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Kim Li

Question:

L’Kavod HaRav,

Please correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is in any beis din situation, anytime there are poskim with different shitas on the halacha l’maaseh a litigant can claim kim li–in fact the beit din will often make a defendant aware of this option if they don’t bring it up, and in any event, the beit din can’t extract payment from a payment if the defendant claims the shita more favorable to their situation and even dinoei shamayim recognizes that shita

If that’s the case, couldn’t people regularly l’chatchila (and what’s to stop them), pick the shita most favorable to them in any business transaction?

Kol Tuv

Answer:

Thanks for your question.

The idea of kim li is specifically limited to when someone is trying to take money away from someone else. Then we say, “ain holchim b’mamon achar haroiv”, and even if there are a majority of opinions against me, it is still not “proven” that I owe the money, and the rule of “hamotzei m’chaveiro alav ho’raya” will still apply. Therefore, the Bais Din can not force the person to pay the money, because I can claim that there isn’t enough proof to force me to pay. However, when a person approaches a business situation, and wants to know if something is permitted to do, or is it possibly stealing, cheating, etc. then we go with the regular rules of Shulchan Aruch, and the regular way that halacha is decided, (i.e majority of poskim, how the Shulchan Aruch paskens, etc.).

Best wishes

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