Q&A: One-Sixth: The Sale Stands and the Overcharge Is Returned
One-Sixth: The Sale Stands and the Overcharge Is Returned
Question
As is well known, if the overcharge is less than one-sixth, the sale stands; if it is more than one-sixth, the sale is void; and if it is exactly one-sixth, the sale stands and the overcharge is returned. Clearly, this measure, like all measures in the Torah, is an arbitrary (and convenient) choice, since it is impossible to set precise measures that exactly match the truth. But what do we do with the exact measure of precisely one-sixth? It seems far-fetched to say that in the exact case of one-sixth it is appropriate to apply a different rule. So why not classify one-sixth together with one of the other groups?
Answer
Good question. I don’t know. Maybe it is meant to show that there is also a possible category of “the sale stands and the overcharge is returned,” for use by halakhic decisors in changing circumstances (who can determine that this category should apply in a common case).
Thank you very much