Weekly DAFootnotes
Bava Metzia 16-22
Issue #20
23-29 Kislev 5762 / 8-14 Dec. 2001 
By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions
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JUST AND GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

"You shall do what is just and what is good." (Devarim 6:18)

Rashi, in his commentary on Torah, writes that this is a reference to going 
beyond the letter of the law by making a compromise between the 
litigants.  In our Weekly Dafootnotes several weeks ago (Bava Kama 
100-106) we cited a different source (Shmot 18:20) for going beyond the 
letter of the law and quoted Maharsha's comment on a later gemara 
(Bava Metzia 30b) that such ideal behavior cannot be dictated by the 
court and is entirely dependent on the good will of the litigants.

In regard to the above mentioned passage, our gemara indicates that the 
standard of being "just and good" can be imposed by the court.  If a 
debtor fails to make payment of his loan, the court confiscates his landed 
property and awards it to his creditor.  Should the debtor subsequently 
come into some money and wish to redeem the field from his creditor, the 
latter is obligated to return the field to him despite his desire to retain it 
and waive the debt.  The reason given is that the creditor is expected to be 
"just and good."

Another application of enforcing this moral standard is found later in our 
Mesechta (108a) in regard to the concept of "bar metzra."  One who sells 
a property must give priority to a buyer who owns property adjacent to it.  
Should he sell to one who has no adjacent property, the neighbor (bar 
metzra) can compel this distant buyer to sell the property to him.  The 
reason once again is the need to be "just and good."  The other buyer can 
find properties elsewhere to purchase, so he must concede priority to the 
owner of the adjacent property so that he will not have the inconvenience 
of separated parcels of property.

Bava Metzia 16b

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THE SECRET OF THE AGENT

Just as the Torah required an Israelite to tithe his produce and give it to 
the Levite, so too was the Levite required to tithe this ma'aser which he 
received and give trumat ma'aser to the kohen.

This parallel is expressed in the passage (Bamidbar 18:28) commanding 
the Levites "So shall you also separate…from all your tithes."

The word "gam" (also) appearing in this passage seems superfluous; the 
obligation of the Levite to tithe in the manner of the Israelite would have 
been just as clear without this word.  It is therefore interpreted by our 
Sages as a guideline to the laws of agency (shlichut) in tithing.

While the gemara elsewhere (Kiddushin 41b) identifies other Torah 
sources for the rule that the actions of a person's agent are considered as 
his own, there are reasons why the Torah employs the extra word "gam" 
in the passage concerning tithing.

One of those reasons is mentioned in our gemara.  Should the agent do 
the tithing without the approval of the produce's owner, his tithing is 
invalid.  This is based on the equation which the Torah makes between 
the "atem" (you) and the "gam" (the agent).  Just as you, the owner, only 
tithe by yourself with full awareness, so too must the agent do the tithing 
with the full awareness of the owner, i.e., he must be appointed an agent.

In the aforementioned gemara in Kiddushin we find another application 
of this equation.  A non-Jew, even if appointed, cannot serve as an agent 
for tithing.  Just as you, the owner, are a Jew, states Rabbi Yannai, so too 
must your agent be Jewish.

Bava Metzia 22a

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