Study Bava Metzia folio 64B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
האי קרוב לשכר ורחוק להפסד הוא. אמר ליה כיון דמקבל עליה זולא, קרוב לזה ולזה הוא.
This transaction is close to a gain and far from a loss for the seller, as he accepts upon himself the risk that the wine may go sour. An arrangement of this sort constitutes interest by rabbinic law. Abaye said to him: Since the buyer accepts upon himself the potential loss if the price depreciates, it is considered a transaction that is close to both this and that, as there is the possibility of both gain and loss. The transaction is therefore permitted.
מתני׳ : המלוה את חבירו לא ידור בחצרו חנם, ולא ישכור ממנו בפחות – מפני שהוא רבית.
Mishnah: One who lends another money may not reside in the borrower’s courtyard free of charge, nor may he rent living quarters from him at less than the going rate, because this is interest. The benefit he receives from living on the borrower’s property constitutes the equivalent of an additional payment as interest on the loan.
גמ׳ אמר רב יוסף בר מניומי אמר רב נחמן: אף על פי שאמרו הדר בחצר חבירו שלא מדעתו – אינו צריך להעלות לו שכר. הלוהו ודר בחצירו – צריך להעלות לו שכר. מאי קא משמע לן? תנינא: המלוה את חבירו לא ידור בחצירו חנם, ולא ישכור ממנו בפחות, מפני שהוא רבית!
Talmud: Rav Yosef bar Minyumi says that Rav Naḥman says: Even though the rabbis said that one who resides in another’s courtyard without his knowledge does not have to pay him rent if the owner of the courtyard does not suffer any loss from the arrangement, nevertheless, if he lent money to the owner of a courtyard and then resides in his courtyard, the lender must pay him rent. The Talmud poses a question: What is Rav Naḥman teaching us by this statement? We learn this explicitly in the Mishnah: One who lends money to another may not reside in the borrower’s courtyard free of charge, nor may he rent living quarters from him at less than the going rate, because this is interest.