Parashat Toldot – Selling an Item for Less Than Its Value
Question
A person sold an item to his friend for an especially low price. Is the sale valid?
And how was Esav’s sale of the birthright for a lentil stew effective, when the value of the birthright is so much higher?
Answer
The Question:
A person sold an item to his friend for an especially low price. Is the sale valid?
And how was Esav’s sale of the birthright for a lentil stew effective, when the value of the birthright
is so much higher?
Explanation of the question: The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 227:4) writes that if a person sells an item to his fellow,
and the buyer pays a price that deviates from the true value by more than one‑sixth, the sale is void. Similarly, if it is underpriced by more than a sixth. If so, we may ask: why was Esav’s sale of the birthright in exchange for the lentil stew he received from Yaakov not immediately nullified?
The Answer:
The commentators disagree as to what the primary subject of the sale of the birthright was, and based on this
they explain why the transaction was not invalidated.
1. Many commentators hold that the sale concerned Esav’s share in the inheritance of Yitzchak’s estate, since the firstborn receives
a double portion compared to the other sons (Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Chizkuni).
According to this explanation, the commentators write that there is no ona’ah (overreaching in price) here, because Esav, who was a hunter
and risked his life daily hunting wild animals, assumed that he would not live until the day of Yitzchak’s passing and therefore would not
merit his inheritance. This is the meaning of his words: “Behold, I am going to die, so of what use to me is a birthright?”
2. Rashi explains that the sale of the birthright was a waiver of the right to serve as a kohen in the Beit HaMikdash, which initially
belonged to the firstborn.
According to this, the reason the sale was fair is that Esav, having heard how many laws and punishments
apply to a kohen who does not perform the service properly, willingly gave up the birthright for something small, saying, “Behold, I am going to die” — on account of the priesthood — “so of what use to me is a birthright?”
3. Rashbam and Seforno explain the words “and he sold his birthright” to mean that the sale was for money.
That is, Yaakov paid Esav a respectable sum in exchange for the birthright, and the lentil stew was merely a human custom
to mark the conclusion of the sale.
4. The Or HaChaim explains that indeed the sale was in exchange for the lentil stew alone, and the reason
there is no ona’ah here is based on the rule that if it is clear to us that the seller is under great pressure and is extremely in need
of the sale, then the transaction is valid even when he sells for a small amount, because it is obvious that he genuinely intended
the sale. Therefore, Esav, who was in a state of extreme hunger and was close to death from starvation,
as he said, “Behold, I am going to die,” certainly effected a valid sale.
5. A deeper explanation is given by several later authors: the birthright is a spiritual matter,
and the value of a spiritual asset is determined solely by how important it is in a person’s eyes. Therefore, when Esav was
willing to sell his spiritual privilege for a lentil stew, that was precisely its value to him, and there is no ona’ah.
A fascinating story is brought in the book Ora Zo Torah (Wilhelm) to illustrate this principle:
They tell of a Jew who needed a large sum of money in order to marry off his daughter. When he came before his rabbi
to request a blessing, the rabbi blessed him and said: “Go home, and the first business offer that is proposed to you
accept it, and in that transaction the blessing of Hashem will rest.” Gladdened and encouraged, the Jew returned home. On the way,
he stayed at an inn and there met a group of Jewish merchants who had cast off the yoke of mitzvot. They were sitting and discussing their business. When
one of them saw the righteous Jew approaching, he decided to make fun of him and asked if he wanted to enter into a deal with him.
The Jew remembered his rabbi’s instruction to accept the first deal offered to him and immediately agreed.
The merchant said to him, “Would you agree to buy my share in the World to Come for one ruble?” “Yes,” the Jew answered without hesitation.
Immediately they took a sheet of paper, drafted a bill of sale according to halacha, brought two witnesses, and with a formal kinyan he acquired
the merchant’s share in the World to Come, amid the loud laughter of all those present.
When the merchant returned home, he told his wife about the amusing incident that had happened to him at the inn. Hearing this, the wife became very frightened
and said to him: “Go at once to the buyer and buy back your World to Come from him. I am absolutely not prepared to live with a man who sold his share in the World to Come.” At first he thought that she too was joking, but she insisted. Gradually the realization began to sink in that he had to immediately undo this disastrous deal.
The merchant hurried back to the Jew and asked him to sell the “merchandise” back to him. But now came the surprise: the Jew stubbornly refused to cancel the deal. “A deal is a deal,” said the Jew, “and I am not willing to annul it under any circumstances.” The merchant tried to raise the price, but the Jew held his ground to no avail.
The merchant had only one option left — to go to the buyer’s rabbi and beg him to influence his disciple to agree to sell back to him his portion in the World to Come.
When the rabbi heard the arguments of both sides, he said: “My disciple is right; nevertheless, I can influence him to sell you back the merchandise, if you pay him a fair price for it.” The merchant, who had no choice, was forced to agree and said, “Whatever you impose upon me, I will give.”
The rabbi said to him: “This man needs to marry off his daughter. If you pay all the expenses he has
for this matter, I will instruct him to sell you back your World to Come.” The merchant agreed and gave the entire required amount. Then the buyer returned his share in the kinyan that had been made between them, and everything returned to its place in peace.
After the transaction was completed, the merchant turned to the rabbi and said: “Indeed, I did everything the rabbi instructed me to do, but tell me, honorable rabbi, where is the justice in this? Yesterday the Jew paid me one ruble for this merchandise, so how is it that today the price has risen by thousands of percent?”
The rabbi answered him: “The price of merchandise is determined by its value. Yesterday you yourself belittled the value of your share in the World to Come and estimated it at one ruble; therefore that was its true price. But today, when you grasped the magnitude of the loss and were ready to pay for it whatever would be imposed upon you,
the value of your World to Come rose, and now it is worth thousands of rubles.”
The same applies to the birthright: since Esav was willing to sell it for a bowl of stew, that was its value to him, and there is no ona’ah in this.
