PEH155

The two children of a Marano-a firstborn son and a daughter-had emigrated from Portugal after their father's death. They had safeguarded their undivided fortune. The son demanded a double share as the firstborn. However, the daughter contested this claim, arguing that their parents had lived among non-Jews and were only married according to Christian marital law. Jacob b. Abraham Bassan granted the son the double portion, whether the children had already divided the inheritance or if the division had occurred in Portugal. An exception would be if the son had known the applicable law but voluntarily relinquished his rights. Notably, Bassan's historical perspective is intriguing. He refers to the original generation (erstes Geschlecht) that remained in Spain due to concerns about external wealth. Subsequent generations, he suggests, only had the opportunity to emigrate as adults but failed to seize that favorable chance.

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155

1740-06-15

1740-10-22

Athias, David Israel