Thursday, May 22, 2025

Chagigah 26: The Bargain

On this daf, we find a case of a thief who returned what he stole.

One kind yungerman was on line at a grocery store when the middle-aged man behind him began frantically checking his pockets. “I cannot believe I forgot my wallet with my checkbook and credit cards at home!” the man said. He turned to the others on line with him. “Could someone please lay out three hundred shekels and leave me your address so that I can deal with the debt immediately?”

The yungerman readily agreed and paid the bill in cash, taking a document attesting to the loan and leaving his phone number and address with the thankful man.

A week passed and then another, but there was no sign of the borrower. After a month of checking his mailbox, the yungerman understood that the man was most likely dishonest and had meant to steal the money without returning it. He took out the loan document and ripped it up. “Master of the world,” he said, “I completely forgive this unscrupulous man and I ask You to forgive my spiritual debts in return!”

A few days later, he was shopping in a different area when he noticed the man behind him start checking his pockets for his wallet. “I can’t believe I forgot my wallet with my credit cards and checkbook at home!” It was the very same man. He turned to the yungerman and said, “Can you please advance me the money for my groceries and I will take your address and pay for them immediately after I get home?”

“I guess you do not recognize me,” shot back the yungerman. “You pulled this shtick on me over a month ago and never bothered to contact me. You took three hundred shekels from me then and I can’t think of any reason to refrain from calling the police about it.”

The suddenly frightened man immediately pulled a wad of cash out his pocket and gave the yungerman three hundred shekels.

Now the yungerman wondered if he could keep the money. Even if this was permitted, maybe it would cancel his prayer.

When these questions were presented to Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, he ruled as follows: “It is surely a mitzvah to collect the money from this thief, since he needs to understand that stealing has consequences. If one is kind here, he is liable to face much worse in the future. Those who steal will be caught and punished eventually (see Sanhedrin 7a and Rashi there). As far as your mechilah, you forgave him because you thought you would never get the money back. This kind of erroneous mechilah is not binding, as we find in the Rama in Choshen Mishpot 241:1. Furthermore, the Aruch Hashulchan rules that forgiving a loan is only binding if the borrower hears about it and has in mind to acquire the money for himself. As long as he is unaware of the forgiveness, it is meaningless.

“Your prayer was accepted, since it was sincere. You did not expect to get the money back and were willing to forgive him. Now that you caught him and extracted the money from him, however, you should definitely keep it” (Chashukei Chemed).

Twitter
WhatsApp
Facebook
Pinterest
LinkedIn

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST NEWS

Our Identity

  President Donald Trump returned from a highly publicized and triumphant visit to three Arab capitals, bringing with him promises of over $1 trillion in

Read More »

IN A PERFECT WORLD

  BUILDING BLOCKS Watch a child erecting a tower. With fierce concentration he piles one wooden block on top of the next, adding height with

Read More »

My Take On The News

  Lag Ba’omer 5785: 200,000 Visitors in Meron The prodigious efforts invested in the Lag Ba’omer festivities in Meron bore fruit. Almost 200,000 people visited

Read More »

Bringing Them Up

  As Shavuos approaches, I always find myself remembering—with deep fondness—the Yomim Tovim I spent in yeshiva. Whether it was in Philadelphia, Ponovezh, or Lakewood,

Read More »

NEWSLETTER

Subscribe to stay updated