Parshas Naso 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- May 28
- 2 min read
Monetary, Interpersonal Laws and Din Torah (70)
Laws of Loans. Writing a Loan Document. The Gemara (1) and Shulchan Aruch (2) strongly favor loaning money with a document. That way, there will be no chance of forgetting or deliberate falsely denying the loan. Nowadays people who lend small amounts [coins or a dollar or two], that people are easy to be moichel, are not accustomed to writing a document. However, when one lends a serious amount he should do as the Gemara says and document it, making sure to keep it in a safe place and use it when necessary. There are four ways to write a document: 1) Two witnesses see the money being given over as a loan, and write a document saying that in their presence, Reuven lent money to Shimon. They should date the document either in Torah or secular dates, state the amount, detail the terms and date(s) of payment(s), and sign underneath, either with their Jewish or secular names. 2) Even if they did not witness the loan, but the borrower made a proper admittance that money was advanced to him from Reuven, with terms and date of of payment, they can document it and sign it. The above two ways might not always be practical for two reasons: Firstly, it is not always easy to get two kosher witnesses who are available. Secondly, many times the borrower [and sometimes the lender as well] does not want other people to find out about the loan. Therefore the following two methods can be be more practical. 3) Shimon the borrower signs a printed document that he borrowed. 4) Shimon writes in his verifiable handwriting that he received money as a loan. This does not even need a signature because his verifiable handwriting counts as a signature (3). The last two methods are known in the Gemara as “ksav yado.”
Text of Ksav Yado. The text should read close to the following: Date. I the undersigned borrowed $____ from Reuven on the above date. Payment(s) is (are) due on ____. It is my responsibility to pay then even without Reuven claiming payment. Any verbal claims of Reuven, or those who receive his rights, will be believed against any denials of mine or those who receive my rights. To all the above I affix my signature.
(1) בבא מציעא עה: (2) חושן משפט ע:א (3) שם סט:א