[Avodah] When Bittul Chometz precedes Mechiras Chometz

[Akiva Miller]

I am amazed that this discussion has gotten this far without anyone
referencing the text of the Shtar Mechira. There have been conjectures
that the person's actions might reveal his intentions, or maybe not.
But it seems to me that the starting point should be that which has
been mentioned in writing.

And this is a significant point, because I'm aware of at least two
major styles of this shtar: Some rabbis simply identify each person
who is selling their chometz. Other rabbis require that the seller
must itemize the chometz that he is selling, to some greater or lesser
degree of detail.

In the former case, where each seller is selling "all" of his chometz,
I can see a great deal of room for a discussion of whether we must
take "all" literally, or whether we can/should figure out his actual
intentions. And that's the situation I had in mind when I started this
thread.

But in the latter case, where the seller has listed the chometz that
he is selling, that list surely omits "the bag that I'll be burning",
and I imagine that there is much less wiggle room to debate other
details. It seems to me that the "stam daas" of this person would be
that he is selling only what is on the list, and the bittul is on
everything else.

Akiva Miller