Musar for Bava Metzia 132:10
א"ל רב הונא בריה דרב נתן לרב פפא מי קאמר ליה קני לגוביינא אמר ליה מר זוטרא בריה דרב מרי לרבינא ואי אמר קני למיגבא מיניה קני סוף סוף אסמכתא היא ואסמכתא לא קניא
Said R. Aha of Difti to Rabina: perhaps that is due to fear lest his land lose its worth?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If he were seen selling articles (on Rashi's interpretation) or mortgaging a field (Tosaf.) at less than their value, his financial straits would be known, with the result that his property would drop in price. Yet he really may wish to retain the field ');"><sup>10</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Jacob prefaced his vow with the words: אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי, If the Lord will be with me, etc." He concluded it by saying that if his request would be granted: והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, "then the Lord will be my G–d." How could Jacob have dared to use the word אם, "if," which suggests that he made his loyalty to G–d dependent on G–d fulfilling his requests? We have a halachic ruling in Baba Metzia 66 that if someone purchases something by prefacing his remarks with the conditional word אם, such a purchase is invalid, seeing he had not truly committed himself. Even though the Maharam rules that in matters of vows and oaths conditional vows are legally binding, why did Jacob use an expression involving him in possibly legally binding vows? ...
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy