Q&A: Using a Rental in Violation of the Owner’s Rules
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Using a Rental in Violation of the Owner’s Rules
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi,
If, say, someone comes for a vacation at a hotel and lights Sabbath candles in the hotel room contrary to the hotel’s rules, is that considered theft? Or maybe something else? And if so, what?
Best regards,
Answer
I don’t think that’s theft. But it’s not okay to put rented property at risk when its owner is unwilling to take that risk upon himself. One could discuss whether the hotel owner makes the right of use conditional on not lighting a fire, in which case it would be theft. That doesn’t seem likely to me.
Discussion on Answer
I’m not sure. Is breach of contract a prohibition? On the face of it, yes, because a person has to keep his word (“He Who Exacts Payment”). What exactly the category is—I don’t know.
Is there some halakhic prohibition here? Or maybe it’s only a moral issue?