DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 610 KB)
Is A Deal Binding If Its Content Is In Violation Of A Torah Prohibition?

If two parties make a transaction that entailed a Torah violation, such as if the goods were delivered on Shabbat, can the buyer retract the sale and demand a refund? If, for example, the goods were delivered on Shabbat and the buyer then realized that such a transaction cannot possibly yield profitable results, as it entailed Shabbat desecration, can he retroactively rescind his consent to the sale and demand a refund?

The Shulhan Aruch addresses this question in Hoshen Mishpat (235:28) and rules that the sale in such a case remains binding despite the Torah violation involved. Even though the parties are liable to punishment for having transgressed Torah law, the transaction itself is legally binding and neither party can retroactively rescind his consent.

Earlier in Hoshen Mishpat (208:1), the Shulhan Aruch addresses a similar situation, where the parties agree that the buyer will render payment a year after the transaction at a certain percentage of interest. Paying or receiving interest constitutes a grave Torah prohibition, and thus this agreement entails a clear violation of Halacha. Nevertheless, the Shulhan Aruch rules, the sale remains legally binding and neither party can retract his consent to the transaction. Of course, the buyer is not required to pay the interest; in fact, he is forbidden from doing so by Torah law. The transaction itself, however, is legally binding, and therefore neither the buyer nor the seller can demand that the sale be voided on account of the forbidden nature of their agreement.

Summary: If a transaction entailed a Torah violation, such as if the goods were delivered on Shabbat or if the arrangement entailed the payment of interest, the sale is binding despite the prohibition involved, and neither party can retroactively void the sale.

See the book- "Pure Money" by Dayan Cohen, pages 97-98.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Power of Speech
The Importance of Learning during the Summer
Respecting One’s Father When He Visits on Shabbat
Must One Stand for His Rabbi or Parent While he Studies Torah, Prays or Recites Birkat Ha’mazon?
When Must One Stand in His Parent’s Presence?
Standing Up for a Parent Who is One’s Student
Standing in the Presence of One’s Parent
Laws Pertaining to Meals: Etiquette for Guests and Hosts, and Torah Scholars Eating with an Am Ha’aretz
Are There Restrictions on Whom a Female Kohen May Marry?
If a Kohen Marries a Woman Forbidden for Him
May a Kohen Fly on a Plane That is Carrying a Dead Body?
May a Kohen Visit the Gravesite of a Sadik?
May a Doctor Who is a Kohen Perform Biopsies or be in the Same Room as Body Parts From a Living Person?
May a Non-Kohen Bless Somebody With Birkat Kohanim?
Reciting the Verse of “Vi’yhi Noam” Before Praying or Performing a Misva
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found