8/9/2019 Business Weekly Newsletter, August 13, 2010 - Parshah Shoftim 5770

1/2

TORYLINE

continued on revers

continued on reverse

rained out By Rabbi Meir OrlianHalacha Writer for the Business Halacha Institute

Springville Yeshiva Elementary (S.Y.E.) wasnishing the school year. Their principal,

Rabbi Rubin, had rented the premises ofnearby Sunshine Day Camp for a day of

sports activities. There would be a basket-ball tournament, volleyball matches andhe annual softball game. To secure the

grounds, S.Y.E. arranged with the camp amonth ahead, and paid an advance pay-ment of $500.The morning before the event, Rabbi Rubinstened to the weather report: Showers ex-

pected tomorrow afternoon... He consult-ed with the schools activities coordinator.I hate to cancel the event, she said. The

kids look forward to it for weeks! Anyway,ts not supposed to rain until the afternoon.

suggest we leave it meanwhile, but pleasemake arrangements with the JCC to useheir indoor facilities if needed.

By late afternoon, however, the weathermanreported: Rain expected throughout theday tomorrow...Rabbi Rubin sighed, Another rained-out

event. He confirmed with the JCC, andcalled Sunshine to cancel. He then sentthem an official letter requesting a refund ofthe advance payment, since the event hadbeen cancelled for reasons beyond theircontrol.A week later, though, S.Y.E. received a billfrom Sunshine for the remaining $1,000.Rabbi Rubin immediately called Mr. Mey-ers, Sunshines director, to verify that the billwas issued by mistake. Mr. Meyers, howev-er, insisted that there was no mistake. Theyhad signed a rental contract of $1,500 for

the grounds, and the rain was not his faulteither. Furthermore, after renting to S.Y.E.,the camp had to turn away several requests

for the grounds by other parties.Rabbi Rubin had expected the advpayment to be returned, but insteawas being asked to pay the remainde

called Rabbi Dayan.Rabbi Dayan heard the story and said,Gemara in Bava Metzia (76b-77a) discutwo cases that can serve as paradigmone, someone hired workers to dig ditin his field the next day, but it rained hily overnight, making the field too muddig. In the other, someone hired workedivert water from the river to his field rained overnight, rendering the job supous. When the workers arrived in the ming, they claimed their wages anyway, it was now too late to employ thems

elsewhere.What is the halacha in these two casRabbi Rubin asked.

OM OUR HOTLINEspare change

gave a $10 bill to someone collecting

tzedaka during shacharis. I expected to

receive $9 in change. After davening, I real-

zed that he had given me eight singles and

a $5 bill totaling $13. I have no idea who

the collector was have no way to track him

down.

Q: What should I do with the extra $4?

A:Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 232:2)

says that if one receives excess change, he

is obligated to return it if the extra money

was seemingly given in error and not if it

was intentional. If money was grouped in

tens and one received $50 rather than $40,

we assume that the extra ten was given in

error. However, if the extra was not consis-

tent with the denomination that was being

exchanged, i.e. if tens were being cou

and the recipient ends up with a num

that is not a multiple of ten, e.g. $47 ra

than $40, we assume that $7 was give

a gift. Sema (232:7) says that the reci

may assume the extra was given as a

even if he never met the person before

cordingly, since the collector was coun

out $1 bills, it would seem that you ma

Submitted by

B. Berkowitz

w e e k l y

Businessa project of the Business Halacha Instit

PARSHAS SHOFTIM

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13 2010

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 21

under the auspices of

Harav Chaim Kohn , sh l i ta

B U S I N E S S

H A L A C H A

I N S T I T U T E

y p a n i a u j k i u f n

To place your logo here, email

info@businesshalacha.com

Business Insurance (845) 426-5400Personal Insurance (845) 369-9000

by his son, R Shlomo Werdiger

Business Weekly has

been dedicated

8/9/2019 Business Weekly Newsletter, August 13, 2010 - Parshah Shoftim 5770

2/2

MONEY MATTERS

defective merchandise week #2

STORYLINE CONTINUED FROM OUR HOTLINE CONTINUED

Business Halacha Inst itute 718.846.2501 www.BusinessHalacha . com

TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER FREE OF CHARGE, EMAIL SUBSCRIBE@BUSINESSHALACHA.COM

All new subscribers will receive a free copy of our popular publication, Money - The Bottom Line, in pdf form

sume that he gave you the

$5 bill intentionally. Rema,

however, adds that the cus-

tom today is to count each

bill separately, so we assume

that the $4 was given in error

and you must return it.

