The rabbis discuss cases providing examples of what to do when sent to deliver money to someone who isn't there. Sometimes the money has been borrowed, sometimes it has been offered as a type of collateral, and sometimes it seems to have been forgotten. The rabbis walk us through a number of cases where the recipient is missing for some reason. Who should receive the money, the inheritors of the missing person? The inheritors of the person who sent an agent to get the money? Others? Or should the money be split and shared?
The rabbis consider problems that arise when the halacha is unclear, such as cases where money is split between two seemingly deserving parties. The rabbis want to understand the intentions of the original senders. Should the agent be permitted to decide what to do, as he was the person who best understood the sender's wishes? Is it better to deprive a party of half of their entitlement to ensure that the party in the "right" should receive at least half of what is theirs? How much importance should be given to the rights of the dead; the need to fulfill deathbed wishes and the wishes of those who can no longer advocate for themselves?
Obviously there are differences between these examples and the example of a woman who is being divorced via an agent. But the rabbis are helping us to understand a fuller context by allowing us to better understand financial halachot regarding other matters of contract law.
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