For the source text click/tap here: Yevamot 93
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One of the basic questions that comes up regarding issues of ownership in Jewish law is whether or not adam makneh davar she-lo ba la-olam – whether a person can buy or sell an object that is not in existence right now. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak believes that according to Rabbi Akiva a person has the ability to do so, and lists tanna’im and amora’im who follow that approach.
The rabbis consider an entity that has not yet come into the world. For example, the fruit that will grow on fruit trees or the earnings that one will collect in the coming months and years. The rabbis share their different thoughts about whether or not a woman can make a vow that would exclude her husband from benefiting from the work done with her hands - vowing that her hands are sanctified.
They also consider contracts based on this approach. How should we understand the sale of a field that is not yet harvested, for example. One example shows Rabbi Yannai separating tithes from his own garden just in case the fruit plate that regularly arrives before Shabbat should in fact show up on Shabbat itself. This action allows him and his family to have access to the fruit plate on Shabbat.
We explore the notion of legal ownership of objects not yet in existence…