Responsa for Bava Metzia 130:7
מאן תנא שניהם אסורין אמר רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע דלא כרבי יהודה דאי רבי יהודה הא אמר צד אחד ברבית מותר:
But there is no dispute: the former is the case if he stipulated, 'When you bring it [the balance], [then] acquire it;'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Hence in the meanwhile the profit is the vendor's. ');"><sup>6</sup></span>
Teshuvot Maharam
Q. R(achel), a widow, entered into the following agreement with B and his wife L(eah): 1) B and his wife undertook to provide food for R and her servant-girl until her death; 2) R, on the other hand, was to give to B and L her late husband's chain valued at fifteen marks; 3) B and his wife were to come to live in R's house (R owned a half interest in a house) and were to pay the interest to the mortgagee of R's house who was a Gentile; 4) in case B or his wife survived R the fifteen marks would be forfeited; and 5) in case both, B and his wife, died before R, she was to receive from their estate fifteen marks minus one-quarter mark for every year from the time of signing the contract. R delivered the chain to B and L. Subsequently B died and L moved to a place where there was no minyan. R demands from L her board and the interest due on the mortgaged house. L claims that she cannot afford to live in one place and provide food for R and her servant in another place. R refuses to leave her city, her daughter, her relatives, and the place where she can pray with a minyan. Can R compel L to provide food for her in R's city; and is not the contract void since in case L died before R and the latter reclaimed her money, the food L provided her with would constitute illegal interest?
A. L cannot force R to come to live with her, and R can not force L to support her while L is away, for neither of them would have entered into the original agreement had they forseen such eventualities. Moreover, the contract is void since there is a possibility that the food R receives from L would constitute illegal interest on R's money. L, therefore, should deduct from the fifteen marks, the amount she expended on R's food, and return the rest to R.
Q. R drew an instrument in which she stated that from then on and after her death, her (real) estate should belong to her brother, to certain people and to charity, on condition that she retain the right to sell any part of it if hard pressed for funds with which to feed and clothe herself. R, now, desires to sell part of her property claiming that she needs the money for her sustenance. The charity-trustee refuses to grant her permission to do so, claiming that R is not hard pressed for funds since she receives her food from L and since she has sufficient clothes.
A. If it is known that R is not in dire need of money for her sustenance, she may not sell any part of her property. But if this is not a known fact, R may promise under oath that she will not sell any part of her property unless she will need the money for her sustenance. She will be permitted, then, to sell such part of her property the proceeds of which will suffice for her sustenace for a period of six months. That money should be deposited with a trustee who would pay her a monthly allowance.
SOURCES: Pr. 1006.
A. L cannot force R to come to live with her, and R can not force L to support her while L is away, for neither of them would have entered into the original agreement had they forseen such eventualities. Moreover, the contract is void since there is a possibility that the food R receives from L would constitute illegal interest on R's money. L, therefore, should deduct from the fifteen marks, the amount she expended on R's food, and return the rest to R.
Q. R drew an instrument in which she stated that from then on and after her death, her (real) estate should belong to her brother, to certain people and to charity, on condition that she retain the right to sell any part of it if hard pressed for funds with which to feed and clothe herself. R, now, desires to sell part of her property claiming that she needs the money for her sustenance. The charity-trustee refuses to grant her permission to do so, claiming that R is not hard pressed for funds since she receives her food from L and since she has sufficient clothes.
A. If it is known that R is not in dire need of money for her sustenance, she may not sell any part of her property. But if this is not a known fact, R may promise under oath that she will not sell any part of her property unless she will need the money for her sustenance. She will be permitted, then, to sell such part of her property the proceeds of which will suffice for her sustenace for a period of six months. That money should be deposited with a trustee who would pay her a monthly allowance.
SOURCES: Pr. 1006.
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