{"id":5548,"date":"2011-03-04T06:02:24","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T04:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=5548"},"modified":"2021-03-21T09:31:43","modified_gmt":"2021-03-21T07:31:43","slug":"04-06-02","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-06-02\/","title":{"rendered":"02.\u00a0How the Practice of Selling \u1e24ametz <\/strong>Spread"},"content":{"rendered":"

About 400 years ago, many Jews living in Europe began to support themselves through the production and sale of whiskey. This was because the barons, the landowners, would often contract Jews to manage their affairs, and it was common for them to lease their distilleries and inns to Jews in exchange for a fixed price and\/or a percentage of sales. This whiskey, which was made from barley and wheat, is considered \u1e25ametz gamur<\/strong>. To prevent the great financial loss that would come each year with its disposal before Pesa\u1e25, it became necessary to sell it to a gentile before Pesa\u1e25 and buy it back again immediately thereafter, in order to continue selling the whiskey as usual.<\/p>\n

Over time, rabbinic leaders noticed that the sale was sometimes carried out improperly, leading to serious problems. If the sale is improper, the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> remains in the possession of the Jew, and with every hour that passes he violates bal yera\u2019eh <\/strong>and bal yimatzei<\/strong>. Additionally, it is forbidden to derive benefit from such \u1e25ametz<\/strong> after Pesa\u1e25, and it must all be completely destroyed. Therefore, rabbinic authorities began to oversee the sale of \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, in order to ensure its proper sale. Seeing that the sale was being carried out in an orderly manner, other Jews began to participate in the transaction, in order to save their own \u1e25ametz<\/strong> from being lost. This is how mekhirat \u1e25ametz<\/strong> began to spread and become increasingly common.<\/p>\n

However, a number of prominent rabbis claimed that mekhirat<\/strong> \u1e25ametz<\/strong> was not a real sale, but merely a fiction. In the first place, it is clear that after Pesa\u1e25 the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> will return to the Jew. Moreover, no sales tax is paid to the government on this sale. Thirdly, in a normal sale the buyer pays for all of the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> and physically takes it into his possession, but here the gentile neither pays the full price, nor takes the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> with him.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the opinion of the vast majority of poskim<\/strong> is that mekhirat \u1e25ametz<\/strong> may be relied upon and is as valid as any sale. By law, the gentile can refuse to sell the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> back to the Jew after Pesa\u1e25. It is a real, binding sale, not a fiction. Nevertheless, in order to avoid even the appearance of a fiction, the rabbis made a practice of being very meticulous about all details of the sale. Since there are different halakhic opinions regarding the proper mode of purchase when a gentile buys from a Jew, the rabbis are careful to execute the sale using all forms of acquisition, so that it is clear that the sale is effective according to all opinions. In addition, they make sure that the sale is effective according to state laws as well (see MB 448:17, 19, and BHL ad loc<\/strong>.).<\/p>\n

Regarding payment, they would draw up a bill of sale for the actual value of the \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, and the gentile pays a cash deposit, as merchants are wont to do. The remainder of the sum is charged to him as a debt, but this does not prevent the completion of the purchase. After Pesa\u1e25, the gentile can decide: if he wants to keep the \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, he must pay the debt; if he wants to sell the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> back to the Jew, the Jew repays the cash deposit, and in return for the \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, he pardons the gentile\u2019s debt from before Pesa\u1e25. The reason no tax is paid on mekhirat \u1e25ametz<\/strong> is that the king, or government, understands that this sale is carried out for religious, not commercial purposes, and therefore waives the tax.<\/p>\n

To reinforce the sale, so that it resembles any other sale in which the buyer takes the purchased item into his possession, the rabbis ordained that the Jew sell or rent to the gentile the ground on which the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> rests, thereby transferring the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> into the gentile\u2019s possession (MB 448:12). In Eretz Yisrael, where it is forbidden to sell land to a gentile, the area is rented, and some poskim<\/strong> say that even outside Eretz Yisrael it is best to rent the area instead of selling it.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n[1]<\/a>. Tevu\u2019ot Shor<\/strong>, a commentary on Pesa\u1e25im<\/strong>, is hesitant about the idea of selling \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, since it might be considered a fiction. Ba\u1e25, Eliya Rabba, <\/strong>and Ma\u1e25atzit Ha-shekel<\/strong> (\u00a7448) state that one should not rely on mekhirat<\/strong> \u1e25ametz<\/strong> except in extreme situations, to prevent a significant loss. In Ma\u2019aseh Rav<\/strong> (a compendium of the Vilna Gaon\u2019s customs) it is written that one should only sell \u1e25ametz<\/strong> gamur<\/strong> in an irrevocable sale, and after Pesa\u1e25 one should not purchase \u1e25ametz<\/strong> that had been sold in a standard \u1e25ametz<\/strong> sale. This was also the practice of R. Akiva Eger. Over time several of the concerns of those opposed to selling \u1e25ametz<\/strong> have been allayed by the addition of specific clauses to the sale. For example, Bekhor Shor<\/strong> claimed that the gentile buying the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> does not understand the details of a legal sale, but nowadays, we sell our \u1e25ametz<\/strong> to knowledgeable gentiles who certainly understand the legal ramifications of the sale. Another allegation was that the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> was sold for a symbolic sum, as written in SA 448:3, and those opposed to the sale claimed that the seller in such a case does not have full intention to sell. The answer to this problem was that the Jewish seller would certainly agree to sell his \u1e25ametz<\/strong> for a nominal fee in order to save himself from violating the prohibition of owning \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, as is written in \u1e24ok Yaakov<\/strong>. Nowadays, however, our custom is to sell the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> for its full value, as per MB and BHL 448:19, which effectively eliminates this issue.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a>. It is impossible to list all of the poskim<\/strong> who permit the sale of \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, since there are too many, but I will mention several of them: Noda Bi-Yehuda <\/strong>141:8, \u1e24atam Sofer <\/strong>O\u1e24 \u00a762 and \u00a7113, Oneg Yom Tov 28, <\/strong>and Sdei \u1e24emed <\/strong>8:9, which discusses the opposition to the sale at length. See also R. Zevin\u2019s Ha-m<\/strong>o\u2019adim Be-halakha<\/strong> in the chapter about selling \u1e25ametz<\/strong> and its evolution. Igrot Moshe <\/strong>O\u1e24 2:91 states that the sale works even if the seller is not an observant Jew. MB 448:12 discusses the optimal procedure of selling the area where the \u1e25ametz<\/strong> sits as well.<\/strong> There are those who prefer to rent their rooms or houses that contain \u1e25ametz<\/strong>, since they themselves are only renting and therefore cannot sell the house. Additionally, Avnei Nezer <\/strong>\u00a7345 states that renting is preferable, since it seems less fictitious, as one certainly does not really want to sell his house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About 400 years ago, many Jews living in Europe began to support themselves through the production and sale of whiskey. This was because the barons, the landowners, would often contract Jews to manage their affairs, and it was common for them to lease their distilleries and inns to Jews in exchange for a fixed price […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-06-mekhirat-hametz-the-sale-of-hametz"],"yoast_head":"\n02.\u00a0How the Practice of Selling \u1e24ametz Spread - Peninei Halakha<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/04-06-02\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"02.\u00a0How the Practice of Selling \u1e24ametz Spread - Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About 400 years ago, many Jews living in Europe began to support themselves through the production and sale of whiskey. 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