PEH495

84

A merchant had sent money to his correspondent abroad for the purchase of goods. The business associate acted accordingly, insured the goods, and loaded them onto the next ship. The merchant died. At the time of his death, the ship was still in the port of departure. A dispute arose between the two sons of the merchant, as one was the firstborn and, according to Torah law, had a claim to a double inheritance of inherited (i.e., personal) (?????) assets but not of external(????) assets (i.e., debts) regarding the goods on the ship. It was additionally questioned whether the legal situation would be different if the ship were in port but not insured. [From the inquiry, it appears that even then larger objects were commonly grouped together in multiple partnerships, eight or more.] Moses ben Samuel Israel decided that this case belongs to the inherited assets. However, if the ship were at sea, the goods would belong, regardless of whether they were insured or not, to the external assets. See also 405.

6

5

1768-11-19

1769-01-09

Salem, Salomo