[ON SHABBAT] A MAN MAY BORROW
PITCHERS OF WINE AND PITCHERS OF OIL FROM HIS NEIGHBOUR, PROVIDED HE DOES NOT
SAY TO HIM, 'LEND [THEM] [HALVENI] TO ME'
Wait, borrow – but don’t ask? That doesn’t sound right.
The Gemara makes a distinction between two ways of asking
for a loan:
Raba son of R. Hanan asked Abaye:
Wherein does halveni differ from hash'ileni?
Both mean the same thing. Hash’ileni, it though, is a
more informal term. Halveni, denotes a kind of contract – an advance
promise to pay. The concern is that the one who loans will come to write down
the terms. Keeping things informal – or at least in the abnormal form of a
transaction – lessens that chance.
And abnormal is what it’s all about. Or better: special.
The Rabbis said, 'Regarding all
actions on [Shabbat and] Festivals, as far as it is possible to vary, we vary them
Even in the words we use.
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