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Close to shekels they will fall to shekels, to charity they will fall to charity

שו”תCategory: HalachaClose to shekels they will fall to shekels, to charity they will fall to charity
asked 2 years ago

A small question, if possible.
In the Mishnah on the number of shekels (P\”7 41), coins found between the shekels and the donation close to the shekels will be reduced to the shekels, and to the donation they will be reduced to the donation. Similarly, the Maimonides ruled in the Halacha of Ma’aser Sheni (P\”6 12): Fruit found between the fruits of the tithe and the fruits of the donation will be reduced to the nearest.
Many have made it difficult, and after all, the majority and the close follow the majority and not the close (22:23). And why shouldn’t we check what the deal is with the majority?
Bartanura writes that it is a shew. Several recent scholars (Radbaz on Maimonides, Tiferet Yisrael in the Mishnah on Shekels, Sha’arei Yehuda on Maimonides in the book of theft, and more) wrote that it is difficult to include this in Maimonides, who simply wrote the law and did not specify that it is a shew.
There are other interpretations in the latter, all of which I didn’t like.
If you have any insight into the matter, I would love to hear it (this is a matter for a ruling, otherwise I wouldn’t bother you)
Thank you very much!


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 2 years ago
I don’t think this is a blasphemy, but it certainly seems to me to be a logical and correct interpretation. The Mishnah and the Maimonides, following it, bring here the law of proximity. The innovation is that law of proximity also exists in prohibition and permission and in money. They did not enter into practical questions here, what happens if one of the parties has a majority, and what if the currency is similar to those in one pile and different from those in the other pile (perhaps one is shekels and the other is dollars), etc. This is the way of the Talmud, and hence the need for validity. I do not see this as a real difficulty. By the way, in light of what I explained in my article on validity, you will understand that even those who put equal piles do not really mean to say that this is what the Mishnah was dealing with. Their intention is to say that the Mishnah came to renew law of proximity. And when you ask what about majority, it will be established that it is equal piles. But the innovation is always true, even when the piles are not equal: that law of proximity is relevant in these situations as well. See my article there.

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