TalmuDigest - Bava Kama 2 - 8

THE POOR RICH MAN _________________

How is it possible for a man who owns property to be entitled to receive money from the tithe reserved for the poor?

The rule is that if one owns two hundred zuz he is not considered poor and is not entitled to any of the agricultural gifts that the Torah awards to the poor.

But what if that person owns houses or fields worth this sum but is unable to sell them for the sum he needs in order to support himself?

The halacha is that in such a case he may be given the tithe reserved for the poor up until half the amount of two hundred zuz and be required to sell his property at a substantial loss to cover the other half.

The reason given by the gemara for this is that the value of his property is really 200 zuz if he waits until the month of Nissan when he can sell his fields for that amount. His desperate search for cash half a year before that compels him to sell at the lower price. Unlike the truly poor man who lacks even the potential to own 200 zuz and can therefore receive in one gift even a thousand zuz in tithes for the poor, this fellow, because of his potential to sell for 200 zuz, is only entitled to help up until the half of what his property would eventually be worth.

- Bava Kama 7a

WHAT THE SAGES SAY __________________

"A man is responsible to guard his body so that it should not cause any damage (even involuntarily)."

- Rabbi Avahu - Bava Kama 4a

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