Monday, January 08, 2007

hana'ah of having a gift accepted: chalipin, kiddushin, mishloach manos

The gemara (B.M. 47a) presents a machlokes between Rav and Levi whether a kinyan chalipin is done b’keilav shel koneh or keilav shel makneh, using the token of the buyer or seller. The gemara explains the reasoning of Levi that the kinyan is done using keilav shel makneh: the hana’ah (benefit) gained by having his symbolic token gift accepted by the koneh is sufficient consideration for the makneh to consent to the larger deal.
Last post I mentioned the gemara (Kiddushin 7) that even though marriage is normally effected by the groom giving something of value to the bride, where the groom is a very distinguished person (e.g. an aristocrat), the kiddushin can be effected by his accepting a gift from the bride – the hana’ah (benefit) gained by the bride having her token gift accepted is itself of sufficient consideration for the marriage to occur.
The Rishonim (Ramban, Rashba, Ran) point out a discrepancy between these cases – the case of kinyan chalipin applies to any two parties making a deal; the case of kiddushin applies only to a woman whose gift is accepted by a distinguished person, adam chashuv. Why the discrepancy? (Or, to approach the question slightly differently, why does Rav disagree in the former case, but not the latter?)
While you are mulling that over, R’ Chaim Scheinberg quotes a Pischei Tshuvah which suggests that if you give mishloach manos to an adam chashuv, the hana’ah you receive by having your food gift accepted by this adam chashuv allows him to fulfill his mitzvah of mishloach manos by accepting your gift! Yet, no other achronim suggest such an idea – why not?

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:55 PM

    I don't understand the pischey teshuva at all.What about the halacha requiring misolach monos to be FOOD worthy of eating by the sueda?(One sefer discusses cigarettes but) how could one be yotzey with an intangible hnoa?

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  2. The P.T. understands that the kiyum of m.m. is through *hana'as* ma'achal - the goreim of the hana'ah received in this case is food, which in his view fits the bill.

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  3. Anonymous8:34 AM

    In the case of chalipin, the hana'a itself does not effectuate the kinyan. The hana'a is needed only to provide the "gemirus da'as" on the part of the makneh to transfer ownership over the object. It stands to reason that even a limited degree of hana'a suffices for this, and therefore even if the koneh is not an adam chashuv, his receiving the gift suffices to establish the makneh's gemirus da'as. In the case of kiddushin, the hana'a itself effectuates the kinyan kiddushin (am I correct?), and perhaps a higher standard of hana'a is required.

    As for mishloach manot - maybe the term "mishloach" indicates that some proactive involvement is required to fulfill the mitzva, and therefore receiving a gift is not enough, even if this gives the giver tremendous hana'a. Just a theory.

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  4. >>>In the case of kiddushin, the hana'a itself effectuates the kinyan

    I'm not sure what you mean by this - how does it effet the kinyan any more than chalipin causes the kinyan?

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  5. Anonymous7:10 PM

    "The P.T. understands that the kiyum of m.m. is through *hana'as* ma'achal - the goreim of the hana'ah received in this case is food, which in his view fits the bill. "

    But that is an incredibly forced explanation. The giver may have received hanaah worth a shaveh perutah, but he (the giver) certainly received no food. The simple pshat of the mitzvah is that one must send food. No one holds that you are yotzei by sending money or jewelry, for example. So just because the hanaah the giver received happens to have been generated by the adam-choshuv-recipient receiving food as opposed to something else is no reason to presume that one has fulfilled the mitzvah of mishloach manos.

    In any case, that is ample reason to disagree with the P.T.

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  6. >>>No one holds that you are yotzei by sending money or jewelry, for example

    That is not hana'ah from food. Acc to Rama you are yotzei even if the mekabeil is mocheil - giving or receiving actual food is not a prereq.

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