Commentary for Bava Kamma 18:2
אלא אמר ר' זירא בהידור מצוה עד שליש במצוה
R. Ashi queried: Is it a third from within [the ordinary expense]<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., 33-1/3 per cent. of the cost of ordinary performance, the cost of the ordinary performance and that of the exemplary performance would thus stand to each other as 3 to 4. ');"><sup>1</sup></span>
Tosafot on Bava Kamma
Up to one third of the mitzvah. The Gemara has altered its initial understanding of R’ Zeira’s statement. He did not mean that one must spend a third of his assets for a mitzvah. Rather, he must add a third for beautifying the mitzvah. How does one measure a third of a mitzvah? Rashi says that the additional third is also measured in money. If one finds an esrog with which he can fulfill the minimal requirements of the mitzvah and he has the option of spending more money to purchase a finer esrog, he must spend an additional third. Tosafot has a different view about how we measure the additional third of the performance of mitzvos.
The explanation is: That if one found an esrog the size of a walnut which is the minimum size that the sages have calculated for fulfilling the mitzvah, and another esrog a third larger than the first is available, he should buy the larger esrog.
Tosafot measures the third for beautifying a mitzvah not by the amount of money needed for the minimum requirement but by the object of the mitzvah itself, as in the case of the esrog as Tosafot explains it.
The explanation is: That if one found an esrog the size of a walnut which is the minimum size that the sages have calculated for fulfilling the mitzvah, and another esrog a third larger than the first is available, he should buy the larger esrog.
Tosafot measures the third for beautifying a mitzvah not by the amount of money needed for the minimum requirement but by the object of the mitzvah itself, as in the case of the esrog as Tosafot explains it.
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