Q&A: Public Theft
Public Theft
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Someone prays in a synagogue and saves a seat for his friend by simply placing an open book on that spot, and by doing so prevents the other worshippers from sitting there.
What do you think about this practice? Has that person violated a halakhic prohibition—for example, theft—or is it simply that morally he did not act properly?
More generally, it seems to me that the question is: if an individual deprives the public of the right to use a public object, is that theft?
I would be happy for sources.
Thank you very much.
Answer
I don't have sources, and I don't see any need for them.
The basic question is whether a person himself is allowed to place a prayer book somewhere in order to save that spot for himself. On the face of it, yes—and that is indeed the common practice. (It's no different from someone sitting in a certain place and, when he steps out to the restroom, leaves a prayer book on the seat to mark that it is taken.) And if so, then someone else can also do that on his behalf.
There is no prohibition here of stealing from the public, because the person for whom the place is being saved is also part of the public, and his right is no less than that of the others. Only one person can sit in that place.
Discussion on Answer
When I wrote this, I considered whether to get into the legal hair-splitting about acquisition on someone else's behalf and "since he can acquire for himself"—which probably doesn't apply here, because the person marking the seat has a different seat for himself—but this is not a case of acquisition, just marking, and there is no problem with that. You don't really need the laws of agency or acquisition on another's behalf here.
That said, one could discuss whether another person who sees such a marking is obligated to respect it. Here what determines it is the accepted practice, and it seems obvious that he is, and that same accepted practice also means that marking a place is permitted.
Doesn't this count as causing a loss to others?