Hello kollel, I'm confused by pshat in the rambam. The case is that we refuse a lender to either split a 100 note into two 50s for the benefit of the borrower but we also refuse the opposite, again for the benefit of the borrower. If each case has a strength and a weakness, what is the actual reasoning here? That we suspect the lender's motives regardless of which way he's going?
Thank you.
Josh
Hi Josh,
The Rambam is actually coming from the Gemara Bava Basra 172b. The Gemara brings 2 reasons for each side of the equation. There is a reason the lender would rather one note, and a different one, the borrower might rather two notes. On the other hand, there is a reason the lender would rather two notes, and a different reason, the borrower would rather two notes. The Rambam doesn't bring the lenders reasons, since he is talking about a case the lender is in fromt of us and wants to change the status. The Rambam does bring the borrower's reasons, since if he is not here, there is always a chance that he prefers the current status than the other one. So, we are always Choshesh, our borrower does not agree to the change, and we do not allow the lender to change the status, until we are sure the borrower approves. The Rambam isn't giving the absolute reason. He is just bringing down reasons that might happen to be the borrowers' advantages.
Best regards,
Aharon Steiner