Bava Metzia - Daf 40
- Deducting normal depletions from a פקדון of produce
The next Mishnah states: המפקיד פירות אצל חבירו – If one deposits produce with his friend, הרי זה יוציא לו חסרונות – [the שומר] deducts the expected depletion when returning it. After listing the normal rate for several grains, it concludes: הכל לפי המדה – it is all proportional according to the amount, והכל לפי הזמן – and it is all according to the length of time of the פקדון, i.e., it is deducted yearly. Rebbe Yochanan ben Nuri says: וכי מה אכפת להן לעכברין – But what do the mice care about the volume of produce? They eat the same amount regardless of the total volume!? Rather, deductions are only taken from a single kor. In a Baraisa, the Sages respond: הרבה אובדות מהן – much of [the produce] is ruined, הרבה מתפזרות מהן – and much of it is scattered, reducing the grain proportionally. A Baraisa teaches that deductions are only taken if the שומר mixed the produce with his own; otherwise, the owner simply takes whatever remains. Although the deduction should be calculable by comparing the original and current totals, the Mishnah’s case is במסתפק מהם – where he took for himself from the produce in the interim but does not know how much.
- Rebbe Yehudah: a large quantity of produce compensates for its own depletion
Rebbe Yehudah said in the Mishnah: אם היתה מדה מרובה – if [the פקדון] was a large quantity, אינו מוציא לו חסרונות – he does not deduct any depletions, מפני שמותירות – because [the produce] expands (by absorbing moisture in the rainy season) enough to make up for the depletion. Rebbe Yochanan defined a “large quantity” as ten kors. Rav Nachman interpreted a Baraisa about Rebbe Yehudah’s position as saying that deductions are only made if the grain was given to the שומר, and returned, during the “granary season” (i.e., the summer, when grain is brought to the granary), or if it was given and returned during the rainy season. However, if it was given during the granary season and returned during the rainy season, he does not take deductions, because the expansion during the rainy season compensates for the loss. Rav Pappa asked Abaye that if grain expands to such a degree, לפקע כדא – a barrel filled with grain and sealed should burst when it expands! The Gemara responds that there was indeed an incident in which a barrel burst. Alternatively, the pressure of the packed grain prevents its expansion.
- If one may mix settled שמרים back into oil when selling it
The next Mishnah lists deductions taken from deposited liquids, including the settling of שמרים – sediments in oil. Rebbe Yehudah says: אף המוכר שמן מזוקק לחבירו כל ימות השנה – even one who sells refined oil to his friend for the whole year (i.e., he commits to supply him with oil for a year, and gives him refined oil), the buyer accepts upon himself one and a half logs of שמרים for every hundred logs he purchases. Abaye explains the machlokes. Rebbe Yehudah holds: מותר לערב שמרים – it is permitted for the seller to mix settled sediment back into the pure oil, since the buyer did not specify refined oil. Therefore, since the seller could have mixed the שמרים back in to be sold as oil, when he does not mix it in and gives the buyer refined oil, the volume of שמרים is deducted. This is only if the buyer is a homeowner, who is purchasing the oil for personal use (and not for sale) and prefers a reduced amount of refined oil. The Rabbonon hold it is forbidden for a seller to mix שמרים back into oil, so the purchaser does not accept any deductions in the oil. Rav Pappa argues that the machlokes can be explained in the opposite way.
