Hello kollel, I have a question in pshat in the rambam in hilchot mechira 15:8-11 he mentions that if a seller specifies blemishes the animal doesn't in fact have it's an invalid sale. It even meantions selling someone an object for 100 dinar and telling him it's not worth 1 zuz; the rationale given is the purchaser thinks the seller wants him to feel good.
But why would someone feel good about overpaying? Or buying an animal that's more blemished than it really is?
Thanks.
I can give an answer to this question which is suitable to this time of year, when we stand only a few days before Rosh Hashanah.
The reason someone would feel good about overpaying is because he is honest with himself, and knows that he has made a lot of money throughout the year, but now; just a few days before the Day of Judgement; he starts thinking to himself have I done enough Mitzvot this year?
And then the buyer says to himself, you know, whilst I had a great year, my friend Chaim has had a difficult time lately! I want to get a Mitzvah by helping him out, and in turn that may help me out on Yom HaDin. So he is prepared to overpay and this is a way of helping out Chaim without embarassment.
Well, I have answered Al Derech Hamusar, not Derech HaPshat, and the idea is that it is possible to do a lot of good deeds in business too!
We should all be Zocheh to a good Din next Monday and Tuesday!
Shanah Tovah
Dovid Bloom
Answer according to Pshat:-
THE ANIMAL WHICH THE SELLER SAID IS MORE BLEMISHED THAN IT REALLY IS:-
1) There is a phrase; which I think was first mentioned by the Rif; "Lehashbiach Da'ati"; "to improve my opinion"; which seems to be what you mean, Josh, when you writto convine "the purchaser thinks the seller wants him to feel good".
2) It goes like this. Rabbi Yochanan said, in the Gemara 80a, that if the seller said the cow is a gorer, a biter, a kicker or lies down; and it turns out that the cow only had one of these problems; this is a Mekach Ta'ut; a mistaken transaction.
The Rif (49b in Rif pages) writes that the purchaser says:-
"when I saw that it is not a biter, a lyer down, or a kicker, I said to myself that just like it does not possess these problems, it also possesses no other problems. The seller told me this 'Lehashbiach Da'ati'".
3) The Rosh 6:14 cites the Rif. The Pilpula Charifta [by the author of Tosfos Yomtov], printed at the bottom of the page of the Rosh; letter "Kuf"; explains that the buyer says that the seller wants "She-tehai Da'ati Meshubachat"; he wants me to think that my opinion is astute. The seller (A) wants the buyer (B) to think that he (B) is smarter than A. B thinks that A is stupid. A thinks the cow has several problems so he is selling it cheap to me (B). B sees that it does not have some of the problems that A mentioned so he thinks it has none of the problems. But it turns out that it does have a serious defect which A deliberately hid, so it is a Mekach Ta'ut.
4) A is waging psychological war on B. A is making B feel clever, and that way he hides a significant defect. But, in the end, B won because he can argue that A was deliberately trying to make himself look stupid and B look astute. As a result of the trickery practised by A, Chazal announce that it is a Mekach Ta'ut. Now we understand why somebody feels good about buying an animal which was advertised as blemished, but some of the advertised blemishes are not present. However he proves that this was all trickery so the sale is annuled.
5) We can now translate "Lehashbiach Da'ati" to mean "he was deceptfuly trying to give me an over-confident view of my business prowess".
Kesivah vaChasimah Tovah.
Dovid Bloom
THE EXPLANATION OF "LEHASHBIACH DA'ATI" ACCORDING TO THE BACH:-
1) The Bach, on Tur Choshen Mishpat 227:25, explains the case of A who sold an object to B for 100 but told him it is only worth 1. The reason he said it is only worth 1 is to prevent complaints later on, when B might say that you sold it to me for too high a price, or make other complaints about defects in the object. If B should make such complaints then A will reply that I told you from the beginning that it is only worth 1.
2) Bach writes that the phrase used by the Rishonim; Lehashbiach Da'ati; means in fact "Lehashkit Daati"; to silence my Da'at. There is a source for this in Tehilim 65:8; "Mashbiach She-on Yamim"; "who stills the roaring of the seas". The word Lehashbiach means "to quieten down". A wants to make sure that B will have no complaints later on, that he sold him an item which is not very important, so he told him right at the beginning that the item has a defect which will keep B quiet.
