Baba Metzia 4:9-10

Baba Metzia 4:9

The rule against overcharging does not apply to servants, documents, real estate and sanctified property (so one cannot void a transaction). The rules of double, four-fold and five-fold repayments also do not apply to these things. An unpaid guardian does not take an oath if these things are lost on his watch, nor does a paid watchman pay if they are lost or stolen. Rabbi Shimon says that the rules of fraud apply to sacrifices that one would be obligated to replace but not to those one would not be obligated to replace. Rabbi Yehuda says that fraud doesn’t even apply when one sells a Torah, an animal or pearls but the Sages replied that only the items initially stated (i.e., servants, documents, real estate and sanctified property) are exempt from the laws of fraud.

Baba Metzia 4:10

It’s not only possible to wrong someone financially, it’s also possible to wrong someone verbally. For example, one may not ask a shopkeeper the price of an item if he has no intention to purchase it. If a person was formerly irreligious, one may not remind him of his former deeds. If a person was descended from converts, one may not tell him to remember his ancestors’ deeds as per Exodus 22:20, “You shall not wrong or oppress a convert.”