2,956. Unspecified Commitments

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 2:7

Let’s say that someone commits to donate his weight but he doesn’t specify in what. If he’s very wealthy and intends to donate a substantial amount, he pays his weight in gold. The same is true if he commits the weight of his arm, of his leg or of his height without specifying in what; he pays in gold. However, if he’s not particularly wealthy, then he pays his weight or the weight of his hand, etc., from anything that is commonly weighed in his location, even produce. Similarly, he can pay a rod of his height even from wood. Everything depends on the donor’s means and his intentions.

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 2:8

If someone commits to donate his standing, his sitting, the place of his sitting, his width, his thickness or his circumference, then there’s a doubt as to what he owes. He should therefore pay according to his means until he says that it’s not what he meant. If he dies, his heirs must pay the smallest amount that his words could have meant.