Bava Metzia 108 contains numerous examples of the application of the rule of Bar Mitzra. Not to be confused with Bar Mitzva, the din of Bar Mitzra involves giving an adjacent property owner the option to purchase land next to his before it is sold to another buyer. This rule derives from the pasuk in Va'eschana - "V'asisa HaYashar V'Hatov B'einei Hashem" - you should do the straight and the good in the eyes of Hashem.
The first foray into the rule of Bar Mitzra begins with the question as to whether a potential purchaser of the land needs to acquire the adjacent owner's right not to exercise his option, or whether it is enough for the property owner to merely verbally give his assent. Rashi explains that if the right is not actually acquired, the potential purchaser runs the risk of having the adjacent property come to him later and say, I only told you I was not interested in buying because I knew the seller would charge me more because the land is dear to me. Still, you acted as my agent in buying the land and now sell it to me. The gemara concludes that there is an obligation to actually acquire the Bar Mitzra right.
Other examples of Bar Mitrza involve a person who buys property in the middle of the seller's property (i.e. land which is completely surrounded by other land belonging to the seller). We view this deal skeptically as there is a potential for abuse, since the buyer would now have Bar Mitzra rights to the seller's land between the buyer's new property and the next lot over from the seller's land.
The halacha of Bar Mitzra is not absolute, as the gemara on 108b contains numerous examples of exceptions to the Bar Mitzra rule. If a seller sells all his property to one buyer, the neighbor cannot block the deal as to the portion of the property which abuts his land. Rashi explains that the Bar Mitzra rule does not apply to do injustice to the seller. Another example of this is if the seller wants to sell land far away from where he lives and use that money to immediately buy property next door to him. We do not allow the neighbor near the property being sold to block the deal if it will cost the seller the opportunity to quickly sell that property and use the money to buy property which is better for him.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
No comments:
Post a Comment