In the days of Noach - before the flood - the world was corrupt with thievery, among other sins. Our Chachomim teach us that thievery was the sin which ultimately sealed the fate of that generation, for which they were punished with the flood.In describing the thievery, the Medrash relates a typical scenario: A man would come to the market with a basket of peas to sell. The people would then conspire on how to rob him, yet in a cunning way, so that they could not be punished in court for their deeds, as follows:
Each person would take but one pea from the basket, and, before long, there were no peas left for the man to sell. Since a pea cost less than the amount of money which can be litigated in court, the man would be left with nothing, and no legal recourse with which to recoup his loss.
