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394 3aTaa Mezi'a Babel, Tower of

most important of which are the common use of the forests as pasture for cattle, and the common right of fishing

Sea of Tiberias (81a). (c) Ezra introduced ten rules (" tekanot "), among them the reading of a section of the Pentateuch on Sabbath afternoon (" minhah "), on Monday and on Thursday, and the holding of the sittings of the court (het din) on Mondays and Thursdays (82a). (d) Two officers were once sent by the Roman .governor to Rabban Gamaliel to be instructed in the Jewish law. When they had finished the study they declared to Rabban Gamaliel that the laws (referring probably to the civil code of laws) were all just and praiseworthy, with the exception of two that make The rabbi .a distinction between Jew and heathen. thereupon ordered the inequality to be removed (Bab. 38c, and Yer. iv. 45). (e) Rabbi Johanan used to give to his servant part of every thing he was eating or drinking, saying, "Is not his Creator also my Creator?" (Job xxxi. 15; Yer.

in the

viii. tic).

(/)

At the

funeral of King Hezekiah a scroll of the on the bier, with the words, "This fulfilled what is written in this [scroll]

Law was [man]

394

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

laid

nothing) in chaps, i.-v. (2) shomer sakar (keep" ing for remuneration) in chaps, vi.-vii. (3) " shotH (borrower) in chap. viii. 1-3; and (4) "sakir" (a thing hired) in chap. viii. 6). Mishnahs viii. 4, 5 are without connection with the main subject, and owe their place here to some accidental relationship.



Shomer Hinnam ("honorary He who finds lost property

i.-v.):

trustee,"

chaps,

has to keep

it

as

"shomer hinnam" until he can restore it to the rightThe regulations as to ful owner (Deut. xxii. 1-3). what constitutes finding, what to do with the things found, how to guard against false

how to take care of the property found, under what conditions the finder of a thing is bound to take care, of it, and under what conditions he is not so obligated— all this is explained in the first two chapters. A trustee who takes no payment is only responsible for such loss of the entrusted property as has been caused through the trustee's negligence (" peshi'ah "). The mode of procedure in such cases, and the regulations concerning eventual fines, are treated in iii. 1; all other laws concerning the reHonorary

claimants,

Trustee.

sponsibilities

and the rights of the shomer hinnam are 4-12.

(Bab. 17a).

contained in

Some noteworthy explanations of Biblical texts may be added. The words "ka'asher yeba'er ha-

Chap. iv. contains various laws concerning sale and exchange. The mere payment of money does not constitute the sale and the buyer may legally cancel the sale and claim the return of the money, unless he has "drawn" the thing bought away from its place: this "drawing" ("meshikah ") makes the Until such act is performed the seller is sale final.

galal " (I Kings xiv. 10) are quoted as meaning (Babli 3a; see Rashi, ml loc.) "as the tooth destroyeth " (A. V. "as a man sweepeth the dung"). "Erek appayim " (" slow to anger," Ex. xxxi v. 6) is interpreted " long-suffering to both the righteous and the wicked " (ib. 50b), on account of the dual form. Biblical verse is quoted according to its sense and not literally, as, for example (ib. 815 compare B. M. 76a), "mihyot tob al tikkare ra' " (when thou art kind, thou shalt not be called bad); then the question is raised, "Is it written so?" and the verse Prov. iii. 27 is cited.

A



Bibliography J.



See

Baba Batra.

M. P.

SR.

BABA MEZI'A ("The Middle Gate"): The second of the three Talmudic tractates of the order NeziIt treats of man's responsibility with regard to the property of his fellow-man that has come lawfully into his possession for the present, and of which he is considered as trustee. The tractate is based on Ex. xxii. 6-14 (A. V. 7-15). In this passage four kinds of trustees are distinguished: (a) One who keeps the thing entrusted to him without remuneration (verses 6-8) (A) one who is paid for keeping the trust (verses 9-12) (e) one who keeps a thing entrusted to him for a certain time for his own use without paying for its use (verses 13, 14a) and (d) a trustee who keeps a thing for his own use and pays for using it (145). The text does not clearly state the characteristic difference between the first two kinds of trustees; but tradition bases this interpretation on the fact that the things mentioned in verse 6 are generally entrusted to a friend who keeps them without remuneration, while the trust described in verse 9 is, as a rule, kept on the payment of a cerIn the Mishnah of Baba Mezi'a these four tain fee. trustees (" arba'ah shomerim") are treated in the following order: (1) "shomer hinnam" (keeping for

kin.







iii.



to

Sale and Trust.

some extent a shomer hinnam

money

paid.

Similarly

of

may

the buyer become a shomer hinnam of the thing bought, if, on finding that he has been cheated, he wants to cancel the sale, to return the thing bought, and to claim the money back. What constitutes cheating (" onaah ") is defined in the

the course of this chapter. See Alienation. Chap. v. treats of the laws concerning interest, which have nothing in common with the laws concerning shomer hinnam beyond the fact that taking interest and cheating ("onaah" of chap, iv.) both consist of an illegal addition to what is actually due.

The laws prohibiting the taking

of interest are very business transactions that in any way resemble the taking of interest. The two terms for taking interest, " neshek " (interest) and "tarbit" (increase), used in the Pentateuch (Lev. xxv. 36) are explained and illustrated by examples (v. 1-10). According to the Mishnah " the lender, who takes interest, the borrower who pays it, the witnesses, the security, and the clerk who writes the document, are all guilty of having broken the law concerning interest " (v. 11). See Interest, severe,

and extend to

all

Usury.

Shomer Sakar ("a paid trustee," chaps, vi.-vii.): He is liable to pay for all losses except those caused by an accident (" ones "). He has to swear that such an accident happened, and

Paid

is

thereupon

from payment (vii. 8-10). The exTrustee, ample given in the Mishnah of shomer sakar is that of an artisan who undertakes to produce certain work out of a given material. If the material is spoiled, or the work produced free