Responsa for Bava Batra 317:12
ומי מצית אמרת בברכה כתיב
shall not be trusted [as a witness] while others<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Strangers, attesting his signature. ');"><sup>44</sup></span> shall be trusted; and [the reason is] not because he might lie!<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence, the correctness of the statements in the deed never having been doubted, the deed is valid if strangers attest the signature. ');"><sup>45</sup></span> for should not [this explanation] be accepted,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lit., 'for if you will not say so'. ');"><sup>46</sup></span> [could it be imagined that] Moses and Aaron [are not permitted to act as witnesses] for their fathers-in-law because they are untrustworthy! [The] only [possible explanation] then [is that] it is a decree of the king that they<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Moses and Aaron as any other relatives. ');"><sup>47</sup></span> shall not act as witnesses for them,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Their fathers-in-law (or other relatives). ');"><sup>48</sup></span> [so] here also [the explanation may be that] it is the decree of the king that he<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A son-in-law. ');"><sup>49</sup></span> shall not attest his handwriting in favour of his father-in-law.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' What, then, could have been meant by the 'difficulty' mentioned? ');"><sup>50</sup></span> Hence [the message sent from Palestine was in fact just the one that was mentioned at first;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The case of a son who sold his share in his father's estate during the latter's lifetime (supra). ');"><sup>51</sup></span> and as to your objection [from the verse]. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. supra. ');"><sup>52</sup></span> [it may be pointed out that] this was written in [connection with] a blessing.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' From an expression used in reference to a blessing no law may be derived. ');"><sup>53</sup></span> But can it be said [that this verse] was written [only] in [connection with] a blessing
Teshuvot Maharam
A. The document has no value unless witnesses testify that they saw the document, and recognized the signatures of the witnesses, in the hands of its present possessor before the witness in question became a relative of the beneficiary.
SOURCES: Pr. 115, 919, Am. II, 101; Mord. Sanh. 696. This Responsum relates to Pr. 50. In Cr. 31, L. 355, the two parts are printed together.
Teshuvot Maharam
A. The document has no value unless witnesses testify that they saw the document, and recognized the signatures of the witnesses, in the hands of its present possessor before the witness in question became a relative of the beneficiary.
SOURCES: Pr. 115, 919, Am. II, 101; Mord. Sanh. 696. This Responsum relates to Pr. 50. In Cr. 31, L. 355, the two parts are printed together.