Q&A: Acquisition in Monetary Law
Acquisition in Monetary Law
Question
Hello Rabbi, I recently studied a passage in contract law and Choshen Mishpat, about an employer and workers, and there was a strange situation there. On the face of it, on an ordinary day it would sound like the discussion should lead to ruling A, but because an act of acquisition was also involved in the story, the entire law changed to ruling B. That raised for me the question: what is the source for the need for an act of acquisition in Jewish law? What is this halakhic, metaphysical entity that changes the law from what would sound reasonable to an ordinary judge into some special law only for Jews?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. A proprietary act of acquisition effectuates the legal change. That is how it works in every legal system in the world. The question is whether the act is required only in order to prove settled intent (and also to determine the point of applicability—exactly from when the legal change takes effect), or whether it has metaphysical significance (or meta-legal significance). See about this at length in the book Pri Moshe – Kinyanim, at its beginning and in many other places. You can also see my article “What Is a Legal Change?” here on the site.