Menachot

‘TEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES’, ONE TENTH FOR EACH CAKE; ‘AND TEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED. OF UNLEAVENED CAKES THERE WERE THREE KINDS: CAKES, WAFERS, AND SOAKED CAKES,1 THUS THERE WERE THREE AND A THIRD TENTHS OF FLOUR FOR EACH KIND, THREE CAKES TO EVERY TENTH. BY JERUSALEM MEASURE THEY WERE THIRTY KABS,2 FIFTEEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES AND FIFTEEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED. ‘FIFTEEN FOR THE LEAVENED CAKES’, ONE KAB AND A HALF FOR EACH CAKE; ‘AND FIFTEEN FOR THE UNLEAVENED’. OF THE UNLEAVENED CAKES THERE WERE THREE KINDS: CAKES, WAFERS, AND SOAKED CAKES, THUS THERE WERE FIVE KABS FOR EACH KIND, TWO CAKES TO EVERY KAB. GEMARA. THE THANK-OFFERING REQUIRED FIVE SE'AHS [OF FLOUR]. JERUSALEM MEASURE etc. Whence do we know this?3 — R. Hisda said, From the verse, The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure;4 as the bath is three se'ahs so the ephah is three se'ahs. But whence do we know this of the bath? Shall we say, because it is written, That the bath may contain the tenth part of a homer?5 Then the same is said of the ephah too, And the ephah the tenth part of a homer!6 But [you will say that the latter verse proves nothing as] we do not know how much the homer is, then the same applies to the former verse, since we do not know how much the homer is! — Rather it is derived from the following verse: And the set portion of oil, of the bath of oil, shall be the tenth part of a bath out of the cor, which is ten baths, even a homer; for ten baths are a homer.7 Samuel said,8 They may not increase the measures9 by more than a sixth, neither the coins by more than a sixth, and the profits [on necessary foods] must not exceed a sixth.10 What is the reason [for his first statement]? If it be said that the market prices will rise [above due proportions on that account].11 then [for the same reason] it should not [be permitted to increase] even by a sixth! And if it be said that it is so on the score of overreaching, so that the transaction be not annulled,12 but surely Raba said, On account of any fraud in measure, weight or number, even though it is less than the standard of overreaching, one can retract.13 And if it be said [that the reason why no more than a sixth may be added to weights is] that the dealer may not incur any loss,14 [it will be retorted]. Is [then the whole purpose of the law that] he be guarded against loss? Is he not entitled to make any profit? ‘Buy and sell [at no profit] merely to be called a merchant!’ — Rather, said R. Hisda, Samuel found a Scriptural text and expounded it: And the shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels, five and twenty shekels, ten and five shekels shall be your maneh.15 Was then the maneh two hundred and forty denars?16 But three things are to be inferred from this: it is to be inferred that the Temple maneh was doubled;17 it is to be inferred that they may increase the measures18 but that they may not increase them by more than a sixth; and it is to be inferred that the sixth is added ‘from the outside’.19 Rabina said, This20 may be proved from our Mishnah which states: THE THANK-OFFERING REQUIRED FIVE SE'AHS [OF FLOUR], JERUSALEM MEASURE, WHICH ARE SIX SE'AHS WILDERNESS MEASURE.21 This obviously proves it. i.e., three se'ahs; and the ephah and the bath were of one measure (ibid. 11). of commodities, and taking advantage of this will raise them higher than what is warranted by the change in the measures. transaction is void; if it is exactly a sixth, the transaction stands but the amount of error must be returned; if less than a sixth the transaction is valid and there is no redress. V. B.M. 50b. Now if weights and measures may be increased by more than a sixth, then traders who were ignorant of the increase and who sell their goods in the present measures at the former prices would be defrauded by more than a sixth, with the effect that all their dealings would be declared void. In order to obviate this the increase in weights and measures was limited to a sixth. is gained by limiting the increase to a sixth. sells his goods ignorant of the increase will at most lose his profit but will not suffer any loss. whereas elsewhere throughout the Talmud it is established that the maneh was 25 shekels = 100 denars. making a sixth one, was added to it. Thus the maneh consisted of 240 denars. an increase of one fifth, which in Rabbinic parlance is ‘one sixth from the outside’.