According to Jewish law one cannot buy a davar shelo ba l’olam (something that doesn’t exist or is intangible) because there is no gemirat daat (final comittment). If there’s no gemirat daat, one cannot make a kinyan(acquisition).
You can’t sell something that doesn’t exist yet because the buyer doesn’t know what he will get.
For example, if a deal is made on next year’s crops, the buyer can renege on it. However, once the supplier provides the crops, the transaction is valid because then there is gemirat daat and the kinyan has been finalized. If you buy a field together with the crops of the coming year, the sale is valid because you are acquiring the land that will produce next year’s crop.
Similarly, the poskim discuss a case of a cow and its unborn calf. The seller sold the cow along with the calf. By the time it was born, prices had changed and the seller realized he had sold it too cheaply. If there was a kinyan while the calf was in his mother, he can’t ask for more money. The price originally agreed upon is binding. However, if there wasn’t a kinyan, since it was a davar shelo ba l’olam, the seller can ask for a higher price.
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