“Jamming at an Outdoor Concert”
A Moral Dilemma for the Shabbos Table
By Rabbi Yitzi Weiner
This week’s Torah portion discusses the mitzva for Jewish courts to adjudicate cases that come before them (Dvarim 1,16). The following interesting and humorous true story contains a moral dilemma that was brought to a Din Torah (Jewish court) in Israel.
One summer, seven friends wanted to go to an Israeli outdoor concert. They arrived at the concert venue and were told that all of the tickets were sold out. Not wanting to be deterred, they decided that they would listen and enjoy the concert from a nearby location right outside the actual concert venue. They decided to sit on the roof of someone’s car that was parked nearby and enjoy the music that way. They never asked permission from the owner. As the seven friends were enjoying the music, swaying their bodies, they noticed another friend of theirs, named Eitan. The friends called out to Eitan, and Eitan climbed on as well, joining his friends on the roof. All eight friends enjoyed the music together, when suddenly the roof broke. There was a loud crash, and the car alarm went off. The owner of the car arrived shortly. When he saw the damage that the teenagers did to his car he demanded that all of the kids pay for the damage. The friends looked at each other and said that only Eitan, the eighth boy, should pay for the damage because it broke only after he came. Eitan was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Until he came the car was just fine. Eitan however argued that they should all pay, because had he sat there alone the roof would never have broken. They decided to bring this argument to a Din Torah.
What do you think? Does Eitan have to pay for all the damage, or just an eighth?
See Veharev Na Volume One page 262
Answer to last week’s moral dilemma
This question is discussed in Chashukei Chemed Pesachim page 336
Rav Zilberstein says that based on the opinion of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, she should pay the pledge. This is because it is possible that she really was sick and she got cured. He writes that it is possible that the pledge of tzedaka helped bring about a hidden miracle.
Have a very beautiful shabbos!
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