For the source text click/tap here: Bava Metzia 50
To download, click/tap here: PDF
Steinsaltz "Beginning with the Mishna on daf 49b, the rest of the perek focuses on issues of ona’ah. Ona’ah is a biblical prohibition (see Vayikra 25:14), which forbids someone to take unfair advantage of another by overcharging or undercharging when negotiating a business deal. There are three different levels of ona’ah established by the Sages:
1. When the ona’ah – the amount that is overcharged – must be returned
2. When the ona’ah is so small that we assume the parties do not care about it, and it does not have to be returned
3. When the ona’ah is so large that the entire transaction is nullified."
The amount that is set by the Mishna as ona’ah is one-sixth of the value of the transaction. Therefore, if the overcharge is exactly one-sixth, that money is returned; if it is more than one-sixth the transaction is nullified; if it is less than one-sixth the transaction stands and the money need not be returned.
We continue our review of the halachot of price fraud.