We are now beginning the seventh chapter of tractate Bava Metzia - the chapter of "Hasocher Es Hapoalim", and before us is Mishnah 1. The Mishnah begins: "Hasocher es hapoalim" - A person who hires workers for his labor. A worker, as defined earlier, is an employee who is paid for his time, unlike a contractor who is paid for a finished product. Our Mishnah is discussing a day laborer: a worker hired to work for a full day and perform any task assigned to him. He may engage in a variety of jobs, as the main point is adding an extra pair of working hands in the field or anywhere else. The foundation of the Mishnah is that whatever is customary at that time and in that place regarding the compensation of a day laborer - is the level of compensation the worker may expect.
"Ve'amar lahem lehashkim uleha'ariv":
After the employer hired the workers and set their wages with them - for example, a hundred dollars a day - he informs them that they are expected to arrive early or leave late, earlier or later than what is standard at that time and in that place. The default assumption of the Mishnah, based on a verse in Psalms, is that the boundaries of a regular workday are as follows:
Beginning of the day: At sunrise, the worker leaves his home and goes to his workplace.
End of the day: The worker remains at his labor until the stars emerge, until it is dark outside.
Regarding this, the Mishnah establishes: "Makom shenahagu shelo lehashkim veshelo leha'ariv - eino rashai lekofan" - If the prevailing custom in that time and place is that workers do not arrive so early and do not stay so late, relative to the employer's demand, the employer has no right to force them to comply with this demand.
For example: An agreement was made with the worker for a wage of a hundred dollars a day. When he arrives at the workplace, the employer tells him, "I am paying you a hundred dollars, while the going rate is fifty, and therefore I expect you to stay until ten at night." The worker may reply, "That was not the agreement. Workers may leave when the stars emerge, and at that time I am leaving." And if the employer argues, "If so, why did you think I am paying you a hundred dollars?", the worker can answer that he thought the employer wanted higher quality work, and therefore added to the standard wage. If the employer refuses to pay, the worker may sue him and summon him to a Beis Din to collect his wages. The general rule: Everything follows the accepted custom, unless other conditions were agreed upon in advance.
"Makom shenahagu lazzun":
"Makom shenahagu lazzun - yazun" - If the custom in that time and place is to provide the day laborer with food, the employer must provide him with food.
"Lesapek betargima - yesapek" - And if the custom is to add extras beyond the food itself, such as dessert, he must provide those as well. "Targima" refers to things beyond the basic food of bread and water. The Shulchan Aruch brings examples like dates and figs, and the intent is whatever is customary in that time and place.
"Hakol keminhag hamedinah" - Everything is determined by the prevailing custom in that place.
The incident with Rabbi Yochanan ben Masya:
"Ma'aseh b'Rabbi Yochanan ben Masya she'amar liveno: Tze us'chor lanu po'alim" - Rabbi Yochanan ben Masya asked his son to find day laborers to help with the fieldwork. "Halach ufasak lahem mezonos" - The son went to the place where workers seeking employment gather, and agreed with them that they would come work in the field and receive food, but he did not specify what food and in what quantity.
"Uchesheba etzel aviv, amar lo: Beni, afilu atah oseh lahem kise'udas Shlomo besha'ato - lo yatzata yedei chovascha imahen" - When the son returned and told his father what he had done, the father replied to him: Even if you prepare a lavish feast for them like the feasts King Solomon hosted during his reign, you have not fully discharged your obligation to them in what you committed to give them as food.
"Shehem bnei Avraham, Yitzchak v'Yaakov" - Because they are the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are entitled to a great and fine feast even beyond that of King Solomon. The foundation of this is learned from our forefather Abraham, who provided food for three guests and took three cows for them - a clearly excessive amount relative to their number. Isaac and Jacob may not have provided such feasts, but mentioning them comes to teach that this law applies specifically to the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, meaning to Jews; for if it had only said "children of Abraham", Ishmaelites would also be included.
This is the approach of Rabbi Yochanan ben Masya: whenever one does not specify how much, the obligation is open-ended, and Jews are entitled to receive as much as they wish. Therefore, the father said to his son: "Ad shelo yatchilu bimelachah - tse ve'emor lahem: al menas she'ein lachem alay ela pas vekitnis bilvad" - before they begin the work, go out and tell them: on the condition that you have no claim on me other than bread and legumes alone. As long as the workers have not started their work, the option still exists to go back and make a new condition with them, because the halachah is that once they have begun working, one can no longer back out of the commitment under any circumstances; but as long as they have not started, one can retract an excessive commitment. Therefore, he should go and tell them that their employment is conditional upon their agreement to receive only bread and legumes - basic food and nothing more.
Many deduce from here that this quantity and quality of food are less than the regional custom, and the novel ruling here is that it is permissible to make a condition for less than the custom, provided the workers agree to it in advance. However, if he did not stipulate this in advance, they receive according to the local custom. And as mentioned, all of this applies to a case where he did not define what those "meals" would be, in which case there is no limit to the obligation.
"Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel omer" - Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, and this is the halachah: there is no need to specify what the meals will be, because when a person makes a general commitment to provide food, everything follows the prevailing customs of that time and place. While it may be difficult to apply this law to the practical realities of our time and place, the principle remains intact.