Baba Basra 10:1-2

Baba Basra 10:1

Witnesses sign on the obverse side of a regular legal document and on the reverse side of a folded legal document. If witnesses signed on the reverse of a regular document or on the obverse of a folded document, it is invalid. Rabbi Chanania ben Gamliel says that if witnesses signed the obverse of a folded document, it is valid because it can be turned into a regular document. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that everything follows the accepted local practices.

Baba Basra 10:2

A regular document is signed by two witnesses and a folded document is signed by three. If a regular document was signed by one witness or a folded document was signed by two witnesses, it is invalid. If a lender wrote “100 zuz, which is 20 sela” (an error – 100 zuz is 25 sela), he can only collect 20 sela. If he wrote, “100 zuz, which is 30 sela” (another error – 120 zuz is 30 sela), he can only collect the 100 zuz. If he wrote, “Silver zuzim that are...” but the rest of the line was erased, we know the debt is at least two zuz (because it’s in the plural); the same is true if he wrote, “Silver selas that are...” or “Darkonos…” and the rest was erased: it is not less than two. If the top of a document says 100 zuz and the bottom says 200 zuz, or vice versa, we follow what is written at the bottom. If so, why do we even bother writing the amount in the top of the document? So that if one letter at the bottom is erased, we can deduce the amount from the top.