YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- The Land of Israel
- Rain in Israel
It is difficult to understand why the sages would want to forbid a person from acting as an agent between farmer and consumer. After all, marketplace commerce revolves entirely around the selling of fruits and vegetables.
The Talmud teaches, "It is forbidden to profit in the Land of Israel from basic necessities, for example, wines, oils, and sifted flours" (Baba Batra 91a). The reference here is to buying wine and oil and fine flour from the owner in order to sell them in the market. The reason for this is "so that basic necessities will be available for sale at as low a price as possible" (Rambam, Hilkhot Mekhira 14:4).
Rain in Israel (17)
Rabbi Uzi Kalchaim zt"l
13 - A Blessing in the Marketplace
14 - Profiting from Basic Necessities
15 - Heavenly Bounty, Earthly Justice
Load More
Rashbam assumes that this does not involve much effort, "for the owner is able to find buyers without much trouble." According to him, it is possible to sell merchandise without a middleman, and the goods will also be less expensive if there is direct contact between the farmer and the consumer. This is why the sages forbade the middleman "from profiting from necessities" - in order that the blessing of the land be made available to all inexpensively.
However, it is permissible for a middleman to sell spices, cumin, pepper, etc., for such commodities are not basic necessities.
If a person invests effort in a particular harvest, it is permissible to sell as a middleman. For example, "it is permissible to buy wheat in order to make bread [and sell it], because this involves effort" (Rashbam). The same is true if one only grinds the wheat to make flour.
We have learned an import lesson here: Wherever labor and effort are involved, demanding payment is justified. What the sages sought to prevent was effortless retailing. However, when retail marketing grew and store owners developed sales expenses, Jewish law recognized their right to receive payment for their investments.
Even here, though, the rabbis forbade middlemen from selling goods for more than a sixth of their price: "Regarding the shopkeeper who sells small amounts, they estimate the store expenses and the wages for his work, and beyond this he is permitted to earn a sixth" (Arukh Hashulchan, Choshen Mishpat 231:20).
Therefore, if a person buys wheat and makes bread from it, obviously the consumer must pay for this investment, and this cannot be considered profiting from basic necessities. The seller exerts himself and may therefore request payment for his efforts.
This cannot be compared the sort of mere retailing that involves no activity at all. The law against profiting from basic necessities was aimed at minimizing such effortless retailing, which does nothing but raise prices and make the attainment of goods more burdensome.
Profiting through the sale of basic necessities was forbidden because such goods were meant to benefit humans equally. They have been given to all of us by He who "nourishes and supports all, and benefits all, and provides food for all of his creatures" (Grace after Meals). However, it is permitted to profit from nonessential commodities, and whoever is interested in such luxuries must be prepared to pay the price.
Rambam does a good job of depicting the world according to the theory that there is a direct relation between life's necessities, their price, and their availability (Guide to the Perplexed 3:12):
"You ought to consider our state of being and take note of the fact that the more vital a substance is to living creatures, the more common and inexpensive it is; and the less vital it is, the less common and more expensive it is."
Oxygen, which is extremely vital, exists everywhere and is totally free; water is more available than food, and one can find it in any populated area for less than the cost of food; fruits and vegetables are less expensive than sweets, etc. The more one moves towards luxuries, the more expensive and rarer things become.
This idea can be conveyed in the form of a pyramid. It's base is occupied with essential substances; the less vital the substance, the rarer and more expensive it is, and the higher it is on the pyramid.
Now we can better understand the rabbinic enactment to protect the blessing, so that it remain at the base of the pyramid, accessible to all.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
