Q&A: Territorial Considerations vs. Rules of Override
Territorial Considerations vs. Rules of Override
Question
Hello Rabbi,
It is established for us that we do not override a prohibition in the face of monetary loss. In the Talmud this is said regarding returning a lost object, but some halakhic authorities have extended the rule to most of civil law. Doesn’t this amount to trampling on another person’s territory? For example: would this rule permit us to pray on a train and disturb the passengers if the time for prayer is about to pass? Or perhaps this rule applies only to passive omission?
Answer
This is not talking about taking someone else’s money in order to avoid violating my own prohibition. That is certainly forbidden (according to Rashi, even to save my life it is forbidden). It is talking about saving my money or someone else’s money at the cost of a prohibition. That is unrelated to territorial considerations. Territorial considerations apply when I harm someone else’s property for the sake of my own interest (whether to avoid a prohibition, or to make money, or to save my life, and the like).