3,006. Consecrating a Field You Already Sold

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 6:27

If person A tells person B, “When I buy back this field that I sold you, it’s consecrated,” and he then buys it back, the field isn’t consecrated. This is because it wasn’t in his possession when he tried to consecrate it.

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 6:28

Similarly, if someone consecrates handiwork that his wife will make, she can do her work and use it without the rest being consecrated. However, let’s say that he tells his wife that her hands are consecrated to God. In a sense, her hands are considered under a lien to him (since, according to the terms of the kesubah he is entitled to her handiwork), so the handiwork she makes is consecrated. This is comparable to consecrating a tree, which causes the fruit it produces to be consecrated. The same is true in all comparable cases.