Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
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- Chemdat Yamim
- P'ninat Mishpat
Ruling: Most monetary agreements require a kinyan (act of finalization). However, in regard to work obligations, the beginning of the work serves as the kinyan. In the case of work that is paid by the job, beginning the job obligates the worker to finish the job and obligates the employer to continue the employment until work’s end according to the conditions that were set (see Nimukei Yosef, Rif’s pages to Bava Metzia 46b and K’tzot Hachoshen 332:6). The fact that pl presented a work estimate and started to work should ostensibly mean that he is entitled to the stated amount.
On the other hand, def claims that the fact that she did not sign the estimate is an indication that she never intended to agree to those prices. The Shulchan Aruch and Rama (Choshen Mishpat 81:7) discuss the idea of shtika k’hoda’ah (silence can sometimes be understood as agreement). One application is that when a third party sets a price for a teacher to teach a child in the presence of the father who stands by quietly, the father is responsible (ibid. 336:1).
This concept certainly applies in our case. Def asked for an estimate and then without arguing over it, asked pl to begin working. This is equivalent to explicitly agreeing to the price. If she did not agree to the price, she should have told him before he began working. We should add that there is no common practice to wait for a signed estimate before beginning work. Therefore, the fact that def did not sign the estimate is not a sign of anything out of the ordinary. Even if we accept def’s claim that she had in mind to not bind herself to the price, "matters known only to the heart are of no consequence."
P'ninat Mishpat (835)
Various Rabbis
193 - Aborted Rental
194 - Unsigned Estimates for a Contractor
195 - Unsigned Estimates for a Contractor
Load More
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: A Seller with Questionable Rights to the Property – part I
based on ruling 84062 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: To Whom Do the Payments Go? – part I
based on ruling 81075 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: A Contractor’s Leaving the Job in the Middle – part II
based on ruling 84013 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
P'ninat Mishpat P'NINAT MISHPAT: A Mess of Loans, Repayments and Grievances – part II
based on ruling 83033 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Various Events FOR WHOM NOT TO VOTE
Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook stressed that Israeli politics is G-dly, so I have no problem answering this common question on a Torani blog. Also, Free-Will is a G-d-given right and obligation, to "destine one's fate" (R. Soloveichik, Kol Dodi Dofek, 67), so I obviously don't tell others how to vote. But once not a few (especially young) have already asked, a couple of personal words from experience and thoughts from chazal & Rav Kook which may be of help to others, mainly for whom NOT to vote.
P'ninat Mishpat Fallout from Failure to Install Elevator – part II
based on ruling 85007 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
