Sublime

shibboleths

A merchant is permitted to take some superior produce and other inferior produce from several sources and place them in one granary from which he sells, even if the inferior produce is not obvious because there is so little of it or because its appearance resembles that of the higher quality produce. [The rationale is that] since everyone knows

Just as the prohibition against unfair gain applies with regard to purchases and sales, so too, it applies with regard to hiring out [an article],41 contracting [for a task],42 and exchanging money.43

As stated there (ibid.:11), the obligation to return the article or the money applies only when both parties are Jewish. Although it is forbidden to deceive a gentile regarding the value of merchandise, it is not forbidden to take advantage of an error the gentile makes on his own.

If, however, one promises to give a poor person25 a present — whether a large one or a small one — he cannot retract, [even] according to the letter of the law, because it is considered as a vow.26 Even if he [merely] undertook a resolution in his heart, he must carry out that resolve,27 as will be explained in Hilchos Tzedakah. 28

It is forbidden to mix a small amount of [inferior] produce into a large amount of superior produce so that [the inferior produce] will not be recognized95 and [then] sell the entire quantity under the presumption that it is [all] of higher quality.96

Devarim 15:8. Kesubos 67b infers from the Hebrew phrase employed that the mitzvah of giving charity involves giving a person not merely enough to satisfy his basic necessities, but also enough to enable him to maintain

Now, once a person makes a pledge to give a present to a poor person, by contrast, he is bound by it and it cannot be retracted. Seemingly, since giving the Levites tithes is a mitzvah like giving charity to the poor, such a promise should also be binding.

En la Torá, hay una palabra que se lee igual de izquierda a derecha, que de derecha a izquierda. Se trata de la palabra (venatenu). La palabra significa «y darás,» lo cual no existe en ningún otro idioma. Se puede interpretar, entre más das, más recibes. Es la sabiduría oculta del judaísmo.