Yerushalmi Demai 2:4 ירושלמי דמאי ב׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: The sages did not obligate bakers to separate more than the heave of the tithe and ḥallah¹⁶⁹They do not have to take the Second Tithe, not even in order to redeem it, in order to keep prices down. The Halakhah will address the questions raised by such a policy.. Grocers are not permitted to sell demay. All who sell wholesale in large quantities may sell demay¹⁷⁰Since the buyer knows that he buys demay.. The following sell wholesale in large quantities, for example grain buyers¹⁷¹Latin sitona,ae,m., “purchaser of grain, commissioner, purveyor”, from Greek σιτώνης “public buyer of grain,” wholesale grain merchant who worked with or for the government (E. G.). and sellers.

HALAKHAH: There¹⁷²Mishnah 5:1 requires that he who buys from a baker has to give ḥallah, heave of the tithe, and redeem the Second Tithe. The Mishnah here demands that the baker himself give ḥallah and heave of the tithe., we have stated: “If one buys from the baker¹⁷³The baker is the craftsman who does the actual baking in his tannur, a stove in the form of a truncated cone, the fire burning on the bottom. The bread dough is brought in from the top and slapped onto the walls to be baked into pittah; this motion of “slapping down” is expressed by the root נחת. The seller of baked goods, either the baker in a separate store adjacent to his baking establishment, or an independent dealer, is the פְּלָטֵר, from Greek πρατήρ. The baker will also bake other people’s dough for a fee; that case is not considered here., how does he tithe?” There you say, the buyer separates, and here you say, the baker separates. Rebbi Jonah said, Rebbi Eleazar and Rebbi Joḥanan disagree. One says, here if he works in purity¹⁷⁴The baker is not a ḥaver, but he has hired a ḥaver to knead the dough so that it should not become impure. If the baker handles dry flour or dry bread, nothing happens since profane dry food can be made impure only by original impurity. Therefore, the ḥaver may take the heave of the tithe and ḥallah., there if he works in impurity¹⁷⁵One does not trust him to handle impure heave and ḥallah following the rules.. The other says, here in retail, there in wholesale. We did not know who said what. Since Rebbi Joḥanan said¹⁷⁶In a related discussion, Halakhah 5:1. (The reading מה is from the Rome ms., Venice print: מאן.), because of purity, it follows that Rebbi Eleazar is the one who said, here in retail, there in wholesale. It is difficult for Rebbi Joḥanan, if he works in purity, let him separate everything¹⁷⁷Why should he be exempt from Second Tithe?. It would be logical that he should not give anything because one does not deliver certain grain¹⁷⁸Grain from which it is known with certainty that the Heave of the Tithe was not taken. The baker here must be an am haäreẓ since we already have stated that the ḥaver may not sell demay at all. Hence, in the majority of cases, the Second Tithe, together with the heave of the tithe, are already taken and there would remain only ḥallah which is a duty upon bread dough only. to the am haäreẓ. It is difficult for Rebbi Eleazar, if it is in retail, let him separate everything. Grocers are not permitted to sell demay¹⁷⁹There is no reason why the bread retailer should be treated in any way different from other retailers.!

The colleagues in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: It¹⁸¹The statement of Mishnah 2:4. is Rebbi Meïr’s, since Rebbi Meïr said, they permitted to sell demay only to the commissioned grain merchant¹⁸²But not any other wholesaler of foodstuffs. The full statement is quoted in Babli Baba Meẓi‘a 56a.. Rebbi Yose objected, does not the Mishnah disagree? “The following sell wholesale in large quantities, for example commissioners and grain merchants.” Hence, there must be others! Rebbi Yose said, this is not what Rebbi Eleazar referred to, but the following, as we have stated¹⁸³Tosephta Demay 3:10, on the statement of the Mishnah, “The Sages did not obligate bakers to separate more than the heave of the tithe and ḥallah,” in slightly different wording.: “When is this statement operative, if he sells in his bakeshop or at the door of his bakeshop. But if he was selling in the bakery or in his bakeshop adjacent to the bakery, he must give all tithes on it.” The colleagues in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: It is Rebbi Meïr’s, since Rebbi Meïr said, they only permitted to the commissioned grain merchant to sell demay. Which (statement of) Rebbi Meïr? The one we have stated next¹⁸⁴The next Mishnah, in abbreviated form.: “Rebbi Meïr says, something which usually he measured wholesale and he measured retail, the retail is adjunct to the wholesale.” Rebbi Ḥiyya¹⁸⁵The Great Rebbi Ḥiyya, collector of Tosephtot. His formulation, which in contrast to the Mishnah refers not to the standing of the seller but to the goods sold, is in Tosephta Demay 3:10. stated: “Something which usually is measured wholesale and he measured it retail, the retail is adjunct to the wholesale¹⁸⁶Somebody who buys a retail quantity from a wholesaler must expect to receive demay..” And so the bakery is retail but the bakeshop is wholesale, there¹⁸⁷If the bakery, or the baker’s workshop physically connected to the retail operation, would sell wholesale, it nevertheless would be a retail operation. the wholesale is adjunct to the retail.

The colleagues in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan¹⁸⁸Here starts the discussion of the Mishnah’s statement that the retailer but not the wholesaler must tithe demay. The colleagues say that it is a religious law to protect the innocent. Rebbi La says, it is a commercial law that the one who takes the larger margin is better able to absorb the costs.: Because of the children lest they should eat ṭevel. Rebbi La in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan, in retail, because the seller takes the large margin, the seller separates¹⁸⁹He separates heave of tithes and Second Tithe and redeems the Second Tithe.. In wholesale, because the buyer will take the large margin, the buyer separates. One statement supports one and another statement supports the other. A statement supports the colleagues: “Rebbi Neḥemiah said, that which is connected to a retail outlet is like retail, connected to a wholesale outlet it is wholesale.¹⁹⁰Anything which the retailer sells must be tithed because it is accessible to the general public, but anything the wholesaler sells, even an occasional retail quantity to the limited circle of his customers, may be demay. The opposite statement is ascribed to R. Neḥemiah in the Tosephta, Demay 3:11: “R. Neḥemiah says, anything sold in retail quantity is retail, in wholesale quantity it is wholesale,” supporting R. La.” A statement supports Rebbi La. It was stated: “Rebbi Ismael ben Rebbi Joḥanan ben Beroqa¹⁹¹A Tanna of the fourth generation, associate of Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel. said, if he measured with a retail measure, he is obligated. Even if he did measure only one seah and a quarter qab¹⁹²¼qab = 1/24seah., he must tithe the quarter qab.” Rebbi Zeïra said, computation of gain is between them¹⁹³The argument between R. Neḥemiah here and R. Ismael ben R. Joḥanan ben Beroqa is whether price plays any role. R. Ismael negates the role of price; R. Neḥemiah’s argument is detailed by R. Zeïra.. If he measured for him the seah at the rate of quarter qabs, since the seller takes the large margin, the seller separates. If he measures the quarter qab at the rate of seahs, since the buyer will take the large margin, the buyer separates.