Mishnayos Beitzah Perek 3 Mishnah 8
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ביצה פרק ג׳ משנה ח׳
One person may say to another on a Festival: Fill this vessel for me, and I will return its contents or reimburse you after the Festival, but he may not ask him to fill the vessel in a particular measure. Rabbi Yehuda says: If it was a measuring utensil, he may not fill it. There was an incident involving Abba Shaul ben Botnit, a Sage who was also a grocer, who would fill his measures on the eve of a Festival and give them to his customers on the Festival. In this way he would know exactly how much he had given each person, without conducting any measurements on the Festival itself. Abba Shaul, a Sage distinct from Abba Shaul ben Botnit, says: He would do this even on the intermediate days of a Festival because of the clarity of the measures, i.e., in order to clarify precisely how much must be given to each customer, since the measurement is more precise once the foam of the liquid being measured has subsided. And the Rabbis say: Even on a weekday it is proper to do so, because of the draining of the measures. This method allows all the liquid to drain fully out of the seller’s measuring utensil so that the amount is exact. A person may go on a Festival to a grocer from whom he is accustomed to buy and say to him: Give me eggs and nuts of such-and-such a number, as it is the manner of a homeowner to count this way in his own house. Counting eggs or nuts is not considered a commercial activity, as people regularly mention the number of eggs and nuts that they need.
אוֹמֵר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, מַלֵּא לִי כְלִי זֶה, אֲבָל לֹא בַמִּדָּה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, אִם הָיָה כְלִי שֶׁל מִדָּה, לֹא יְמַלְאֶנּוּ. מַעֲשֶׂה בְאַבָּא שָׁאוּל בֶּן בָּטְנִית, שֶׁהָיָה מְמַלֵּא מִדּוֹתָיו מֵעֶרֶב יוֹם טוֹב וְנוֹתְנָן לַלָּקוֹחוֹת בְּיוֹם טוֹב. אַבָּא שָׁאוּל אוֹמֵר, אַף בַּמּוֹעֵד עוֹשֶׂה כֵן, מִפְּנֵי בֵרוּרֵי הַמִּדּוֹת. וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים, אַף בְּחֹל עוֹשֶׂה כֵן, מִפְּנֵי מִצּוּי הַמִּדּוֹת. הוֹלֵךְ אָדָם אֵצֶל חֶנְוָנִי הָרָגִיל אֶצְלוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ, תֵּן לִי בֵּיצִים וֶאֱגוֹזִים בְּמִנְיָן, שֶׁכֵּן דֶּרֶךְ בַּעַל הַבַּיִת לִהְיוֹת מוֹנֶה בְּתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ:
Bartenura
אבל לא במדה. בכלי המיוחד למדה שמודד ומוכר בו. אבל אם אינו מיוחד לכך אע״פ שעומד למדה, שכשישבר זה שהוא מודד בו יעמוד זה תחתיו, מותר למלאותו:
אם היה כלי של מדה. אע״פ שעדיין לא יחדו לכך לא ימלאנו. ואין הלכה כר״י:
ממלא מדותיו מערב יו״ט. לפי שאין מודדין ביו״ט:
אף בחול המועד עושה כן. מפני ביטול בית המדרש, שהיו רבים באים לשאול הימנו במועד שאין טרודין במלאכה, והיה ממלא מדותיו בלילה שאינו זמן בית המדרש כדי שיהא פנוי ביום:
מפני מצוי המדות. כשהיה מוכר שמן היו לו מדות הרבה ומביאין הלקוחות כליהן ומודד לכל אחד ואחד במדה לעצמו, ומתמצות והולכות לתוך כליהן כל הלילה, כדי שלא ישאר לו השמן המודבק בשולי המדה ובדפנותיה ונמצא גוזל את הלקוחות:
אבל לא במדה – a designated/special utensil for measuring that he measures and sells [produce] with it. But if it is not designated for this, even though it stands for the measurement, when this one that he measures with breaks, the other stands in its place, and he is permitted to fill with it.
אם היה כלי של מדה – even though it has yet been designated for this purpose, he should not fill it up. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.
ממלא מדותיו מעיו"ט – for we don’t measure on the Festival day.
אף בחול המועד עושה כן – because of being idle from being in the House of Study, for many people would come to ask of him during the Intermediate Days when they are not busy with work and he would fill his measures at night which is not the time of study in the House of Study in order that he can be free during the daytime.
מפני מצוי המדות – when he would sell oil, he had many measurements, and the purchasers would bring their utensils and he would measure for each and every person with his own measuring utensil, and they would empty out everything into their utensils all night long, in order that there would be no remaining oil attached to the sides of the measuring device or on its walls and as a result he would be stealing from the purchasers.