THE JERUSALEM INSTITUTE OF JEWISH LAW 
Rabbi Emanuel Quint, Dean

Lesson # 163 (part three) • Acquiring Personal Property

In the last lesson we discussed how personal property is acquired by lifting, which is the most preferred method. We now discuss how personal property is acquired by pulling, which is the second preferred method. The item is pulled by the buyer into premises described below. The pulling must result in the item being entirely removed from the premises where it was situated before the pulling began. As soon as any part of the item reaches the premises described below, the item is acquired. In the case of animals, if the animal moves one front leg and one hind leg forward, it leaves the spot from which it was situated and this is an act of acquisition.

Pulling an animal into the premises of the buyer does not effect an act of acquisition regarding things that the animal may be carrying. They must be unloaded and placed in the premises of the buyer or any other premises described below. There is an opinion that if the buyer counts the items on the animal entering into his premises, then the buyer also acquires the items on the animal. This assumes that there is an intent on behalf of the seller to sell the items on the animal and the price has been agreed upon.

Where are the places into which the personal property must be pulled to be acquired? After the item has been pulled completely out of the premises that it had occupied, the item must be at least partially pulled into the premises belonging to the buyer, or into a premises belonging to both the seller and the buyer. In the latter situation, since the buyer is a partner in the premises, he has the right to store his own things there and thus the premises is equivalent to his own premises for purposes of acquiring personal property. The buyer must be at least part owner of the area into which the item is pulled. Pulling something in the public street is not a halachik method to acquire title to an item of personal property . The reason is that no one has permission to use the public street for his personal storage area. If the item is in the premises of the seller, it must be pulled completely off from his premises into an area where pulling is effective. Or it may be pulled into a simtah (an area that is part of the public street, yet is off to a side and is not frequently used).

We have discussed acquiring personal property by lifting and pulling. We now discuss how the personal property is acquired by delivery. The item to be acquired is delivered by the seller to the buyer, or the buyer takes hold of the item by placing his hands upon it, at the instructions of the seller. In the case of a horse, the seller may hand the reins that are attached to the horse to the buyer, and the buyer owns the horse although the horse has not moved. Delivery is complete even though the item is not moved at all. In what type of premises is deliver an effective method of transferring owner- ship of personal property? The item is delivered in the public domain, such as in the street, or in a place not belonging to either the seller or to the buyer. It cannot become effective in premises belonging to either the seller or the buyer or to both of them. The buyer, in taking hold of the item handed over to him by seller, does not move the item. The taking hold of the item has the legal effect of transferring the item to the premises of the buyer. If the item was already in the premises of the buyer, then there is no new transfer of ownership since the item has not moved. If the animal is in the premises of the seller, the giving of the reins to the buyer does not take the animal out of the seller's domain. It thus can be effective in a public street, or on piers at the waterfront belonging to the public. It can be acquired in the premises belonging to a third party who has not given the seller or the buyer permission to transact the sale there, and thus it is equivalent to premises belonging to neither the seller nor the buyer.

Just a few words about a topic that takes up many pages in the halachik literature, that of acquiring animals. Animals were beasts of burden, used for transportation, and for food. An animal can be acquired by pulling the animal. There is no necessity to lift the animal, although if lifting is performed the animal is acquired. Regarding delivery of an animal to effect acquisition, there are three opinions: (1) no animal can be acquired by delivery, (2) only large animals can be acquired by delivery, and (3) all animals can be acquired by delivery. An explanation given for this last opinion is that when making delivery of the reins of an animal the animal usually moves somewhat and this becomes akin to pulling. Assume the seller and the buyer agree that the seller is selling ten horses to the buyer; all of the horses are tied together. If the acquisition is by delivery, when the seller hands over to the buyer the bit or the reins of one horse, the buyer acquires as many horses as he has paid for. If he has paid for all ten horses, the buyer acquires all ten. If he has paid for seven horses, he acquires seven. If the method of acquisition is by pulling, the buyer acquires as many horses as he pulls into his property or into jointly owned property. and does not acquire those horses not pulled onto his property even though he has paid for all of them.

In acquiring a flock of animals where all of them follow one lead animal, if the buyer performs an act of acquisition by pulling the leader, he has acquired all of the animals.