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Selling Your Cow with Apple Pay
Ilana Kurshan
Adventures in the Mishnah with My Kids
Pesachim 4:3
It is late and Matan is tired, but to his credit, he never says no when I suggest we study together. And so I open to the fourth chapter in tractate Pesachim, which is about customs that vary from place to place. We’ve already learned that in some places it is customary to work on the day before Pesach, and in some cases it is not; the Mishnah has now digressed to other local customs unrelated to the Passover holiday. Matan and I have a custom to learn a mishnah every night, so I’m glad we’re not giving up just because it’s been a long day.
The topic of tonight’s mishnah is the prohibition on selling animals to non-Jews. It’s forbidden to sell large animals to non-Jews, but when it comes to small animals, the law varies based on local custom. In a place where it’s customary to sell small animals to non-Jews, one may sell them; in places where it’s customary not to do so, one may not.
“Small animals like my goldfish?” Matan asks.
“No, small animals like sheep and goats. As opposed to large animals, like cows and oxen.”
“That’s good,” said Matan. “I wouldn’t want to sell my goldfish.”
I want Matan to understand the principle underlying this ruling. “No one is selling your goldfish, don’t worry. But what is it the rabbis are worried about? Why wouldn’t we be allowed to sell animals to non-Jews?”
Matan thinks it over. “Maybe we’re worried that they’ll kill them and eat them with cheese, and then they won’t be kosher?”
“OK,” I concede, because it’s a reasonable guess. “But we don’t really care if non-Jews eat cheeseburgers. They don’t have to keep the laws of Kashrut.”
I show Matan the commentary on the mishnah, which explains that the rabbis were concerned lest the non-Jew borrow the animal for a trial period and make it work on Shabbat while it still technically belongs to the Jew. The Torah teaches that on Shabbat, it is not just Jews who must rest, but also their animals; if a non-Jew is borrowing or trying out a Jew’s animal on Shabbat, the Jew is responsible for the Shabbat violation.
“OK, but then why does it matter if the animal is big or small?” he asks.
We learn that small animals like sheep and goats are not used for farm labor, so we’re not worried that they’ll be made to work on Shabbat. That’s why in some places, it was permitted to sell them. But in other places, it was customary not to permit people to sell small animals out of concern that they would eventually come to sell large animals, and then those animals might work on Shabbat.
Matan remembers something. “Yeah, but didn’t we learn that story about the Jewish cow that refused to work on Shabbat? An animal that once belonged to a Jew would know not to work on Shabbat.” I’m impressed that Matan remembers. A while ago we studied a midrash (Pesika Rabbati 14) about a Jewish man who suddenly became very poor and had to sell off his remaining assets. He sold his cow to a non-Jew, but a week later, the non-Jew returned it to the seller dissatisfied. “The cow you sold me worked for me for six days, but then on the seventh day, it refused to work anymore.” The Jew realized that his cow had internalized the law of desisting from labor on Shabbat. When the non-Jew came to understand what was happening, he was so impressed that he ultimately converted to Judaism. “But that was a special case,” I tell Matan. “The rabbis tell us we can’t rely on miracles. Most cows wouldn’t realize that it’s Shabbat and stop working.”
“OK, but if you sell it, it’s not yours anymore, so why do you care?” Matan asks. I explain again about the trial period – you might let the non-Jew test it out first, and you might even rent your animal to a non-Jew, in which case he might make it work on Shabbat even when you are still the real owner.
“Hmm, that’s a problem with the new feature of Apple Pay, which lets you buy something by paying a little bit at a time,” Matan says. I know better than to ask questions. I don’t want a lesson on the latest Apple Pay update, and how it differs from buying on credit. Fortunately Matan stays on topic. “Let’s say that non-Jew pays for the cow on Apple Pay, so he pays only a little bit at first. He can still take the cow home and start using it. If he makes it work on Shabbat, it’s a problem for the Jew, because the cow is still partially his until the non-Jew pays the full price.”
“I guess so,” I say, wondering whether anyone has ever purchased a cow on Apple Pay. Matan, like the rabbis, enjoys thinking up unlikely hypothetical situations to explore the full implications of the law.
At the end of the mishnah, Rabbi Yehudah comments that if the animal is injured, then it may be sold to a non-Jew regardless of its size, because injured animals are not used for farm labor. But the rabbis disagree. “Why would anyone want to buy an injured animal?” Matan asks.
I show him the commentary on the mishnah, which explains that even an injured animal can be used to turn a millstone, for instance. “Or to kill and eat as a cheeseburger,” Matan adds.
Matan yawns, covering his mouth with his hand. I can tell that he’s really tired now, after he’s had to turn this Mishnah around in his head like a millstone. “Good night,” I tell him. He burrows under his covers like a small animal and I turn out the light.
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