it. Thus, a buyer can acquire items in the seller's domain by placing them in his container, provided that the seller gives him the right to place the container there. One can also place containers in the public domain—but not keep them there permanently.

However, they don't argue. The first ruling concerns a public thoroughfare, and the second concerns the quiet, recessed area of the public domain, to which people step to discuss business.

Art: The Grain Sifters by Gustave Courbet

Bava Batra 84 – Buying a Pile of Produce

Suppose one sells produce to his fellow at an agreed-upon price. In that case, the seller agrees to sell a pile of produce to the buyer at such-and-such price per measure, and the buyer agrees to take it all and pay whatever the total comes to if the buyer pulls the produce to himself, even though he did not measure it; he acquired it. Since the price has been agreed upon, the measurement serves only to calculate the total amount of money owed.

If he only measured it, he did not acquire it. However, this refers only to the seller. If the buyer measured it, his act of measurement would constitute lifting, the best possible way of formalizing acquisition, in which case he would have acquired it even without pulling it to himself.

Art: The Threshing of the Grain by Carl Larsson