Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Responsa for Bava Metzia 73:8

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> אלמא מספיקא מפקינן ממונא ולא אמרינן אוקי ממונא בחזקת מריה

BUT THE WHOLE MUST LIE UNTIL ELIJAH COMES. LIKEWISE, IF TWO UTENSILS [ARE DEPOSITED], ONE WORTH A <i>MANEH</i> AND THE OTHER ONE THOUSAND [<i>ZUZ</i>]: THIS ONE CLAIMS, THE BETTER ONE IS MINE, THE OTHER CLAIMS, THE BETTER ONE IS MINE: THE INFERIOR ONE MUST BE GIVEN TO ONE OF THEM, AND OUT OF THE SUPERIOR THE VALUE OF THE INFERIOR IS GIVEN TO THE SECOND, THE REST REMAINING UNTIL ELIJAH COMES. SAID R. JOSE: IF SO, WHAT WILL THE DECEIVER LOSE? BUT THE WHOLE MUST LIE UNTIL ELIJAH COMES.

Teshuvot Maharam

Q. A says that B's mother before her death instructed B to give A one Mina out of her possessions, since she had owed money to A's mother and did not remember whether or not she had repaid the entire sum. B denies having received such instructions from his mother, and further claims that A's mother owed him more than one Mina. But A has witnesses who testify that after his mother's death B admitted having received these instructions.
A. Since B's mother did not take the required oath regarding her ketubah, she had no property of her own; even the clothes she wore on week-days belonged to the estate. Consequently B is unable to carry out his mother's instructions. B is under no moral obligation to repay his mother's debt since the mother herself had not been pressed for payment.
SOURCES: Cr. 76.
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Teshuvot Maharam

Q. A says he is entitled to receive more than half of the interest due him and B from a Gentile, but B says he himself is entitled to an equal share with A.
A. Each one is entitled to receive the amount the other admits is coming to him; as to the remainder, it belongs to the one who will seize it first.
SOURCES: Am II, 155.
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