Parashat Toldot – Selling an object not according to its value

A gutn Shabbos!

If someone sold an object to his friend for an especially low price, is the sale valid?

And how then was the sale of Esav’s birthright for a lentil stew effective, since the value of the birthright is much higher?

Explanation of the question: The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 227:4) writes that if a person sells an item to his fellow and the buyer pays an amount that exceeds the true price by one-sixth, the sale is void. If so, we must ask: why was the sale of Esav’s birthright for the lentil stew he received from Yaakov not immediately voided?

The commentators disagree as to what the main focus of the sale of the birthright was, and based on this they explain why the sale was not voided.

1. Many commentators hold that the sale concerned Esav’s share in the inheritance of Yitzchak’s property, since the firstborn receives a double portion compared to the other sons (Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Chizkuni).

According to this explanation, the commentators write that there was no ona’ah (price fraud), because Esav, who was a hunter and risked his life every day in hunting wild animals, assumed that he would not live until the day of Yitzchak’s passing and therefore would not merit his inheritance. This is the meaning of his words: “Behold, I am going to die, so of what use is this birthright to me?”

2. Rashi explains that the sale of the birthright was a renunciation of serving as a kohen in the Beit HaMikdash, a role which at first belonged to the firstborns.

According to this, the reason the sale was fair is that Esav, having heard how many laws and punishments apply to a kohen who does not serve properly, willingly gave up the birthright for a small consideration, since he said: “Behold, I am going to die” — through the priesthood — “and of what use is this birthright to me?”

3. Rashbam and Sforno explain the words “and he sold his birthright” to mean that the sale was for money. In other words, Yaakov paid Esav a respectable sum for the birthright, and the lentil stew was merely a common custom to mark the conclusion of the transaction.

4. The Or HaChaim explains that indeed the sale was for the lentil stew alone, and the reason there was no ona’ah here is based on the principle that if it is clear to us that the seller was pressured and greatly in need of the sale, the transaction is valid even when the price is low, because it is obvious that he seriously intended to sell. Therefore, in Esav’s case, who was in a state of extreme hunger and was about to die from starvation, as he said, “Behold, I am going to die,” his sale is certainly valid.

5. A profound explanation is offered by several later authors: the birthright is a spiritual matter, and the value of something spiritual is determined solely according to its importance in a person’s eyes. Therefore, when Esav was prepared to sell his spiritual advantage for a lentil stew, that was precisely its value for him, and there is no ona’ah here.

A fascinating story is brought in the book Orah Zu Torah (Wilhelm) to illustrate this principle:
There was once a Jew who needed a large sum of money in order to marry off his daughter. When he came to his rabbi to ask for a blessing, the rabbi blessed him and said: “Go home, and the first business proposal that is offered to you, accept it, and in that transaction the blessing of Hashem will rest.” Joyful and encouraged, the Jew went back home. On the way he stayed at an inn and there met a group of Jewish merchants who had cast off the yoke of Heaven. They were sitting and discussing their business affairs. When one of them saw the righteous Jew approaching, he decided to make fun of him and asked whether he would like to do a deal with him. The Jew remembered his rabbi’s instruction to agree to the first deal offered to him, and immediately answered in the affirmative. The merchant said to him: “Would you agree to buy my World to Come for one ruble?” “Yes,” replied the Jew without hesitation. 

They immediately took out a sheet of paper, drew up a bill of sale according to all the legal requirements, brought two witnesses, and with a formal acquisition the Jew bought the merchant’s World to Come, amid the loud laughter of all those present.
When the merchant returned home, he told his wife about the amusing incident that had happened to him at the inn. Upon hearing this, his wife became very alarmed and said to him: “Go at once to the buyer and buy back your World to Come from him. I absolutely refuse to live with a man who has sold his World to Come!” At first he thought that she too was joking, but she persisted. Gradually he began to realize that he must immediately undo the disastrous deal he had made. 

The merchant hurried back to the Jew and asked him to sell the “merchandise” back to him. But here a surprise awaited him: the Jew stubbornly refused to cancel the transaction. “A deal is a deal,” said the Jew, “and I am not prepared to annul it under any circumstances.” The merchant tried to raise the price, but the Jew remained firm in his position.
The merchant had only one option left — to go to the rabbi of the buyer and beg him to influence his student to agree to sell him back his share in the World to Come.
When the rabbi heard the claims of both sides, he said: “My student is right. Nevertheless, I can influence him to sell you back this ‘merchandise’ if you pay him a fair price for it.” The merchant, who had no other choice, was forced to agree and said: “Whatever you impose on me, I will give.”
The rabbi said to him: “This man needs to marry off his daughter. If you pay all his expenses in this matter, I will order him to sell you back your World to Come.” The merchant agreed and paid the entire required sum. Then the buyer returned his share in the acquisition that had been made between the parties, and everything returned to its proper place in peace.
After the transaction was completed, the merchant turned to the rabbi and said: “Indeed, I have done everything the rabbi instructed me to do, but tell me, where is the justice in this? Yesterday the Jew paid me one ruble for this ‘merchandise’; how is it that today the price has risen by thousands of percent?” 
The rabbi answered him: “The price of merchandise is determined by its value. Yesterday you belittled the value of your share in the World to Come and estimated it at one ruble; therefore that was its true price. But today, when you grasped the magnitude of the loss and were ready to pay for it whatever would be imposed upon you, 
the value of your World to Come has risen, and now it is worth thousands of rubles.”
The same applies to the birthright: since Esav was ready to sell it for a bowl of soup, that was its value to him, and there is no ona’ah in this.