בבא מציעא קד

When the poor brother of ר׳ אפרים זלמן מרגליות, a great תלמיד חכם, breached his promise to provide a dowry for his daughter, the מחותן was furious and took him to דיו before ר׳ אפרים, notwithstanding that he was his litigant’s brother. The רב held: “A person who has only one פרוטה to his name is permitted to promise only one פרוטה. But a person who doesn’t even have a single פרוטה is permitted to promise a נדוניה even as great as all of the king’s wealth.” Seeing the astonished look on the face of the מחותן, the רב explained: “This is the דין we learn from the קרבנות. As long as the בית המקדש was קיים and the כהנים did the עבודה, a person who was חייב a קרבן or who voluntarily undertook to do so would bring it כחיובו. He was deemed to be אחד שיש לו and, of course, couldn’t renege on his obligation. Now, however, אנו דומים למי שאין לו, merely reciting the קרבנות in the בית כנסת and asking that our תפילות should be treated as if we brought קרבנות. This teaches that מי שאין לו, like my brother, can promise without being required to make physical delivery.”

06/10/2021