Jewish law validates merchant customs and even a handshake as binding

Evidence

The similarity in the terms of the substantive law is also striking. According to Jewish law “any custom adopted by the local merchants as a mode of acquisition is valid … since it fulfills the principle that the purpose of the kinyan [any formal act of acquisition] is to bring about the decision of the parties to conclude the transaction … some authorities even regard a handshake as the equivalent of an oath.” Id. at 209. In addition, under Jewish law, “the decision of the parties to conclude a sale is finalized by the performance of one of the appropriate acts of kinyan (“acquistion”) by one of the parties-generally the purchaser-that the other parties have expressed their agreement that this be done. — Lisa Bernestein, Opting out of the Legal System, 189

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the reader’s Addison/thesis about how private-ordering systems derive authority from community consent rather than state enforcement — the kinyan echoes how merchant custom in the DDC binds parties through mutual agreement, not formal law. — connects to: Jewish law mirrors merchant-arbitration customs that modern diamond arbitrators use — Lisa Bernestein, Opting out of the Legal System, 187
• CANDY: The idea that halakhic authorities consider a handshake equivalent to an oath, and that any merchant-accepted mode of acquisition is valid, is a compact, surprising fact worth sharing.

Related

• Jewish law mirrors merchant-arbitration customs that modern diamond arbitrators use (similarity 0.88)

Broader Connections

• Jewish law mirrors merchant-arbitration customs that modern diamond arbitrators use #corroborates (0.95) — Lisa Bernestein, Opting out of the Legal System, 187