Q&A: Using a Stolen Television in the Army
Using a Stolen Television in the Army
Question
Hello Rabbi,
A few people from our company stole a television from a company in another brigade when we were together on some occasion.
Am I allowed to benefit from it? It helps pass the free time, especially now that we’ll probably be confined on base for a few months in the army because of the coronavirus.
Answer
It seems to me that this is forbidden, as written in the Shulchan Arukh, Choshen Mishpat 369:2:
It is forbidden to derive benefit from a stolen object, even after the owners have despaired of recovering it, provided that one knows for certain that this item is the stolen object itself. How so? If one knows that this animal was stolen, it is forbidden to ride it or plow with it. If someone stole a house or a field, it is forbidden to pass through it or enter it for shade from the sun or shelter from the rain; and if he lived in it, he must pay rent to the owners if it was a property normally rented out. If someone stole palm trees and made a bridge from them, it is forbidden to cross it, and so too in any similar case.
There might be room to argue over the details here, but in any case, morally this is improper. On the contrary, you are obligated to return the stolen item to its original owners.
Discussion on Answer
I don’t think there’s any difference. If the army gave it to Unit A, and Unit B takes it, then it is stolen property in Unit B’s hands. It may be that this is not theft from Unit A but from the army itself (because it intended to give it to Unit A). So what?
When it comes to stealing from a person, it was clear to me that this is the case.
But regarding theft in the army, maybe it’s a bit different?
We’re not talking about a private television that someone brought from home, but about a television belonging to the army, which simply allowed a certain brigade to use it.
Can this be viewed, at least after the fact regarding deriving benefit, as a transfer from one hand of the army to another?