Parashat Behar includes the prohibition against ona’ah – deception in business – that includes the obligation to present fair prices:
When you sell property to your fellow, or buy from your fellow’s hand, you shall not wrong one another. In buying from your fellow, you shall deduct only for the number of years since the jubilee; and in selling to you, he shall charge you only for the remaining crop years: the more such years, the higher the price you pay; the fewer such years, the lower the price; for what he is selling you is a number of harvests. Do not wrong one another, but fear your God; for I the LORD am your God.
Vayikra 25:14-17
According to Jewish law, the main obligation involved in ona’ah is to sell moveable objects at fair prices. According to the rabbinic sages, if the price is more than one-sixth more than the value of the item, the sale is cancelled. Still, as Ramban points out, the Torah law appears to be broader than what was established by the sages. From the Torah it appears that unfair pricing is prohibited also when dealing in real estate, and also when the price gouging would be less than one-sixth of the deal, since the verses talking about this prohibition appear in the context of selling land.
Certainly, when someone deals unfairly with his fellow, he transgresses the prohibition, whether it was a transaction of moveable objects or one of real estate, which is where Scripture writes: “you shall not wrong one another.” …but the sages required a return of the money if the price was one-sixth above the value of the object, and cancellation of the sale if it was more than one-sixth, and they excluded land sales from that law, since in cases of real estate, there is assumed forgiveness even for more than one-sixth, as there is for less than one-sixth in moveable property – even though that is also forbidden, if done with malice aforethought. Still, most people would not demand that a sale be cancelled because of such a small discrepancy.
(Ramban to Vayikra 25:14-15).
The Sifra brings the verse “When you sell property to your fellow,” to our attention. Usually that type of expression is viewed as a limitation, and we would be led to conclude that the ona’ah prohibition applies only to fellow Jews, and not to Gentiles. The Sifra, however, takes it one step further:
From where do we derive that when selling, you should sell only to your fellow?
Scripture states: “When you sell property to your fellow.”
And from where do we derive that when purchasing you should purchase from your fellow?
Scripture states: “…or buy from your fellow’s hand.”
I might think that this only applies to real estate, which is what Scripture is discussing; how do I know it applies to moveable objects, as well?
Scripture states: “When you sell,” which includes moveable items.
Sifra Parsha 3, 3:1
The teaching of the Sifra establishes the idea that we should do “Blue-and-White” business. We should give priority to fellow Jews both when buying and when selling, whether real estate or other business dealings. In establishing this rule, the Sifra is not denying the rights of Gentiles to participate in business, rather it is emphasizing the importance of supporting other Jews. Chapter “HaZahav” in Bava Metzia closes with a fascinating story that is reminiscent of this idea. The context of the story is that it is forbidden to conceal the defects of something that is offered for sale.
Like that incident involving a certain elderly slave who went and dyed his head and beard black to create a younger impression. He came before Rava and said to him: Purchase me as your slave. Rava said to him that there is a rabbinic adage: Let the poor be members of your household. The slave came before Rav Pappa bar Shmuel, who purchased him. One day Rav Pappa said to the slave: Give me water to drink. The slave went and removed the dye and whitened the hair on his head and his beard. The slave said to Rav Pappa: See that I am older than your father, and I am unfit to serve you. Rav Pappa read about himself: “The righteous person is delivered from trouble, and another comes in his stead” (see Mishlei 11:8).
Bava Metzia 60a
According to the story, Rava refused to purchase the non-Jewish slave, preferring to hire poor Jews to do the work. Rav Pappa bar Shmuel recognized Rava’s righteousness, and how he fell into the trap that Rava avoided.
We have a tendency to create a dichotomy between our obligation to give charity and the business decisions that we make – between the times that we want to give, and the decisions we make while we are deeply immersed in our business and the desire to maximize our profits. At those moments we often forget to be sensitive to communal needs. Our desire for success in business often conceals from us the distress of the individual in our community and considerations of the common good. It is precisely there that the Torah comes and demands: “from your fellow’s hand.” Beyond the limitations that the prohibition of ona’ah places on us when doing business with our fellow Jews, we must also be sensitive to the needs of others and search for ways to support one another, in order to limit the needs of the poor and better the world.
