A Dropped Slurpee
During the pandemic, a favorite Jachter family activity was to order Slurpees delivered from a local store (see https://oukosher.org/kosher-slurpee-list/ for more information on the halachic propriety of such orders). One Motzei Shabbat, the delivery person dropped the Slurpees he was bringing to our home. As my two sons handled the situation, I watched the action from a distance.
Accepting Payment?
Suddenly, I saw the delivery man handing my sons money — compensating them for the spilled frozen drinks. I became upset that my sons were accepting payment. We learned the following story from the Gemara (Bava Metzia 83a):
“Some porters (negligently (see Rashi and Maharsha)) broke a barrel of wine belonging to Rabbah bar Channah. He seized their garments (as a form of payment), so they went and complained to Rav. Rav told (Rabbah bar bar Channah), ‘Return their garments.’ (Rabbah) asked, ‘Is that the law?’ Rav replied, ‘Yes, (as it says in Mishlei 2:20), ‘You shall walk in the way of good people.’ So (Rabbah) returned their garments. They further claimed (to Rav), ‘We are poor men, have worked all day and are hungry. Are we to get nothing?’ Rav ordered (Rabbah), ‘Go and pay them.’ He asked, ‘Is that the law?’ (Rav) responded, ‘Yes,’ (as the same verse continues), ‘And keep the path of the righteous.’”
I immediately urged my sons from a distance to remember the porters dropped wine barrels, and not to demand payment for the lost Slurpees. The boys responded that they would shortly explain why we were taking compensation. After the gentleman delivering the drinks left, my sons explained that they told the man not to pay — but he insisted on doing so. The boys explained that the delivery person was eager to make the payment.
The boys said they bore in mind the story with the wine porters, but that our case is different. In the porters’ case, the sensitive step was to meet the workers’ demand for payment. By contrast, in the Slurpee case, the kind gesture was to permit the delivery man to retain his dignity, by accepting payment that he so much wanted to make.
Rashi (s.v. Bederech) explains that Rav’s ruling was not strict law, but lifnim mishurat hadin (beyond the letter of the law).
The Gemara (Bava Metzia 30b) cites the verse, “You should do the straight (yashar) and the good (tov) in the eyes of God,” (Devarim 6:18), as the source for acting lifnim mishurat hadin.
The Ramban (ad loc.) explains:
“This verse intends to teach that while we must keep God’s specific laws, we must also intuit what is ‘the good and straight’ in those areas for which God did not issue any specific rules. This directive is a great matter, because the Torah can’t regulate every area of human behavior on both an individual and a communal level. After the Torah presents several general ethical commands such as not to gossip and not to take revenge, it commands us to do good and right in all areas.”
“Our perfect Torah gave principles for correcting man’s character and behavior in the world when it said, ‘Be holy’ (Vayikra 19:2). This verse means, as the rabbis taught, ‘Sanctify yourself with what is permitted to you,’ that a person should not excessively pursue physical desires (even via permitted means). Similarly, the Torah commanded, ‘You should do the straight (yashar) and the good (tov) in the eyes of God,’ (Devarim 6:18), which means that one should act properly and honestly towards other people. There was no purpose (for the Torah) to legislate details of these ideas, for the Torah’s mitzvot apply in every period of history. In every situation, a person must act accordingly, but the appropriate behavior can change, depending on the time and people involved.”
Ramban teaches that every situation changes when it comes to acting beyond the letter of the Torah. The Torah expects us to use our intuition and determine the proper course, case by case. Thus, just because refusing payment in the porter case represented “the right and the just” does not mean that in the Slurpee case, we must refuse compensation.
Conclusion
It is a central Torah value to act beyond the demands of the letter of the law. However, each situation has its own “personality,” and we must use our emotional intelligence to tailor a top-quality response. Baruch Hashem, my sons internalized the Ramban’s lesson, and they determined that while it was “the good and straight path” not to take money in the Gemara’s case; it was proper to accept the payment from the Slurpee delivery man in our case.
Rabbi Haim Jachter is the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarei Orah, the Sephardic Congregation of Teaneck. He also serves as a rebbe at Torah Academy of Bergen County and a dayan on the Beth Din of Elizabeth.