3) Let us now see, bs'd, how this fits into Rambam Hilchot Mechira 15:11. The Rambam writes that A wanted to make sure that there was no overcharging; "Ona'ah". That is why he said that it is only worth 1 so that B now knows that he is overpaying but accepts this so there is no prohibition of Ona'ah. However B argues back that when A said it is worth 1 this cannot be taken seriously because A only said this in order to quieten me down but I was not Mochel if it should turn out to be overpriced.
4) So according to the Bach the buyer does not feel good about overpaying. Rather, the seller is trying to silence in advance any complaints the buyer might have later on about the price.
Dovid Bloom
THE EXPLANATION OF "LEHASHBIACH DA'ATI" ACCORDING TO THE SM'A and the TAZ:-
1) The Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 227:22 cites the case where A sold an object to B for 100 and says it is only worth 1 but that he is doing so on condition that there will not later on be any complaints about overcharging; "Ona'ah". This condition is invalid and later on B can claim that he was overcharged, because he argues that when A said it is only worth 1 he was only doing so "Lehashbiach Da'ati".
2) SM'A #40 explains this with a few brief words, which means we have to work hard to figure out what he means. SM'A writes that "Lehashbiach Daa'ti" means that A is saying to B
"just like you see that it is worth more than 1 so too it is worth 100 like I am selling it to you".
3) I understand the SM'A like this. There was a lot of bargaining going on between A and B. A insisted it is worth 100. B argued it is worth no more than 80. In the end A exclaimed to B "You know what! It is only worth 1!".
4) A is saying like this. You do agree with me that it is worth more than 1. In fact you have all along been prepared to pay 80. So just like you can rely on me that it is certainly not worth only 1, so too you can rely on me that it is worth 100. But B replies to A "When you said it is worth 1 you were only doing so Lehasbiach Da'ati: to 'improve my opinion'". That means that B says that obviously you know it is worth more than 1. When you said 1 that was a psychologcal ploy to convince me that it is worth more than 80; that is to improve my opinion of it and persuade me it is better than I thought. But the price 1 was meaningless, it was just psychology.
5) The Turei Zahav;Taz; in the margin of Shulchan Aruch; writes something similar to the SM'A; "just as it is clear that it is worth more than 1, so it is clear that there is totally no mistake in the price 100".
6) So according to this it is also merely a tactic. It is different than the tactic I described in my first Pshat answer according to Pilupula Charifta. There, A was trying to give B an over-confident idea of B's understanding. A was trying to persuade B that B was right and A was wrong. According to SM'A and Taz A is trying to persuade B that A is right and B is wrong. But according to both explanations the words of A are not to be taken serioualy which is why it is a Mekach Ta'ut.
7) According to SM'A and Taz the phrase "the purchaser thinks the seller wants him to feel good"; that we started off with; means that A wants B to feel that A is right so B will feel good about paying 100 since he is now convinced that this is the real price.
Gmar Chatimah Tovah
Dovid Bloom
"THE PURCHASER THINKS THE SELLER WANTS HIM TO FEEL GOOD" is the chidush of the Rif:-
1) We can learn quite a lot from this sugya about the psychology behind bartering and advertising but the source of it all; "Lehashbiach Da'ati"; seems to be from the Rif (49b in Rif pages), and was not mentioned explicitly in the Gemara but was later on incorporated by the Rambam Hilchot Mechirah 15:11 [the Rambam was born after the Rif died]. However the Bach (who lived several hundred years later) equated the Rif's opinion with that of Rashi 80a DH Harei who wrote that the intention of the seller was "Lehashlich MaiAlav Taromes"; to prevent future complaints; and the word Lehashbiach does not mean "to improve"; which would be the simple translation; but rather means "to keep quiet". But I think "to feel good" and "to be quite" could arguably mean the same thing.
2) The Rif mentions Lehashbiach Da'ati in connection with the cow that bites, lies down and kicks. The Rambam mentions Lehashbiach Daa'ti in connection with the seller who sells something worth 100 for 1. However the idea seems to be the same in both cases. According to the Pilpula Charifta it means that the seller gives the purchaser the impression that I am stupid and you are the smartest guy in the world. This is one tactic in business and advertising; to give the buyer the feeling that he is receiving a great buy. There is another approach; a more cautious one; to try and ensure that the purchaser can never have room to complain because the seller has covered himself against all possible arguments. This is the Bach's way. The way of the Sma and the Taz is to make a powerful, exagerated statement; "it is not worth 100 it is worth 1!" which ridicules the argument of the buyer and intimidates him into agreeing with the seller. He "makes the purchaser feel good" means that the seller convinces the buyer that the item being sold is "good" and really is worth 100.
A gut gebentsched yor
Dovid Bloom