Bais HaVaad on the Parsha, Parshas Mishpatim

Doubt of the Benefit

February 20, 2025

Excerpted and adapted from a shiur by HaRav Chaim Weg

When a man will borrow from his fellow and it will become injured or will die…

Shmos 22:13

Because a sho’eil (borrower) is permitted to use the item in his care and doesn’t pay for the privilege, he has the highest level of liability among the Torah’s four shomrim (custodians).

R’ Meir Arik (Imrei Yosher 2:69) was asked about a minyan that suffered a fire that destroyed its borrowed sefer Torah. The Torah’s owner had argued that as borrowers, the minyan was liable even for oness (circumstances beyond their control).

Rav Arik cites the question in the Gemara (Bava Metzia 96a) whether a man who borrowed a cow not to use it but in order to be seen with it and thought of as a person of means has the liability of a borrower, because he derives no benefit from the animal itself. The Rosh rules that in practice, such a man is not deemed a borrower. The Ketzos Hachoshen (72) says that likewise, one who borrows for mitzvah purposes is deriving no benefit from the item—due to the principle that mitzvah performance is not reckoned as hana’ah (benefit)—and is not adjudged a borrower. The Nesivos argues that Torah study is distinct from other mitzvos in this respect and is considered hana’ah, making the borrower of a sefer or a sefer Torah a classic sho’eil, with the attendant liability. The Or Sameiach challenges the Ketzos on different grounds: Even if mitzvah benefit isn’t classified as hana’ah, it is benefit enough to render a shomer liable.