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Bava Basra, 8

1) REBBI'S POLICY OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION

QUESTION: The Gemara relates that when Rebbi opened the storehouses to support the poor during a time of famine, he distributed food to those versed in Mikra, Mishnah, and Gemara, and Agadah, but he did not distribute food to Amei ha'Aretz.

Why did Rebbi not distribute food to Amei ha'Aretz? The obligation to give to poor people applies even to giving to Amei ha'Aretz! (KOVETZ SHI'URIM)

In addition, the Gemara in Gitin (61a) says that we even support Nochrim who are poor (because of Darchei Shalom), so certainly Rebbi should have helped support poor Jews who were Amei ha'Aretz! (MAHARSHA)

ANSWERS:

(a) The KOVETZ SHI'URIM answers that there was not enough food for all of the poor people. In such a situation, a Talmid Chacham takes precedence over an Am ha'Aretz (as the Mishnah says in Horiyos 13a). This is also the explanation of the RITVA cited by the BEIS YOSEF (YD 251), who says that if Rebbi would have given food to the Amei ha'Aretz, there would not have been food left for the Talmidei Chachamim.

The Kovetz Shi'urim asks, though, that if the reason why Rebbi did not give food to the Amei ha'Aretz was because there was not enough food for everyone, then why does the Gemara later say that "Rebbi was acting in accordance with his own view, for Rebbi said, 'Troubles (such as famine) come to the world only on account of the Amei ha'Aretz.'" If there was not enough food for everyone, then even without this reason of "troubles come to the world...," Rebbi would not have given food to the Amei ha'Aretz! It must be that there *was* enough food for all of the poor people, and still Rebbi did not give to the Amei ha'Aretz because of his reason that they are the cause of the famine. The question, then, returns -- there still should be an obligation to support the poor Amei ha'Aretz.

(b) The MAHARSHA answers that in the case of our Gemara, the entire world was suffering from famine. The Gemara in Ta'anis (11a) teaches that when the community is suffering, individuals (who might not be suffering as a result of the calamity that has afflicted the community at large) should nevertheless join in the suffering of the community. Hence, "he who starves himself during a time of fame will be saved from a gruesome death," and "it is prohibited for a person to engage in marital relations during a time of famine." Since the Amei ha'Aretz do not follow this dictum and they do not join in the suffering of the community, and they continue to eat until satiated during a time of famine, while the Talmidei Chachamim refrain from eating in accordance with the Gemara in Ta'anis, Rebbi did not want to feed the Amei ha'Aretz, so that they would join in the suffering of the community with everyone else. (I. Alsheich)

OPINIONS: The Gemara cites a Beraisa which states that one who makes a Neder prohibiting himself from receiving benefit from "Anshei ha'Ir," the "*people* of the city," may not receive benefit from anyone who has lived in the city for at least twelve months. One who makes a Neder prohibiting himself from receiving benefit from "Yoshvei ha'Ir," the "*residents* of the city," may not receive benefit from anyone who has lived in the city for at least thirty days.

The KOVETZ SHI'URIM points out that the same guidelines apply with regard to the obligation to affix a Mezuzah on a rented dwelling. One who rents a house for less than thirty days is not required to affix a Mezuzah. If one rents a house for more than thirty days, he must affix a Mezuzah. However, the Acharonim discuss whether one must affix the Mezuzah right away (even before he has lived there for thirty days), or whether he is required to affix the Mezuzah only after he has lived there for thirty days.

(a) The NIMUKEI YOSEF here infers from our Gemara that one's status with regard to residency in a home does not depend on his intention, but rather on whether he has actually lived there for thirty days. Hence, one who makes a Neder prohibiting himself from benefiting from "Yoshvei ha'Ir" *may* receive benefit from someone who only intends to remain in the city for at least thirty days but who has not yet lived there for thirty days. Similarly, it would seem that one is not required to affix a Mezuzah to a rented dwelling until he has actually lived there for thirty days.

(b) The MORDECHAI (#477) quotes RABEINU BARUCH in SEFER HA'CHOCHMAH, however, who writes that one who moves to a city and has intention to stay for an extended period is like one who buys a home in the city, and thus he has the status of a full-fledged resident of the city (as the Mishnah (7b) says with regard to one who buys a home in a city). Accordingly, the Sefer ha'Chochmah might also maintain that with regard to affixing a Mezuzah on a rented dwelling, if the person's intention is to stay there for a long time (longer than thirty days), then he is obligated to affix a Mezuzah right away. (See Kovetz Shi'urim.) (I. Alsheich)

8b

QUESTION: The Gemara states that when the treasurers of the Tzedakah collection have no more poor people to whom to distribute the money, they should not exchange the small coins with larger coins (of a superior metal that will last longer) of their own (in order to avoid suspicion), but rather they should exchange them with the coins of someone else. Similarly, when the treasurers of the food collection have no more poor people to whom to distribute the food, they should sell the food to others and not to themselves (in order to avoid suspicion).

What is the basis of this obligation?

ANSWER: The Gemara in Pesachim (13a) says that the reason for this Halachah is the verse, "You shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Yisrael" (Bamidbar 32:22). This is in accordance with the Mishnah in Shekalim (3:2), "A person must be vindicated in the eyes of others, just as he must be in the eyes of Hashem, as it says, 'You shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Yisrael.'" The Mishnah there cites additional verses as the source for this Halachah, but the Yerushalmi says that this verse is the primary source.

RABEINU YONAH in Berachos (3b of the pages of the Rif) adds that this verse teaches that even though the person did not do any Aveirah, he still must make every effort to avoid any suspicion of wrongdoing. (I. Alsheich)