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BAVA METZIA 92

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SUMMARY

A donkey and a cow may eat from the load on its but it is forbidden to hand it the food and feed it to the animal.
 
A worker may eat a cucumber or a date that is worth a Dinar; R. Eliezer Chisma says a worker may not eat more than the value of his wages
 
The Chachamim permit a worker to eat as much as he chooses however they teach a person not to eat too much so that he will not have the door closed on him.
 
R. Asi says that a worker who was hired to harvest only one cluster of grapes may eat that cluster.
 
R. Asi also says that a worker who was hired to harvest a number of clusters of grapes may eat the first cluster that he harvests. (1)
 
Isi Ben Yehudah says that even someone who is not a worker may enter his friend's vineyard and eat from the grapes and R. Ashi explains that maybe he is referring to a person who works on the vineyard and eats grapes for his wages.
 
It is a Safek if the produce that a worker eats is considered part of his wages and he may give it to his wife and sons or if it is a gift from Heaven and he may not give it away.
 
A person who muzzles a worker to refrain him from eating is Patur from Malkus.
 
A Nazir may not tell the owner to give the grapes that he would have eaten to his wife and sons. (2)
 
If someone hires a worker to put figs out to dry he may eat from he produce and it is Patur from separating Ma'aser. (3)
 
If the worker makes a condition with the owner that his wife and children also may eat from the figs he may eat from the figs without separating Ma'aser but his wife and children must separate Ma'aser. (4)
 
If someone is hired to work on produce that is Neta Reva'i he may not eat from the produce but if he was not informed that he will be working on Neta Reva'i the owner must redeem the produce and feed it to the workers. (5)
 
If figs were pressed and subsequently fell apart and workers were hired to repress them, or if wine barrels were sealed and the covers came off and the worker were hired to reseal them they may not eat from the figs or wine because it is already the Gmar Melachah of Ma'aser.
 
If the workers were not informed that they figs were already pressed or the barrels were already sealed the owner must separate Ma'aser and feed them from the figs or wine.
 
The Tana Kama says that as soon as the wine flows into the Bor it is the Gmar Melachah for Ma'aser, while R. Akiva holds the Gmar Melachah is only when the seeds are removed from the wine.
 
R. Zevid states in the Beraisa that according to the Tana Kama the Gmar Melachah for wine is when it flows into the Bor and the seeds are removed, while R. Akiva holds the Gmar Melachah is when the wine is placed in barrels and the sediment is removed from the top.
 
A worker may make a condition with his employer that he will take money and he will not eat from the produce and he may make that condition for or his son and servants who are Gedolim and for his wife because they have Da'as and they were Mochel the food.
 
A person may not make a condition for his son and servants who are Ketanim and not for his animal because they don't have Da'as.
 
R. Oshiah states in the Beraisa that he may make this condition even for his servants who are Ketanim.

A BIT MORE

1. Even though R. Asi already stated that even if he was hired to harvest only one cluster of grapes he may eat it, however I would think that if he was hired to harvest many clusters he must first place a cluster in the utensil of the Ba'al ha'Bayis before he eats and if he only would have said this Din I would of thought in this case he may eat the first cluster because he will also place clusters in the utensil of the Ba'al ha'Bayis but if he was hired for only one cluster he may not eat that cluster since he will not be putting any grapes in the utensil of the Ba'al ha'Bayis therefore R. Asi was compelled to state both Dinim.
 
2. Even if a worker who is not a Nazir may give the fruit he would have eaten to his wife and sons, however a Nazir may not penalize him in order to dissuade him from taking a job in a vineyard and placing himself in a situation where he might forget and eat grapes which is forbidden for a Nazir.
 
3. A worker may only eat prior to the Gmar Melachah of Ma'aser and since the figs are being taken out to dry it is not yet the Gmar Melachah for Ma'aser.
 
4. Even if the produce that a worker eats is considered part of his wages his son must separate Ma'aser because it looks like a purchase and someone who purchases produce even if it is not yet the Gmar Melachah must separate Ma'aser.
 
5. Even if the produce that a worker eats is from Heaven and it is not considered part of his wages the owner must redeem the Neta Reva'i and give to him to eat because it appears like a Mekach Ta'us.

BRIEF INSIGHT

It is a Safek if the produce that a worker eats is considered part of his wages and he may give it to his wife and sons or if it is a gift from Heaven and he may not give it away. The Rambam Paskens that the worker may not give the food to his wife and children and even if he already took some of the produce to eat he may not put some of it on the side for his wife and children. The Sma explains that the Torah gives the food to the worker as a gift just like the Torah gives Leket Shichechah and Pe'ah as a gift to the poor and the worker is not Zocheh in the gift until he puts the food in his mouth in order to chew. Consequently the worker may not save any of it for his wife or children because it is not yet his to save for his children.

QUICK HALACHAH

EATING MORE THAN THE WAGES
 
A worker may eat more than his wages, for example if his wages is only a Dinar he may eat a cucumber or a date worth a Sela, however we teach him not to eat that much so that people will not refrain from hiring him. According to some opinions this only applies if he was hired to work for the entire day but if he was he was hired to pick one cucumber he may not eat it. Even if he was hired for the day he may not eat the first cucumber that he harvests and instead he must place it in the utensil of the Ba'al ha'Bayis and than he may eat. (Shulchan Aruch CM 337:7)
 
He may not eat the first cucumber that he harvests according to one opinion because a worker may only eat at the time he is placing the produce in the utensil of the Ba'al ha'Bayis. (Sma)

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