Achrei Mot Kedoshim Answers

Kedoshim 5722

Alef.       VaYikra 19:32-6

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and thou shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not do him wrong.

The stranger that sojourneth with you shall be unto you as the home-born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, who Brought you out of the land of Egypt. 

In the Alon HaDeracha a number of hypotheses are presented re how these verses relate to one another. The approach that is most appealing to me is that of Ibn Ezra, who sees the three groups of individuals mentioned, i.e., the elderly, the stranger and the consumer, as individuals who are particularly vulnerable to being taken advantage of. The elderly do not have the physical strength to protect themselves; the stranger does not have the political power to fight back if he is treated poorly; the consumer will not be in a position to tell whether the weights and measures that are being used are honest or not.

Beit.

Since the Ketav VeHaKabbala associates “Hadar” with reversing direction, not carrying out what might be one’s natural tendency, therefore, showing “Hidur” to the elderly means to draw back from treating them disrespectfully, e.g., sitting in their place, speaking during their turn to speak, contradicting what they have said.

Gimel.

  1. The commentators seem to be trying to understand why the Tora has to prohibit something that should be obvious.

2. Bei’ur: Since one is in control of the land, one might be tempted to treat minority populations insensitively.

     HaEmek Davar: Since if both of you would be strangers in a different land, you would have a mutual bond that would lead you to protect one another, it should be no different when he is the stranger in the land that belongs to you.

Daled. 

VaYikra 19:35

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.

Rabbeinu Bachaye explains:

רבינו בחיי ויקרא פרשת קדושים פרק יט פסוק לה

(לה) לא תעשו עול במשפט. כבר הזהיר למעלה: (לעיל פסוק טו) "לא תעשו עולבמשפט לא תשא פני דל", אבל המשפט אשר שם הוא דיני התורה הכתוביםבסדר משפטים, ושבכאן הוא משפטי המדינות וחוקיהם וסדוריהם בעניניהמשקלות והמדות, וכענין שכתוב: (שמות טו, כה) "שם שם לו חק ומשפט", שהואעל דרך הפשט משפטי המדבר וחקיו. 

Since Mishpat is a term that is associated with judges rather than businessmen, the verse points towards the authorities overseeing commerce. And since a verse has already been devoted to fair judging within the context of trials, this verse by the process of elimination is talking about the supervision of weights and measures.

Heh.

1.  The difficulty for both commentators is the juxtaposition of the word משפט with issues of weights and measures.

2.  Ibn Ezra: a) Just as you should be fair to a stranger in judicial matters, so too you should be fair in matters of weights and measures in an objective frashion.

                      b) The Mishpat is not necessarily an objective standard, but rather whatever the going practice in the land in which you find yourself. Whatever the laws of the land are, they should be consistently applied with regard to all matters of fairness.

3.

ויקרא פרק יט

רש"י

(לה) לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ עָוֶל בַּמִּשְׁפָּט (הנעשית) בַּמִּדָּה בַּמִּשְׁקָלוּבַמְּשׂוּרָה:

פירוש א' של אבן עזרא

(לה) לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ עָוֶל בַּמִּשְׁפָּט בַּמִּדָּה בַּמִּשְׁקָל וּבַמְּשׂוּרָה (לא הגונות):

Vav.

1.  Meshech Chachma understands the verse as warning against a storekeeper using his weights and measures to exact revenge from someone who has cheated him in the past.משפט then is the justice that the storekeeper thinks he is achieving. עול is the Tora’sevaluation of his methodology to even the score, i.e., that this is improper.

RaShI and Ibn Ezra had attributed the term משפט to the storekeepers general use of  weights and measures, or their governmental supervision.

2. 

ויקרא פרק יט

(לה) לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ עָוֶל (כאשר את מרמה את הרמאי) בַּמִּשְׁפָּט (כדי לקבל בחזרה משהקונה חייב לך ממקודם) בַּמִּדָּה בַּמִּשְׁקָל וּבַמְּשׂוּרָה:

3. 

 מלבי"ם על ויקרא יט:יח

...לכן פי' חז"ל שהנקימה הוא בשאומר איני משאילך. (וכ"ש הנוקם בפועל בקום ועשה), והנטירהבשמשאילו רק שמזכיר איבה הצפונה בלב,

והנה מה שתפס אצל נקמה א"ל השאילני מגלך. ואצל נטירה א"ל השאילני קרדומך. רצו בזה שאף למישנקם ממנו אסור ליטור לו שנאה וכ"ש לנקום,

ולכן ציירו שראובן י"ל מגל ושמעון י"ל קרדום. ושמעון בקש מראובן המגל, ולא השאילו. ולמחר בקשראובן הקרדום, ושמעון נקם ממנו דרך נקמה, ואח"כ בא שמעון שנית ובקש מראובן את המגל. אסור לולנטור. וכ"ש לנקום, ועי' ביומא (דף מג) מ"ש ע"ז:

 (כגון זה:  - ראובן לשמעון: השאילני מגלך. - שמעון: לאו.  - שמעון לראובן: השאילני קרדומך.  - ראובן: איני משאילך כדרך שלא השאילתני.  למחרת מנסה שמעון שנית לבקש את ראובן, אולי יאות לו הפעם:  - שמעון לראובן: השאילני קרדומך.  - ראובן (שנית): לאו.  - ראובן לשמעון: השאילני מגלך. - שמעון: הא לך ואיני כמותך...)

In both cases, because of some previous slight, someone is tempted to exact revenge, and the Tora instructs the individual not to do so. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Zayin.

1.  Since both הין and איפה are volume measures, to mention הין separately is superfluous.

2.  a) Whether you say “yes” or “no”, it should be due to righteous rather than some petty considerations.

b) You should say what you mean, as opposed to saying one thing and thinking another.