Responsa for Shevuot 82:15
ההוא דאמר ליה לחבריה הב לי שית מאה זוזי דמסיקנא בך א"ל ולא פרעתיך מאה קבי
Said [R'Nahman] to him: 'Since you admit that you definitely received the money from him, it is a proper repayment; if you desire the condition to be fulfilled, go and bring the money [here], for here am I and R'Shesheth who have studied the laws, Sifra, Sifre, Tosefta,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' On these terms, v. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.) p. 567, n. 1.');"><sup>21</sup></span> and the whole<big><b>GEMARA:</b></big> '<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., it is no excuse to say, because the money is now lost, that you accepted it as a deposit and not as repayment of the loan. [MS.M. reads 'Talmud' for 'Gemara' in curr. ed. On these terms, v. B.M. (Sonc. ed.) p. 206, n. 6.]');"><sup>22</sup></span> There was a certain [man] who said to his neighbour: 'Give me the hundred zuz that l lent you.' The other said to him: 'The thing never happened.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I did not borrow from you.');"><sup>23</sup></span> He went and brought witnesses that he lent him, but [they also said] he repaid him. Abaye said: What shall we do? They say he lent him, and they themselves say he repaid him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Therefore he is exempt.');"><sup>24</sup></span> Raba said: If he says, 'I did not borrow,' it is as if he said, 'I did not repay.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For if he did not borrow he certainly did not repay. Witnesses testify that he did borrow, and they are believed; but they are not believed when they say he repaid, for he himself admits that he did not repay; therefore he must pay.');"><sup>25</sup></span> There was a certain [man] who said to his neighbour: 'Give me the hundred zuz that I claim from you.' He replied to him: 'Did I not repay you before So-and-so and So-and-so? ' [Thereupon] So-and-so and So-and-so came and said: 'The thing never happened.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He did not repay before us.');"><sup>26</sup></span> R'Shesheth thought of saying that he was therefore proven a liar.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And is not believed even on oath to say that he repaid the loan though not before those two witnesses; for he has already been proved guilty of a lie.');"><sup>27</sup></span> Said Raba to him: Anything which does not rest upon a man he will do unconsciously.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It was not incumbent upon him to remember whether he paid before witnesses or not, for the lender had not stipulated that he must repay him before witnesses; when, therefore, he said he had repaid before witnesses, his memory was at fault, but he is not thereby accounted a liar, and may take an oath that he has repaid the loan.');"><sup>28</sup></span> There was a certain [man] who said to his neighbour: 'Give me the six hundred zuz that I claim from you.' The other replied to him: 'Did I not repay you a hundred kabs
Teshuvot Maharam
A. A's statement did not invalidate the deed, for a person does not usually remember details that are of no particular importance to him.
SOURCES: Cr. 311; Mordecai Hagadol, p. 309a.
Teshuvot Maharam
A. B is under no obligation to A for the following reasons: 1) We believe B's claim that he included the money of his departed daughter in A's dowry, since B could have claimed that his younger daughter gave him her money, and this latter claim would have been irrefutable; 2) the father is the rightful heir of the departed daughter since C's provision for the disposition of his gift in case the daughter die childless is void.
Q. A claims that he has witnesses who will testify that B took from his (A's) father thirty marks. B claims that he returned to A whatever he had taken from his father.
A. If the witnesses will testify that B robbed A's father, A should take an oath that B did not as yet return the money to him, and be entitled to collect the thirty marks from B. If, however, B received the money from A's father in a legitimate way, B should take an oath that he had paid all the money he owed to his father, and be free from obligation.
SOURCES: Cr. 283–4; Pr. 1017; Mordecai Hagadol, p. 227a.