בס"ד
When I was living on the fashionable upper west side of Manhattan in the 1980's my rabbi, Eli Chaim Carlebach, praised Avraham our father as a financial genius saying that he invented money. Eli Chaim explained that until Abraham all business was done by bartar. This created a problem when the items were not evenly exchangeable. For example two chickens may be worth three watermelons. What happened if a person just wanted one chicken or one watermelon? Something else could be taken but often it was not desired. Consequently just about no deal was concluded with satisfaction. Avraham noted that everyone wanted silver and that it could be made into small quantities. Abraham was a shepherd, therefore when he exchanged something for a sheep, his offer to give his customer silver coins as change was always cheerfully accepted.
The rabbi’s students cunningly smiled and commented that he could put his own picture on the coins. Eli Chaim wisely replied that he was clever enough not to do that. Instead he put an image of an older couple on one side, representing himself and Sarah, and on the other side an image of a young couple representing Yitzchak and Rivka.
The story remained with me and recently I came across its original source in the Talmud, Bava Kama page 97b. It’s part of a somewhat meandering discussion about coins. Part of the discussion is whether a cracked coin that is no longer legal tender can be used to repay a loan. The conclusion is that it cannot. There is also a discussion concerning a loan that specifies repayment in a currency that no longer is considered legal tender. The conclusion is that legal tender must be used and the borrower cannot say “here it is before you” with what are now worthless coins.
Sometime later the Gemara considers if a person who hits a coin with a hammer, defacing it, is liable for damages. An opinion is expressed that he may not be because the coin is still intact. However if the coin was filed down there would be liability because the loss of the filings means that the coin is not fully intact. Modern authorities, though, take the position that this is the same as a cracked coin so rendering the coin useless though pounding would incur a liability.
It’s a multifaceted conversation and part of it deals with the Torah law that the first fruits must be eaten in Jerusalem. Because it may be inconvenient to travel with the actual fruits, it is permitted to transfer the value of the fruits to a coin with the same value. Once in Jerusalem the coin can be spent on food and beverage. Because many types of coins existed the sages of the Talmud wondered what type of coin was acceptable. The conclusion was any coin that was acceptable in Jerusalem. In today’s Jerusalem the Israeli shekel is legal tender, but if some wants to pay with dollars or Euros, it will be accepted. Russian rubles are not accepted, but Jordanian Dinars may be accepted in the Arab quarter.
The Sages taught: What is the coin of ancient Jerusalem? The names David and Solomon were inscribed on one side, and Jerusalem the Holy City was on the other side. And what is the coin of Abraham our forefather? An old man and an old woman, representing Abraham and Sarah, were inscribed on one side, and a young man and a young woman, representing Isaac and Rebecca, were on the other side.
לע"נ
האבא פייוול בן אהרן זצ"ל ב אדר תשפ"ג
האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טו ניסן תשנ"ח
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