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On the prohibition against harming one’s neighbor’s money

שו”תCategory: Talmudic studyOn the prohibition against harming one’s neighbor’s money
asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
Regarding the prohibition against harming one’s fellow man’s money, I saw that the commentators are trying to find the source of the prohibition. Today I happened to come across evidence that I think is good, which I had not seen mentioned in the commentators:
In the first chapter, page 5, page 2:
And David became thirsty and said, “Who will give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate?” And the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. [And] what is the matter with him? … Rav Huna said: The mighty men of Israel were scattered from the Philistine strongholds, and what is the matter with him? What is the matter with him saving himself with his neighbor’s wealth? They sent to him: It is forbidden to save himself with his neighbor’s wealth, but you are a king, and a king breaks in to make a way for himself and has no wisdom in his hand.
David wanted to burn (=damage) the Gadish of Israel and thus eliminate the Philistines. The answer he received was that this was forbidden to an ordinary person. Many of the commentators ask here why this would be forbidden, since theft is not one of the three serious offenses of “ye yor
Thus, the column also wrote at the beginning of the Laws of Torts, paragraph 1, “Just as it is forbidden to steal and rob one’s neighbor’s money, so it is forbidden to harm his money, even if he does not benefit from it.”
What do you think?
Best regards,


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0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago
Pine, The words of the column are presented in every introductory lesson to the Bible, and the words are ancient. Regarding your view, the fact that there are commentators who see harm as part of the prohibition of theft and therefore interpret the issue in this way (after all, this is not written in the issue. It can be interpreted as the prohibition of harm) does not mean that there is no room for the question: First, because others who question the origin of the prohibition against harm do not have to agree with them (they will interpret it as a prohibition against harm and not a prohibition against theft). Secondly, perhaps we need a source for this, that harm is included in theft (of course there is no place where the thief will steal the spear). Third (related to the previous one), the fact that the Gemara makes it difficult by virtue of the prohibition of theft is only a shigara delishna. In the language of the Sages, any harm to another’s property is called theft (such as reaching into a deposit, etc.), but there is not necessarily a statement here about the formal prohibition of theft. And fourth, the prohibition of theft in the Gemara itself (Reish Izahu Neshak) is mixed with interest, fraud, and hired labor (the Gemara there makes a distinction between them). Therefore, it seems that there are scholars who truly understood the prohibition of theft in this way, and perhaps this is one of them. This does not mean that it is agreed upon and that it is so in all Shas.

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