New on the site: Michi-bot. An intelligent assistant based on the writings of Rabbi Michael Avraham.

A can is stuck in a drink machine.

שו”תCategory: HalachaA can is stuck in a drink machine.
asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi!
A. My friends in the army got a can stuck in the drink machine. The question is, do I know how to do some trick to get the can out? Am I allowed to do that?
1. On the other hand, he enjoys it and that is not lacking (it may be that in the future it will indeed be relevant to him)
2 Or from the side of the slave, who has no right to her own life?
B. In the case of Parasha Toldot regarding the birthright, it is inconceivable how one can sell the birthright. It is like a man selling his fatherhood to his son. This is impossible in reality.


Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago
A. Why don’t you take out the can? It’s beneficial for both the friends and the company that owns the machine (so they can take out more cans). But of course they have to pay for the can (there’s usually a phone number on the machine and you can find out how to do that there). B. This is not a sale in the legal sense, but an act aimed at transferring the birthright. Although there are commentators on the site who deal with your question (such as the Ramban and others) and you can search for answers in them. As stated, I do not think this is a sale, and therefore there is no point in discussing the laws of Choshen Mishpat here. But the problem is not the one you raised. It is clear that this is not a sale of the factual birthright. As you rightly wrote, it is a fact and cannot be changed. This is about the rights associated with the birthright.

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

ש' replied 8 years ago

Shalom Rabbi!
A. If you ask the company that owns the cans, they will tell you not to touch the machine and not to do anything until I arrive, and that will take time, and in such a situation, what is the ruling, even though they say no, will it be permissible? And from what ruling?

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

In principle, one should follow their instructions, but of course demand the money back. There is room to deviate from this formalism in a place where it is completely clear that no harm will be caused to the machine and the company (one is responsible for oneself). I don't know how well you can know such a thing.

ש' replied 8 years ago

And regarding the firstborn, how can you sell firstborn winnings if the 4th is not the firstborn? Oh, come on, Talia.

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

Regarding the birthright, it is not true. Let's say I inherit some money from my father. And now I sell it to someone else. And can I not sell (I am not talking about issues of appropriateness and something that never comes into being and something that is not specific, but in principle)? Of course I can. As long as I am the owner, and it does not matter who owns it by what power, I can sell.
The Gemara in Matot 5:1 speaks of a woman who sells her right of access to a ketubah. The buyer acquires her rights in the ketubah if and when they come to her. The buyer is not married to the woman's husband and the rights of the ketubah are granted to the woman by virtue of her marriage. Nevertheless, the rights granted to the wife of that husband can be sold to him.

ש' replied 8 years ago

And the law does not belong here, it is enjoyed and it is not lacking (the owner of the machine)

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

A zanuzel is an exemption from payment for using someone else's property. This is not about that, but about taking legal action for oneself. It is clear that the relevant fact is that the owner of the machine will not suffer any damage (that there will be no shortage), as I wrote.

ש' replied 8 years ago

Shalom Rabbi!
In the topic we discussed a long time ago about the can machine, you wrote that if no damage is caused to the machine, it will be permissible according to the law of the worker who is not responsible for his own life. The whole point of the issue of the worker who is not responsible for his own life is when he stole from his hand, and then there is a distinction between a place of loss or a loss of money. But here in the can machine, it is clear that if you tell him about the can, he will tell you to wait for me until I arrive and there is no theft here. That is how I understand the Gemara, and that is how the head understood it.

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

I speak when it is clear to you that no harm will be done. In such a situation, there is no need for special permits.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button