Trade

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Ethics in Trade

TANAKH

The Torah emphasizes the ethical obligation to avoid wronging one another in transactions, ensuring fairness and honesty in trade. Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, provides ethical guidelines for transactions, prohibiting deceit and overcharging in buying and selling property.

When you sell property to your neighbor, or buy any from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another.

Leviticus 25:14

The Spiritual Dimension of Trade

CHASIDUT

Trade and commerce are not just mundane activities but are imbued with spiritual significance, driven by divine sparks of holiness. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a prominent Chasidic master, explores the mystical dimensions of trade, emphasizing the spiritual connections between goods, materials, and the individuals involved.

The effect of trade and commerce is to cause all kinds of goods and materials to move around from one set of hands to the next. All the complex movements backwards and forwards depend entirely on the sparks of holiness within the objects themselves. There are times when a certain object has to pass from one person’s hands to another’s and then return to the hands of the first. The determining factor is the Divine sparks within the objects and their relation with the Divine soul and spirit of the individuals concerned (Ibid.).

Likkutei Etzot, Money and Livelihood 29

Economic Protectionism in Ancient Jewish Law

COMMENTARY

The principle of economic protectionism for local inhabitants against newcomers is an ancient form of the 'closed shop' policy. Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, a 16th-century Italian rabbi, references Talmudic principles from Baba Batra to discuss the rights of established residents in commerce.

וסחרוה,. Event though normally, newcomers were not allowed to engage in the kind of commerce or artisanship which would compete with that practiced by the local inhabitants. We have this principle in Baba Batra 21, where it is spelled out as the right of the local inhabitant who feels economically threatened by competition from a new immigrant. He is accorded the right to lodge a complaint against the newcomer practicing his trade in his town. [an ancient form of the policy of “closed shop.” Ed.]

Sforno on Genesis 34:10:1

Joseph's Economic Revolution

COMMENTARY

Joseph's economic policies during the famine in Egypt transformed the social and economic structure of the nation. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explores the biblical narrative of Joseph's strategy to save Egypt from famine, which involved trading livestock and land for food, ultimately leading to the Egyptians becoming serfs.

This turned out to be life-saving advice. His later economic policies, narrated in Parashat Vayigash (47:11–26), are more questionable. When the people ran out of money during the lean years, Joseph told them to trade their livestock. When this too ran out, he arranged for them to sell their land to Pharaoh with the sole exception of the land belonging to the priests. The Egyptians were now, in essence, Pharaoh’s serfs, paying him a tax of 20 per cent of their produce each year.

Judaism's Life Changing Ideas; A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, Miketz; Jews and Economics 7

Solomon's Extensive Trade Network

TANAKH

The international and exotic nature of King Solomon's trade network brought luxurious and rare goods from distant lands, showcasing the wealth and reach of his kingdom. The biblical book of Kings describes King Solomon's extensive maritime trade, including the fleet of ships from Tarshish that brought valuable goods every three years.

For the king had a Tarshish fleet on the sea, along with Hiram’s fleet. Once every three years, the Tarshish fleet came in, bearing gold and silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

I Kings 10:22

Evolving Trade Practices with Gentiles

GUIDES

Despite a prohibition of business transactions with Gentiles on their festival days, such transactions are permitted under certain conditions, reflecting the evolution of Jewish law in the face of the realities faced by Jewish communities. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, in his introduction to the Talmudic tractate Avodah Zarah, explores the leniencies granted to Jews in conducting business with Gentiles during their festivals.

Despite all of the above, the accepted custom throughout the generations has been to permit business transactions with gentiles even on their festival days. The reasons for this leniency, which can be traced back to the Gemara, include the fact that the gentiles with whom the Jews come in contact are no longer pagans, a fear of instigating hatred against Jews, and the difficult situations in which the Jews find themselves.

Introductions to the Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah, Summary of Perek I 6

The Binding Power of a Mark

HALAKHAH

In Jewish commercial law, a verbal agreement can become binding when a mark is made on the article. Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, a comprehensive 12th-century legal code, explains how local customs can solidify verbal agreements in trade.