Since the collector is likely

unaware that he gave you ex-

tra change, this is a case of

yeiush shelo mdaas aban-

donment without awareness.

Shulchan Aruch (CM 262:3)

rules if one finds a lost object

before the owner realizes its

lost, he must hold the object

until the owner is located.

This applies even if, as in

your case, the owner would

abandon hope of recovering

the money when he realizes

its missing (Sema 262:9).

You must hold onto the mon-

ey until you return it to its

owner, or until the arrival of

Eliyahu HaNavi who will id

tify the rightful owner (

262:4, 267:15). Poskim w

that when the owner can

be identified, one may m

down a description of the

object. Once that informat

is safely stored, the fin

is permitted to use, sell

discard the object. He

reimburse the owner wh

Eliyahu HaNavi arrives (

267:21, Igros Moshe Cho

en Mishpat vol. 2 siman 4

Shulchan Aruch (CM 276:

writes that when money

found, the finder may not u

the funds for himself. Curr

Poskim, however, write tha

the amount of lost money

readily available, the fin

may record the amount a

meanwhile use the mo

himself (Hashavas Aveid

KHalacha ch.6 par. 3).

Q: I purchased a dining table for $2,500

and it had a large, noticeable dent on one

of the legs. What recourse do I have?

What is the sellers responsibility?

A: If you purchase merchandise and find it

defective, the sale is in error and void. You

are entitled to return it for a full refund. This

s true even if the seller was also unaware of

the defect (C.M. 232:3).

If the seller wants to refund $1,000 and up-

hold the sale, you can insist that you prefer

an intact item to a defective item at reduced

cost. Similarly, if you want to uphold the sale

and demand a discount, the seller can re-

fuse and insist on cancelling the deal and

returning the monies (232:4).

If the table can be completely repaired as

good as new, such as if the leg is s

screwed in and an identical leg is avai

the seller can opt to uphold the sale

pay for the repair.

However, if the leg is solidly attached t

table and replacing it would weaken

table, you can refuse repair and insist

refund (232:5).

Rava ruled that the employerdoesnt have to pay them, sincethe job had to be cancelled be-cause of circumstances beyondhis control, and both partieswere equally aware of the possi-bility of rain. The workers shouldhave realized that there was nopoint in coming, If they expect-ed payment even in the case of

rain, it was their responsibility tostipulate that in advance.Rabbi Dayan concluded: Mostposkim compare renting a prop-erty to hiring workers (C.M.312:17, 334:1). They discussa case in which uncontrollablecircumstances render a rentalmpossible, e.g., the house col-apsed or the renter died. Therenter or his heirs do not haveto pay for the unused part of therental, unless there is a preva-

ent local practice otherwise.Thus, in the absence of a clearpractice, you do not have to paythe $1,000, since you were un-able to use the camp groundsfor reasons beyond your con-trol. In the future, though, itwould be best to specify this inthe contract.What about refunding the $500

advance payment? asked Rab-bi Rubin.That is a complicated issue,replied Rabbi Dayan. It involvesan intricate case in the Gemara(79a-b) about a shipping boatthat sank en route. There arealso many specific consider-ations: the amount and natureof the advance payment, the

prevalent local practice, the like-lihood that other renters wouldhave sufficed with indoor facili-ties, and the degree to which thegrounds became muddy andunusable. The question cannotbe answered properly withouthearing both sides of the storyand investigating the issue thor-oughly.So what should I do now?asked Rabbi Rubin.Try to work things out with

Mr. Meyers, answered RabbiDayan. I recommend that youforego the advance payment orthat they give you vouchers forit. If you and Mr. Meyers cannotreach a mutually satisfying ar-rangement, you should go to-gether for a professional rabbin-ic consultation or turn to a beisdin to adjudicate the matter.

MONEY MATTERS

Bankruptcy:

How to reconcile halacha and secular law

Monsey Night Seder Bais Medrash 29 Parker Boulevard Sunday MorningsChavrusos/Prep Shiur: 9:30 - 10:45 am Shiur: 10:45 - 11:15 am

WEEKLY STUDY GROUP

For more information, please contact Aron Subar at

845-558-8734, or monseybusinesshalacha@gmail.com

Please contact our confidential hotline with youquestions & comments

877.845.8455 ask@businesshalacha.com

This weeks newsletter has

been sponsored by

an admirer ofBusiness Weekly

and the Business Halacha Institut

To sponsor a newsletter for $180, emaiinfo@businesshalacha.com