[Avodah] Something's Not Kosher at the Matzah Bakery

[Zev Sero]

On 30/03/2011 1:05 PM, Prof. Levine wrote:
> Please see http://tinyurl.com/4hbrp35
>
> This article appeared in last week's Hamodia.

Nice article, except for the following:
> I mean, lots of people pay late. It’s almost what everyone expects;
> you know, like a custom.”  “Well, I’m not sure that workers don’t expect
> to be paid on time,” Moshe retorted, “but if it is a minhag, it’s a bad
> one, and it should be abolished.”

Surely minhag hatagarim is by definition valid; so long as everyone's
expectations are on the same page, because they're all participants in
the same economy with the same practises, there should be no issur,
de'oraisa or derabanan.

Postponing the usual payday, as in the story, certainly seems to be a
problem; since by definition it's a change from what the workers have
been told and have expected and relied on.  And it stands to reason
that if a payday is delayed to Sunday morning then it may affect
someone's Shabbos.  But the other examples, which are with businessmen
who are themselves tagarim and presumably also pay their bills with
the same cheshbon, it seems to me that "Kalman" was on solid ground.

Still, overall the story makes its point.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                      - Margaret Thatcher