Shevuos 7:6-7
Shevuos 7:6
Let’s say that a customer asks a shopkeeper for a dinar’s worth of produce, which he then receives. The shopkeeper then asks for the dinar, only to be told, “I already gave it to you and you put it in the till.” In such a case, the customer must take an oath. Let’s say that the customer gave the shopkeeper a dinar and then asked for produce, only to be told, “I already gave it to you and you brought it home.” In this case, it is the shopkeeper who must take an oath. Rabbi Yehuda disagrees, maintaining that whoever is in possession of the produce has the legal advantage (and it is the other party who must swear). Let’s say that someone asked a moneychanger for change of a dinar, which he then received. Then the moneychanger asked for the dinar, only to be told, “I already gave it to you and you put it in the till.” In such a case, the customer must take an oath. If the customer gave the moneychanger the dinar and then asked for change, only to be told, “I already gave it to you and you put it in your bag,” then the moneychanger must take an oath. Rabbi Yehuda disagrees, saying that it would be unusual for a moneychanger to give a customer change before receiving the dinar.
Shevuos 7:7
The Sages taught that a woman who damages the claim to her kesubah (by admitting to having already received a portion of it) can only collect the balance by taking an oath; if even one witness testifies that it been already paid, she can only collect by taking an oath; she cannot collect from mortgaged property or from property bequeathed to her husbands’ orphans except by taking an oath; a woman who is paid in her husband’s absence can only collect based on an oath. Similarly, orphans can only collect based on an oath, i.e., that their father did not tell them on his deathbed or before, nor did they find among his papers, that a certain debt to him was paid. Rabbi Yohanan ben Brokah says even a son born after his father’s death may take such an oath and collect based upon it. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said that if there are witnesses at the time of the father’s death that he said the debt was not paid, then the son can collect without taking an oath.