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Jews.” This apostate Jewish woman, however, lives with a gentile who The Rambam (Hilchos Nizkei Mammon 8:14) also maintains that
will exchange her for others, and she is not part of the Jewish nation. we cannot be sure the violent camel killed the other unless kosher
Therefore, she is viewed as an apostate. witnesses testify that they saw the whole event. We infer from his
The Maharam Schick also writes (Yoreh Deah #231) that one should words that we do not rely on circumstantial evidence, even in regard
not accept money from a Jewish woman married to a gentile who to monetary laws. Even though in one responsum related to Seder
wants to donate money for the purpose of building a synagogue, es- Nashim, the Mordechai rules like Rav Acha and distinguishes between
pecially if she requests that a placard with her name hang in the shul. capital cases and monetary cases, we do not follow this opinion.
She is an apostate who took herself out of the nation of Israel and has We do, however, reckon with assessments throughout the Talmud,
no bond with our people. such as in the case at the beginning of Chapter Af Al Pi (Kesubos
54b) where we assume that a man wrote [a tosefes kesubah] only on
the assumption that he would marry the woman [and not if the ni-
su’in never came to pass], and the case of Rabbi Shimon ben Menasia
(Bava Basra 146b) and the case where one sold a field and then did not
G iving the honor of opening the Aron Kodesh to need the money [the question being, can the seller retract the deal]
a physician married to a gentile woman (maseches Kesubos 97a). And we say that an assessment can be used to
extract money, as in the case of a dying man who cemented a gift to
1 Question someone unnecessarily, as we said in chapter Af Al Pi (Kesubos 55b).
A Jewish physician has an international reputation for his worthy This is not difficult, for we rule according to the opinion that we do
character traits, charitable acts, and favors given to his Jewish breth- not judge by assessment to determine facts. Only if the facts are clear,
ren. He is married to a gentile woman. He comes to shul, but is sad- but we do not know what the intentions behind the act were, can we
dened by the fact that he is not accorded any honors. The leaders of determine the intentions by basing ourselves on an assessment.
the congregation want to honor him with opening the Aron Kodesh We can question the view of Maharik. What would he answer to
because they are concerned that otherwise he might distance himself the Maharshdam’s (Choshen Mishpat #66) proof that we rely on an
from the congregation, and the community and individuals who need assessment, even to clarify facts, such as what is explained in masech-
his medical expertise will suffer. Is it permissible to honor him in this es Bava Metzia (17a): If one finds a shetar chov (an IOU) dated and
way? issued on the day that he found it, he should return it to its owner,
because we assume the debt was not repaid on the same day. In other
words, we decide the halachah via a logical assessment even when
1 AnsweR
there is no actual proof of whether the money was repaid or not.
This case was brought before the Iggros Moshe (Orach Chayim, Part Perhaps it is possible to justify the view of the Maharik who
2 #51). He answered: The main law involved is the prohibition of differentiates between two types of assessments. There is a general
flattery, about which it is related in maseches Sotah (41a): When King assessment that applies to every person, in every situation, and there
Agrippa reached the verse “You shall not place over you a gentile can also be an assessment that relates to a case individually. We will
[strange man],” his eyes began to tear [because this verse disqualifies explain our words.
his kingship, as he was a descendent of Herod]. They said to him: Do The assumption that a debt was not repaid on the day it was taken
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