One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
הִלְכוֹת מְכִירָה
Sales 10-12
Sefer Kinyan · The compelled sale and the protest • Conditions and asmachta • Ona'ah and its time limits
2
Witnesses who must know
of the compulsion
24
Silver dinarim to a gold one:
20 or 28 must be corrected
12
Months to return a short sela
you can still recognize
1
Perutah of overcharge
is never returned
Ch 10The Sale Made Under Pressure
- Forced, but decided. One compelled to sell and take the money, even hung until he agreed, has sold, land or movables. Since he was compelled, he committed himself. (10:1)
- The protest. A statement before the sale to two witnesses, who themselves know he is compelled, voids the sale even years later. A written protest must say the witnesses know. (10:1-2)
- Gifts are different. A protest voids a gift or a debt waiver even without any compulsion, since a gift rests on wholehearted will. (10:3)
- What counts as force. Beating, hanging, threats through gentiles or Jews, or a tenant threatening to hide the rental contract. An established thief who buys the field he stole acquires nothing. (10:4-5)
- A protest that survives. “I sell willingly” said before the oppressor does not cancel it. An admitted payment need not be repaid unless counted before witnesses. Cancellations count, unless he declared in advance that they are coerced too. (10:6-8)
RememberPressure does not cancel a sale. A quiet word to two witnesses beforehand does.
Ch 11If, and From Now
- Condition versus asmachta. “On condition that you come to Jerusalem,” with a kinyan, binds. “If you come, I will give you the house” never does, since he did not firmly decide. (11:1-3)
- Forfeits and doubles. A buyer loses the security he left if he retracts. A seller who promised to pay double owes nothing. Every if-then promise is asmachta, even in a signed document. (11:4-6)
- “From now” cures it. A condition retroactive to now, with a kinyan, binds. (11:7)
- Say your reason. Selling “to move” or “because of the drought” is a conditional sale. Unspoken reasons count for nothing. (11:8-9)
- Buy-back terms. If the seller stipulated “return it when I have money,” the produce is his. If the buyer volunteered it, he binds himself and eats the produce. A vague reply by an agent completes nothing. (11:10-12)
- Making it stick. An asmachta with a kinyan in a prominent court binds, unless he was prevented by a river or illness. “I owe you a maneh” binds. Open-ended support does not, except at marriage. (11:13-18)
Remember“If” leans on a heart that never decided. “From now” shows it already did.
Ch 12The Sixth and the Clock
- The sixth. Exactly a sixth: the sale stands and the difference is returned. Less: waived. More: void at the wronged party’s option. A perutah: never returned. Deliberate or not, no lashes. (12:1-4)
- The clock. The buyer, until he can show it to a merchant or relative. The seller, until he sees a comparable sale, or only the time to check prices on a standard item. Silence after knowing is a waiver. (12:5-7)
- Merchants and coins. Merchants are covered. A gold dinar of 24 silver exchanged for 20 or 28 is corrected. Coins: a money changer’s time in a city, the week in a village. Books and gems: until an expert. (12:8-11)
- The short sela. If recognizable, returnable even after twelve months. If it passes with difficulty, not after a long time. (12:12)
- When prices move. After an overcharge of more than a sixth, only the wronged party may retract. After an exact sixth, the sale is complete and only the zuz is returned. (12:13-15)
RememberThe one who overcharged cannot profit from his own unfairness twice.