Legal query or responsum: Moss. VIII,405

תיאור

Legal query addressed to Moshe Maimonides with his autograph responsum, signed Moshe. The query is about a debt between brothers; whether it is permissible for one of them to appoint an agent to sue his brother to repay the debt; and whether it makes s difference if they live in the same town or in different towns? Maimonides responds that it is reprehensible to appoint an agent with a power of attorney (based on the use of Ezekiel 18:18 in Shevuʿot 31a) unless there is a practical reason why the two cannot appear in court themselves (e.g., if they live in different towns or if one of them is sick).