Bava Metzia - Daf 65
- מרבין על השכר ואין מרבין על המכר
The next Mishnah states: מרבין על השכר – One may increase the rent of his property for delayed payment, ואין מרבין על המכר – but one may not increase the purchase price of a sale because of delayed payment. The Mishnah explains that one may tell a renter, “If you pay me the entire year in advance, the price is ten selaim, but if you pay monthly, the price is a sela per month (totaling twelve).” However, one selling property cannot say, “If you pay now, the price is one thousand zuz, but if you pay during the threshing season, the price is twelve hundred zuz. Rabbah and Rav Yosef explained the difference: שכירות אינה משתלמת אלא בסוף – rent is only owed at the end of the term. Since the money is owed at the end of each month (not the beginning of the year), the monthly price of a sela is its actual value, and not a charge for delayed payment. Rather, the owner is offering him a reduced rate for paying beforehand. Regarding a sale, where payment is owed immediately, any increase in price for delayed payment is ribbis.
- טרשא – selling on credit at a higher price
Rav Nachman said: טרשא שרי – [selling on credit for a higher price] is permitted. He was challenged from our Mishnah, which prohibits charging more for delayed payment, and Rav Nachman answered: התם קץ ליה – there, in the Mishnah, he also set for him the price for immediate payment, demonstrating that the higher price is a charge for delayed payment. הכא לא קץ ליה – Here, in Rav Nachman’s case, he did not set for him the lower price for immediate payment. Rav Pappa said his own form of טרשא is permitted. Rav Pappa produced beer and sold it on credit during the cheaper season in Tishrei, charging the higher prices of Nissan, when they would actually pay. Although it was implicit that immediate payment would be the cheaper price, he explained: שכראי לא פסיד – my beer does not spoil, and I can store it until Nissan; זוזי לא צריכנא – I am not in immediate need of money (he was wealthy and had no need to sell his beer in Tishrei). He was challenged, for although he did not profit from this credit, the buyers were paying a higher price to delay payment, so it is forbidden.
- Partial payment for a purchase which is completed retroactively upon full payment
The next Mishnah states that if someone sold a field, and after the buyer gave partial payment, the seller told him that whenever he would pay the balance, he would own the field retroactively, this is forbidden. Rav Huna said in such a case, the seller eats the produce, and Rav Anan said it is held by a third party until the owner during the interim is determined. The Gemara explains there is no argument: Rav Huna’s case is where the seller said "לכי מייתית קני" – when you bring the balance, you will acquire the field, but not earlier. Therefore, the field definitely belongs to the seller in the interim, and the produce is his. Rav Anan’s case (as well as the Mishnah’s) is where he said, "לכי מייתית קני מעכשיו" – when you bring the balance, you will acquire it retroactively from now. The field’s ownership is thus in doubt, leaving the produce prohibited to both parties. If he pays the balance, the field is retroactively his, and if the seller consumed the produce, it would be ribbis for the delayed balance. If the buyer never pays the balance, canceling the purchase, then if the buyer consumed the produce, it would be taking the seller’s produce as ribbis for “lending” him the down payment. A Baraisa adds that there are also cases where the buyer, or even both parties, may consume the produce.
