The Book of Buying and Selling

Chapter 12

The times when it is not appropriate to sell or buy include Sabbaths and festivals, as it is written regarding them: You shall do no work (Leviticus 23:3), and the intermittent days of the festivals, on which it is not appropriate for a person to buy or sell unless he needs it for the intermittent days, or he has nothing to eat. If he buys and sells on the intermittent days for these two purposes, he must do so inconspicuously, as it is written:

Sellers of fruit, garments, and utensils sell their wares discreetly for the needs of the festival. [m. Mo‘ed Katan 2:5]

On Sabbath eve close to nightfall, it is not appropriate to sell anything to an idolator unless there is time left in the day for him to leave and arrive at a house next to that city. If he is inside [the house of the Jew], then [the transaction must be completed] with enough time for him to leave the house of the Jew, as it is written:

Bet Shammai says that it is forbidden to sell to a non-Jew or help him put a load on his animal or on himself unless he can reach a nearby place [before sunset]. Bet Hillel permits this. [m. Shabbat 1:7] [ . . . ]

And four of the recognized periods of time pertaining to idolators during which it is forbidden to do business with them are the three days preceding their holiday and on the holiday itself. We include the three days prior to the holiday, as it is written:

For three days preceding their holidays one must not do business with them. [m. Avodah Zarah 1:1]

But it is reasonable to assume that this only applies to a time when the people of Israel are living in their own land. However, since they have been exiled, there is no prohibition except on the holiday itself. [ . . . ]

However, it is not prohibited to do business with them [idolaters] on a holiday that is not well established among all of them and is not well known, as it is written:

R. Huna allowed R. Beruna to buy wine and R. Giddel to buy wine on a Bedouin holiday. They said that a Bedouin holiday is different because it is not fixed.¹ [see b. Avodah Zarah 11b]

It is important to note that if a Jew owns something, and if he does not sell it, he will suffer a loss; he may sell it to an idolator, even on the holiday itself. It is however forbidden to buy from them. [ . . . ]

In the seventh [sabbatical] year, it is forbidden to sell tools made for working in the field, as it is written:

These are the tools that the workman is not permitted to sell in the seventh year: the plow and all its utensils, the yoke, the winnowing-fan, and the mattock. But he may sell a hand sickle, a reaping sickle, and a cart with all its utensils. The rule is that it is forbidden to buy any tool designed specifically for prohibited activity [in the seventh year], but it is permitted to sell one. [m. Shevi‘it 5:6]

But it is permitted to sell a cow and fruit, as it is written:

Bet Shammai say that it is forbidden to sell a plowing cow in the seventh year. Bet Hillel permits this because it might be for the purpose of slaughtering it. One may sell someone fruit even at sowing season. [m. Shevi‘it 5:8]

But it is forbidden to sell any item which a buyer requires for doing work that is prohibited in the seventh year.