The following rules apply when a verbal agreement alone was concluded with regard to the sale, a price was established, and the purchaser made a mark on the article so that he will have a sign that it is his. Even though the purchaser did not pay any money at all, if either of the parties retracts after the purchaser made the mark, he is liable to receive the adjuration mi shepara.
Moreover, if it is the accepted local business custom that making a mark constitutes a binding act of contract, by making that mark, the purchaser completes the transaction…

Mishneh Torah, Sales 7:6

Seller's Responsibility in Trade

TALMUD

Understanding the conditions under which a seller bears financial responsibility for sold goods can help us navigate ethical business practices. The Talmudic tractate Bava Batra explores scenarios such as selling produce for planting versus consumption and an ox for labor versus slaughter.

MISHNA: With regard to one who sells produce to another that is sometimes purchased for consumption and sometimes for planting, and the buyer planted it and it did not sprout, and even if he had sold flaxseeds, which are only occasionally eaten, the seller does not bear financial responsibility for them, i.e., he is not required to compensate the buyer. Since the buyer did not specify that he purchased the produce in order to plant it, the seller can claim that he assumed the buyer intended to eat it…

Bava Batra 92a:1-2

A Woman of Valor in Trade

TANAKH

The industrious and multifaceted role of a woman in trade and household management is celebrated in biblical texts. Proverbs 31 offers a poetic depiction of a capable wife, emphasizing her virtues in both domestic and commercial activities.

She is like a merchant fleet,
Bringing her food from afar. She rises while it is still night,
And supplies provisions for her household,
The daily fare of her maids. She sets her mind on an estate and acquires it;
She plants a vineyard by her own labors. She girds herself with strength,
And performs her tasks with vigor. She sees that her business thrives;
Her lamp never goes out at night. She sets her hand to the distaff;
Her fingers work the spindle.
She gives generously to the poor;
Her hands are stretched out to the needy…

Proverbs 31:14-24

Sanctifying Trade

MUSAR

Financial transactions can be elevated to a higher level of sanctity and ethical conduct. In his 17th-century work, Rabbi Isaiah HaLevi Horovitz outlines specific prohibitions and social legislations designed to ensure fairness, compassion, and responsibility within the Jewish community.

Next the Torah concentrates on the elevation of any financial transaction to a higher level of sanctity than that which prevails among the Gentiles. The Torah begins by forbidding the wearing of a mixture of wool and linen; the Torah forbids the possible mistaking of men for women and vice versa by forbidding each sex to wear the attire normally worn by the opposite sex. Taking a widow's clothing as a pawn is prohibited, as is the high-handed action of a lender when appropriating a pawn without supervision by the court authorizing same…

Shenei Luchot HaBerit, Torah Shebikhtav, Ki Teitzei, Torah Ohr 9

Ensuring Fair Trade

MISHNAH

The Mishnah details the specific conditions under which a sale can be reneged, ensuring fairness and integrity in business transactions. This foundational Jewish legal text from around 200 CE outlines various scenarios where transactions can be nullified if goods do not meet agreed-upon terms.

There are four basic cases with regard to sellers and buyers. If the seller sold him wheat and said that the wheat was good, and it is found to be bad, the buyer, but not the seller, can renege on the sale. If the seller sold him what he thought was bad wheat and it is found to be good, the seller can renege on the sale but the buyer cannot. If he sold bad wheat and it is found to be bad, or good wheat and it is found to be good, neither one of them can renege on the sale…

Mishnah Bava Batra 5:6

The Wealth of the Seas

TANAKH

Trade has the power to enrich and satisfy many peoples and kings through the wealth and merchandise brought by sea. The biblical book of Ezekiel describes the prosperity and influence of a maritime trading nation.

When your wares were unloaded from the seas,
You satisfied many peoples;
With your great wealth and merchandise
You enriched the kings of the earth.

Ezekiel 27:33

Self-Sufficiency Through Honest Work

JEWISH THOUGHT

Engaging in trade ensures self-sufficiency and prevents one from becoming a burden on others. The 11th-century ethical work, Duties of the Heart, emphasizes the importance of securing one's livelihood through honest trade.

And likewise, you need to use them for what will provide your livelihood, so that you will be saved from borrowing and stealing, and from needing the kindness of people to support you and to benefit you, thereby giving away to them your merits, and giving your piety to he who was pious towards you. Likewise, so that you won't be a burden on people, as one of the Sages said: "G-d will have [great] mercy on His servants who separate from this world, but only if his separation has not become a burden on his friends…

Duties of the Heart, Ninth Treatise on Abstinence 5:43

Femme Juive Revendeuse (Jewish Woman Reseller) - Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier - 1822

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