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...
Succot- If a Person Forgot to Recite the Beracha of “Lesheb Ba’Sukka”
Succot- If Rain Falls on the First Night of Succot
Succot- May One Drink Wine Outside the Sukka?
Succot- Constructing a Sukka in a Public Domain
Decorating the Sukka
Succot- Should a Woman Answer “Amen” to the Beracha of “Lesheb Ba’sukka”?
Succot- Using Arba Minim From Israel After a Shemita Year
Succot- Reciting Two Berachot Before Eating in the Sukka
Succot- How to Conduct Oneself in the Sukka; Which Amounts of Food Require a Sukka
Succot- Holding and Waving the Lulav
The Obligation to Eat Bread on the First Night of Sukkot
Succot- If One Forgot to Add "Ya'aleh Ve'yavo" in Birkat Ha'mazon on the First Night of Sukkot
Succot- Is It Permissible To Hang Photographs of Rabbis In The Succah, and Is It Permissible To Hang Decorations That Were Designated For Holidays of the Goyim
Succot- How A Lefty Should Hold The Lulav and Etrog
Simchat Torah- How To Fulfill The Mitzvah of Shinayim Mikra VeAchad Targum
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found