Safek Matnas Aniyim: Ran, Rashba, and the Dispute Over Stringency

This shiur analyzes a fundamental dispute in Nedarim 7a concerning whether a safek (doubt) in matnas aniyim (gifts to the poor) is treated stringently or leniently. The Ran and Rashba disagree: the Rashba holds that a safek in matnas aniyim is pasul me-chumra (stringent), while the Rif treats it as a general chumra. The Ran questions the Rashba's position based on a Gemara (גמרא) in Chulin that attributes stringency only to cases of safek chezkas chiyuv—where the grain or produce was at one time certainly obligated in leket or pe'ah. In the case discussed in Nedarim, however, there is no chezkas chiyuv: the owner has already fulfilled his pe'ah obligation, and the question is only whether he designated additional produce for the poor. Rabbi Zweig poses several difficulties with the Rashba's position. First, if the reason for stringency is that safek matnas aniyim is a safek issur, why would safek matnas kehunah (gifts to kohanim) be treated leniently? Both involve a mitzvah (מצוה) to give. Second, in our Gemara there is no pre-existing obligation—the safek arises from the owner's own designation—so the concept of chezkas chiyuv seems inapplicable. The shiur suggests that the Rashba may hold a broader principle: even a safek whether one has created an obligation triggers stringency, not only a safek whether an existing obligation has been discharged.