Menachot 153

Chapter 153

א עשרה לחמץ עשרון לחלה ועשרה למצה ובמצה שלש מינין חלות רקיקין ורבוכה נמצאו שלשה עשרונים ושליש לכל מין ומין ושלש חלות לעשרון

1 TEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES', ONE TENTH FOR EACH CAKE; 'AND TEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED. OF UNLEAVENED CAKES THERE WERE THREE KINDS: CAKES, WAFERS, AND SOAKED CAKES,1

ב ובמדה ירושלמית היו שלשים קב חמשה עשר לחמץ וחמשה עשר למצה חמשה עשר לחמץ קב ומחצה לחלה חמשה עשר למצה ובמצה שלש מינין חלות ורקיקין ורבוכה נמצאו חמשת קבין לכל מין ומין ושתי חלות לקב:

2 THUS THERE WERE THREE AND A THIRD TENTHS OF FLOUR FOR EACH KIND, THREE CAKES TO EVERY TENTH. BY JERUSALEM MEASURE THEY WERE THIRTY KABS,2

ג <big>גמ׳</big> התודה היתה באה חמש סאין ירושלמיות מנא הני מילי אמר רב חסדא דאמר קרא (יחזקאל מה, יא) האיפה והבת תוכן אחד יהיה (לכם) מה בת שלש סאין אף איפה שלש סאין

3 FIFTEEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES AND FIFTEEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED.' FIFTEEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES', ONE KAB AND A HALF FOR EACH CAKE; 'AND FIFTEEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED'.

ד ובת גופא מנלן אילימא מדכתיב (יחזקאל מה, יא) לשאת (את) מעשר החומר הבת איפה נמי הכתיב (יחזקאל מה, יא) ועשירית החומר האיפה אלא חומר לא ידענא כמה הכא נמי לא ידענא כמה

4 OF THE UNLEAVENED CAKES THERE WERE THREE KINDS: CAKES, WAFERS, AND SOAKED CAKES, THUS THERE WERE FIVE KABS FOR EACH KIND, TWO CAKES TO EVERY KAB. <big>GEMARA: </big>THE THANK-OFFERING REQUIRED FIVE SE'AHS [OF FLOUR].

ה אלא מהכא (יחזקאל מה, יד) וחק השמן הבת השמן ומעשר הבת מן הכור עשרת הבתים חומר כי עשרת הבתים חומר

5 JERUSALEM MEASURE etc. Whence do we know this?3 - R'Hisda said, From the verse, The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure;4

ו אמר שמואל אין מוסיפין על המדות יותר משתות ולא על המטבע יותר משתות והמשתכר לא ישתכר יותר משתות

6 as the bath is three se'ahs so the ephah is three se'ahs. But whence do we know this of the bath?

ז מאי טעמא אילימא משום אפקועי תרעא אי הכי שתות נמי לא

7 Shall we say, because it is written, That the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer?5 Then the same is said of the ephah too, And the ephah the tenth part of a homer!6

ח אלא משום אונאה כי היכי דלא ליהוי ביטול מקח והא אמר רבא כל דבר שבמדה ושבמשקל ושבמנין אפילו פחות מכדי אונאה חוזר

8 But [you will say that the latter verse proves nothing as] we do not know how much the homer is, then the same applies to the former verse, since we do not know how much the homer is! - Rather it is derived from the following verse: And the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, shall be the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; for baths are a homer.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 14. The cor was known to be thirty se'ahs, thus this verse informs us that the bath was a tenth part of the cor, i.e., three se'ahs; and the ephah and the bath were of one measure (ibid. 11) .');">7 Samuel said,8

ט אלא משום תגרא כי היכי דלא למטייה דיאנה דיאנה הוא דלא לימטייה רוחא לא בעי זבן וזבין תגרא איקרי

9 They may not increase the measures9 by more than a sixth, neither the coins by more than a sixth, and the profits [on necessary foods] must not exceed a sixth.10

י אלא אמר רב חסדא שמואל קרא אשכח ודרש (יחזקאל מה, יב) השקל עשרים גרה עשרים שקלים חמשה ועשרים שקלים עשרה וחמשה שקל המנה יהיה לכם מנה מאתן וארבעין הוו

10 What is the reason [for his first statement]? If it be said that the market prices will rise [above due proportions on that account].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For merchants, learning of the increase in the weights and measures of this town, will immediately raise the prices of commodities, and taking advantage of this will raise them higher than what is warranted by the change in the measures.');">11

יא אלא שמע מינה תלת שמע מינה מנה של קודש כפול היה ושמע מינה מוסיפין על המדות ואין מוסיפין יותר משתות ושמע מינה שתותא מלבר

11 then [for the same reason] it should not [be permitted to increase] even by a sixth! And if it be said that it is so on th score of overreaching, so that the transaction be not annulled,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It is established that in any transaction if an error is made which is more than a sixth of the value of the goods the transaction is void; if it is exactly a sixth, the transaction stands but the amount of error must be returned; if less than a sixth the transaction is valid and there is no redress. V. B.M. 50b. Now if weights and measures may be increased by more than a sixth, then traders who were ignorant of the increase and who sell their goods in the present measures at the former prices would be defrauded by more than a sixth, with the effect that all their dealings would be declared void. In order to obviate this the increase in weights and measures was limited to a sixth.');">12 but surely Raba said, On account of any fraud in measure, weight or number, even though it is less than the standard of overreaching, one can retract.13

יב אמר רבינא מתני' נמי דיקא דקתני תודה היתה באה חמש סאין ירושלמיות שהן שש מדבריות שמע מינה:

12 And if it be said [that the reason why no more than a sixth may be added to weights is] that the dealer may not incur any loss,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A dealer is allowed to make a profit of one sixth on a transaction. By limiting the increase to a sixth a dealer who sells his goods ignorant of the increase will at most lose his profit but will not suffer any loss.');">14 [it will be retorted]. Is [then the whole purpose of the law that] he be guarded against loss? Is he not entitled to make any profit? 'Buy and sell [at no profit] merely to be called a merchant!' - Rather, said R'Hisda, Samuel found a Scriptural text and expounded it: And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, ten and five shekels shall be your maneh.15 Was then the maneh two hundred and forty denars?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The maneh according to Ezekiel was 20 + 25 + 15 shekels = 60 shekels = 240 denars (one shekel = 4 denars) , whereas elsewhere throughout the Talmud it is established that the maneh was 25 shekels = 100 denars.');">16 But three things are to be inferred from this: it is to be inferred that the Temple maneh was doubled;17 it is to be inferred that they may increase the measures18 but that they may not increase them by more than a sixth; and it is to be inferred that the sixth is added 'from the outside'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So as to add a sixth 'from the outside' the original was divided into five parts, and another part of equal value, making a sixth one, was added to it. Thus the maneh consisted of 240 denars.');">19 Rabina said, This20 may be proved from our Mishnah which states: THE THANK-OFFERING REQUIRED FIVE SE'AHS [OF FLOUR], JERUSALEM MEASURE, WHICH ARE SIX SE'AHS WILDERNESS MEASURE.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It is evident that the Jerusalem se'ah was made to equal one se'ah and a fifth of the wilderness se'ah, thus there was an increase of one fifth, which in Rabbinic parlance is 'one sixth from the outside'.');">21 This obviously proves it.

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