Q&A: Question About the Last Lesson on Conceptual Analysis
Question About the Last Lesson on Conceptual Analysis
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In the lesson you said that the more particular side is the buyer, and the one who doesn’t care is the seller.
If I need cash, and you don’t care what you receive in exchange for it—like collateral, perhaps.
Am I also the buyer here? In other words, am I buying money?
Answer
I don’t think so. After all, you don’t care which coin or currency unit you receive. The halakhic decisors write that if we’re talking about specific coins, then that really is merchandise and not money. But coins in general—that doesn’t seem reasonable. Moreover, every seller wants the money; otherwise, why is he selling?! True, here you wrote that the one receiving the merchandise doesn’t actually need the merchandise and is only doing a favor for the other person who wants money. It’s possible that you’re right.