Sunday, January 15, 2012

Arachin 2 - Personal Valuations to the Temple

One can make a personal valuation vow to the Temple, promising to donate his own or someone else’s value. Furthermore, one can promise either a monetary value - the price that this person could fetch in a slave market - or a symbolic value, expressed in shekel coins, in the amount prescribed by the Torah.

All persons can both declare such a vow and be the subject of it, a man or a woman, Kohen, Levi, or a regular Jew. An androgyne or a person of undetermined gender can do all of the above, except for a symbolic value. Since Torah-assigned values are provided only for definite males or females, these two do not have specific symbolic values that can be donated for them. Thus, if one makes a “personal valuation” vow related to them, it is always treated as a monetary value they would fetch in a slave market.

A deaf, deranged, or a minor can have their value donated by others, but they themselves cannot make such vows. Since they lack sufficient understanding, they are considered legally incompetent.

Art: Jozef Israels - Three Women Knitting By The Sea

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