Mr. Mandel had purchased special hand matzah for the Sedarim from a trusted acquaintance in his community who distributed from his home. He calculated carefully, ordering enough boxes for both Sedarim, allowing for spares.
Two days before Pesach, however, plans changed.
One of his married children called. “We are now thinking of joining you for the Sedarim,” the son said. “Would that still work?”
“Of course!” Mr. Mandel replied warmly. “We’ll be happy to have you!”
After hanging up, he paused. “We may be a little tight on matzah now,” he said to his wife, “but we should manage.”
The first Seder was uplifting and lively. With the additional family, the table was fuller, the discussion richer, and the meal longer.
Only late that night, while clearing off the table, did Mrs. Mandel remark, “We used much more matzah than expected.”
The next morning, Mr. Mandel checked the remaining boxes. He counted once, then again. “We don’t have enough for the second Seder,” he said.
Mrs. Mandel looked concerned. “What can we do now? It’s already Yom Tov.”
Mr. Mandel considered. “Perhaps we can borrow from our neighbor,” he suggested. “He uses this type of matzos for all of Yom Tov. Or maybe I can pick up another box from the distributor.”
“How can you do that on Yom Tov?” she asked. “Isn’t there an issue with borrowing or buying?”
“Business transactions are not allowed on Yom Tov,” Mr. Mandel answered, “but perhaps for use on Yom Tov it is allowed.”
Not wanting to rely on assumptions, he asked Rabbi Dayan later that day:
“May we borrow or buy matzos on Yom Tov?”
“The Mishna (Shabbos 148a) teaches that a person may borrow foodstuffs from his neighbor on Shabbos or Yom Tov,” replied Rabbi Dayan. “However, he should not say ‘halveini,’ but rather ‘hashileini.’ In Hebrew, halvaah generally connotes a long-term loan, where there is greater concern of writing, whereas hasha’alah generally refers to short-term use of items (O.C. 307:11).
In English, or other languages in which “lend” and “borrow” are used for both long-term monetary loans and short-term use of items, Shulchan Aruch (ibid.) instructs to say “Give me” (“tein li”). You may add: “…and I will give back” (M.B. 307:44).
If the lender does not trust the borrower and wants security, the borrower can leave clothing or alternate foodstuffs as collateral, but should not state outright that this is “collateral,” since that is a weekday manner of speaking (M.B. 307:45).
Moreover, although business transactions – even of foodstuffs – are prohibited, the Mishna (Beitzah 29b) allows going to a store owner in a private manner and requesting foodstuffs from him for use on Shabbos or Yom Tov, even saying “give me,” but without mentioning buying or selling or promising payment. Furthermore, you can only state the amount needed, without discussing price or tallying the amount taken now with what was bought beforehand (O.C. 323:1, 4; 517:1; Mishnah Berurah and Aruch HaShulchan 323:1).
It is preferable to state the amount needed in number, rather than by measure of weight or volume. Nonetheless, Rema allows mentioning weight to indicate the amount (e.g., “Give me 2 lbs. of matzah”). Similarly, he allows mentioning the price when it does not serve to establish the price of the transaction, but rather to indicate the amount desired when the price is fixed (e.g., “Give me the $30 box”). The Mechaber, though, does not allow mentioning measure or price even to indicate the amount (Mishnah Berurah 323:15, 19; Shemiras Shabbos K’hilchasah 29:20-22).
Several Acharonim recommend being stringent like the Mechaber, especially since you can state the amount in number, but one who is lenient has what to rely on (Mishna Berurah 323:20).
Thus, if you are short on matzah, you can borrow from your neighbor, but you should say: ‘Do you have a box of matzah to give me, and I’ll give you one back on Chol HaMoed,’ rather than: ‘Can you lend me a box of matzah?’
“You can even get matzah from the distributor privately,” concluded Rabbi Dayan, “but preferably, you should not mention the price or weight, even to indicate the amount desired, but rather say: ‘Give me a large [or small] box of matzah.’”
Verdict: Chazal allowed borrowing foodstuffs from a neighbor or even getting from a seller in a private manner, provided that you avoid language of lending or borrowing, buying or selling, or payment, and, preferably, state the amount needed without mentioning measure or price.