Study Bava Metzia folio 45B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שמא ישהה עליותיו, דזימנין דלא מלו זוזי בדינרא ולא מסיק. ובית הלל סברי: לא גזרינן שמא ישהה עליותיו, דכי לא מלו נמי בדינרא אסוקי מסיק להו. אבל בפירות על דינרין – דברי הכל מחללינן, דכיון דמרקבי לא משהי להו.
lest one delay his ascension to Jerusalem due to this exchange, as sometimes the silver coins do not amount to the entire gold dinar, and he will not ascend to Jerusalem until he has collected enough silver dinars to exchange for a gold dinar. And Beit Hillel hold: We do not issue a decree lest he delay his ascension, as even if the silver coins do not amount to the entire gold dinar he will ascend with the silver coins. But with regard to desacralizing produce with dinars, everyone agrees that we desacralize produce in this manner, due to the fact that since the produce rots, he certainly does not delay taking the produce to Jerusalem until they equal an entire gold dinar.
וחד אמר: אפילו בפירות על דינרין נמי מחלוקת.
And one said: Even with regard to the exchange of produce for dinars there is a dispute, due to the concern that one will delay bringing his produce to Jerusalem until the value of his second-tithe produce is equal to a gold coin.
בשלמא להך לישנא דאמרת דמדאורייתא משרא שרי ורבנן הוא דגזרו ביה – היינו דקתני ״יעשה״ ו״לא יעשה״, אלא להך לישנא דאמרת דמדאורייתא פליגי: מחללינן ולא מחללינן מבעי ליה? קשיא.
The Talmud asks: Granted, according to that version of the dispute in which you said that everyone agrees the exchange of silver sela coins for gold dinars is permitted by Torah law and it is the rabbis who issued a decree forbidding it, this is the reason that the dispute between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai is taught in terms of the formulation: One may do, and: One may not do, as this is the language of a prohibition ab initio. But according to that version of the dispute in which you said that it is with regard to the halakha by Torah law that they disagree, it should have been phrased in terms of the formulation: We desacralize, and: We do not desacralize, since if the practice is forbidden by Torah law, the exchange of silver sela coins for gold dinars is ineffective even after the fact. The Talmud concludes: Indeed, according to the latter version, it is difficult.