In the previous Mishnah, we said that if somebody is inspecting a Bechor (firstborn animal), they are not allowed to take any payment for it. The Bechor is not allowed to be slaughtered based on their ruling if they did take money for checking it. Here we’ll talk about other mitzvot (commandments) for which a person is not allowed to take payment, and if he does, that it’s invalidated and has to be redone in some sense.
The Mishnah says: If somebody takes payment for judging a case, the verdict is invalid. If somebody takes payment for testifying in court, the testimony is invalid. The Torah tells us clearly that you’re not allowed to take any money for these mitzvot, like judging or testifying, so the rabbis decreed that any decisions they make would be nullified if they took money. This is learned from the Pasuk (verse): “Look, I have taught you the laws and the statutes like Hashem, our God, has taught me.” Moshe Rabbeinu is speaking, saying that just as he was taught the Torah for free, he has to teach it for free as well. Hashem taught it to him for free, so he should teach it to others for free. We apply this idea to other mitzvot as well. A person should not take money for the mitzvot, as we’ll continue to explain.
Somebody takes payment for sprinkling the parah adumah (red heifer) waters or mixing the ashes with the spring water to create those waters in order to purify somebody. The water is like cave water, and the ashes are like burnt wood. The parah adumah waters and the ashes are unfit to purify people. In these situations, if money is taken for the service... We’ll now say that there are types of losses or expenses that a person could be compensated for while performing a mitzvah.
A person was a Bechor expert. He was a Dayan, a judge. He was an Ed, a witness. Or he was involved in the parah adumah water process. That individual was a Kohen (priest). And he became Tamei (ritually impure), affecting his Terumah. The person doing the service needed to take a path in order to get somewhere, and that caused him to become Tamei. Or he got into a situation where, because he was involved in the mitzvah, he became Tamei and now he can’t use the Terumah, the special food of the Kohen that could only be eaten while a person is pure. He can’t eat or anoint himself with Terumah produce. The person benefiting from the Kohen’s services is allowed to give the Kohen regular produce to eat, drink, and anoint himself with oil of Chulin (regular produce) until the Kohen is able to purify himself and eat Terumah once more. The Kohen is now incurring a loss because of his involvement with the mitzvah. So whatever he’s receiving as a payback for that is just preventing him from feeling that loss. It’s not considered to be a payment.
Ve'im hayah zaken, markivo al hachamor, ve'noten lo secharo k'po'el. If the individual here was an old man and wouldn’t have the ability to walk on his own, you’re allowed to transport him on a donkey. This is also not considered to be a payment, but it’s going to enable him to do the mitzvah and give him a way to arrive at the destination. And lastly, ve'noten lo secharo k'po'el. In all situations, you’re allowed to give the individual doing this mitzvah wages, payment as a regular worker. The person who’s taking time off from his regular job in order to do this mitzvah can be compensated as a regular worker. In other words, whatever he’s taking off from—let’s say he’s an individual who has a high-paying job and now he’s doing a very simple job, like judging a case or testifying—whatever price difference he would have taken, let’s say he earns $300 a day. If he’s saying, “You know what? If I don’t have to do that difficult job, that high-paying job, I’ll just sit and do the easy job of testifying. I’ll take a third of my normal payment,” then we pay him a third; we pay him $100. It’s called whatever the person is now nullifying: he’s staying away from his regular pursuit of a livelihood, so we pay him something to compensate him for his time. So that’s allowed in all situations.