Mishnayos Bava Metzia Perek 5 Mishnah 9
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בבא מציעא פרק ה׳ משנה ט׳
A person may not say to another: Lend me a kor of wheat and I will give it back to you at the time the wheat is brought to the granary, as the wheat may increase in value, which would mean that when he gives him back a kor of wheat at the time the wheat is brought to the granary it is worth more than the value of the loan, and he therefore will have paid interest. But he may say to him: Lend me a kor of wheat for a short period of time, e.g., until my son comes or until I find the key, as there is no concern about a change in price during such a short interval of time. And Hillel prohibits the practice even in this case. And Hillel would similarly say: A woman may not lend a loaf of bread to another unless she establishes its monetary value, lest the wheat appreciate in value before she returns it, and they will therefore have come to transgress the prohibition of interest.
לֹא יֹאמַר אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, הַלְוֵינִי כוֹר חִטִּין וַאֲנִי אֶתֵּן לְךָ לַגֹּרֶן. אֲבָל אוֹמֵר לוֹ, הַלְוֵינִי עַד שֶׁיָּבֹא בְנִי, אוֹ עַד שֶׁאֶמְצָא מַפְתֵּחַ. וְהִלֵּל אוֹסֵר. וְכֵן הָיָה הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, לֹא תַלְוֶה אִשָּׁה כִּכָּר לַחֲבֶרְתָּהּ עַד שֶׁתַּעֲשֶׂנּוּ דָמִים, שֶׁמָּא יוֹקִירוּ חִטִּים, וְנִמְצְאוּ בָאוֹת לִידֵי רִבִּית:
Bartenura
הלויני עד שיבוא בני. דכיון שיש לו, שפיר דמי. דלא גזור רבנן אלא בשאין לו. ואפילו אין לו אלא סאה אחת, לווה עליה כמה כורין, דכל חדא וחדא אמרינן זו תהא תחתיה, שהרי אינה קנויה למלוה וביד הלוה למכרה ולאכלה, ובשלוה בל אחת ואחת לוה בהיתר:
וכן היה הלל אומר לא תלוה אשה. ואין הלכה בהלל. אלא הלכה כחכמים שאומרים לוין סתם ופורעין סתם:
הלויני עד שיבוא בני – because he has it (i.e., a Kor of wheat), it is all right. For the Rabbis did not make the decree other than when he didn’t have i. And if he didn’t have it other than one Seah, he would lend upon it several Kors, and on each one we would say, “this is in its place,” for it is not purchased/acquired by the lender, and it is in the hand of the borrower to sell it or to consume, and when he lends it ech one of them, he is lending with legal permission (i.e., it is a legitimate action).
וכן היה הלל אומר לא תלוה אשה – but the Halakha is not according to Hillel, but rather the Halakha is according to the Sages who say that we lend undefined and collect debts undefined.