Commentary for Bava Batra 325:11

וליחוש דלמא גייז ליה לעילא ומחיק ליה לטיוטא וכתב מאי דבעי ומחתים סהדי ואמר רב שטר הבא הוא ועדיו על המחק כשר

the dotted portion? — A court does not confirm an ink dotted [space].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And it would, therefore, be obvious that the attestation referred to the text of the deed. In the case of witnesses, however, such an assumption is not warranted, since not every witness knows the law and it is possible to assume that the holder of the deed had found some witnesses who consented to confirm with their signatures that a blank space was dotted with ink marks. ');">²⁹</span> Is [there no reason] to apprehend<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If an unlimited blank space be allowed between the signatures of the witnesses and the attestation of the court. ');">³⁰</span> that the upper [portion of the deed], might be [entirely] cut off, the ink dots erased, any [terms] desired entered,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On the spot erased. ');">³¹</span> and the signatures of witnesses [also] might be attached<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Without their knowledge. ');">³²</span> [and yet the deed would be regarded as valid], since Rab stated that a deed the text<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'it'. ');">³³</span> and the [signatures of the] witnesses of which appear on an erasure<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. infra 163b seq. ');">³⁴</span> is legally valid?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If the signatures are known. In the case, therefore, where an attestation of a court appears at the foot of the deed, the authenticity of the signatures of the witnesses would be taken for granted; and since, according to Rab, the fact that the deed is written on an erasure is no disqualification of its legality, the forgery would never be detected. How, then, could Rab state that the two lines limit does not apply to the space between the signatures of the witnesses and the attestation of the court? ');">³⁵</span>

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