Q&A: One Fulfills the Obligation with a Stolen Shofar
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
One Fulfills the Obligation with a Stolen Shofar
Question
Regarding Maimonides' view that with stolen meat one fulfills the obligation, since the commandment is to hear and not to blow, in your opinion, if someone stole a prayer book and prayed from it, has he fulfilled his obligation?
Answer
With a prayer book this is straightforward. It is not at all an object of the commandment, but merely an aid. You can pray by heart. Of course, this does not mean the prayer will be accepted, nor that he will not be punished for the theft, but regarding the halakhic question of a commandment that comes through a transgression, that does not apply here.