Q. I live in an apartment building in which the entry door is kept locked with an old-fashioned cylinder lock, and each co-owner has a key. One day, Reuven, one of the neighbors, was trying to get into the building, and his key cracked in the lock. Thankfully, it didn’t bar entry to the building altogether, but we now have to call a locksmith to fix it. Is Reuven liable for the locksmith’s fee — whether that means extracting the piece of his key that is stuck or replacing the lock? If the lock does need to be replaced, is he also obligated to pay for new keys for each neighbor — more than 50 keys in total?
A. If Reuven was not negligent — he inserted his key normally, as everyone else does, and something went wrong and it cracked — then he is not liable to pay, even latzeis yedei Shomayim (to avert Heavenly justice), because this is a case of meisah machmas melachah, something “dying” when used for its normal function. Although a person is generally liable for hezek (damage) he causes even in a case of oness (circumstances beyond his control), even a sho’el (borrower) of an object — who is generally held to the highest standard of safeguarding that item — is absolved in a case of meisah machmas melachah. When an item is owned in partnership (as is the case of the lock to this building), no partner may act negligently or use the item in a manner other than its intended use, but as long as he has not done so, he is certainly exempt if the item was damaged during typical use (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 176:10).
If Reuven was not negligent, then all of the neighbors are obligated to chip in for the repair or replacement of the lock and the purchase of new keys for each neighbor, as per the tacit agreement of neighbors in such a building.
However, if Reuven knew that his key was already causing trouble each time he inserted it, and he pushed it in anyway and it broke, then he may be liable as an adam hamazik. If it is possible to repair the existing lock, he may pay for that repair alone. If it cannot be fixed, he must replace the lock. (He is not required to buy a new one; a used one with the same level of wear and tear is acceptable; ibid. 387:1). But the other neighbor apparently cannot demand that he pay for their keys, because this aspect of the hezek was a grama (indirect), because he did not touch their keys.
Some poskim do consider the possibility that he is liable to pay for the keys, because his actions have rendered them valueless. In that case, perhaps damaging the lock is akin to damaging the keys (Shevet Halevi 11:337, see also BHI #359).
Either way, he should try to compensate the other neighbors for their keys, latzeis yedei Shomayim.
We would like to address a similar she’eilah that has arisen. Shimon got angry at Levi, and in an act of vengeance, he put a toothpick into Levi’s lock. The toothpick could have been removed with tweezers, but Levi didn’t notice that it was there, and he put his key into the lock, pushing the toothpick in so far that he now has to hire a locksmith to remove it.
Shimon claims that the damage was a grama, because Levi could have fixed it himself had he not pushed the toothpick in farther.
Is Shimon’s claim valid?
It would appear that Shimon is liable for the damage, under the category of eish (one of the four major categories of damages outlined in the Mishnah).
Eish is defined as damage caused by a person’s possessions that were aided by an external force — i.e., if someone leaves an object somewhere, and the wind blows it and it causes damage while in flight (ibid. 418:1).
Here, too, because people do not generally examine a lock before inserting their keys, Levi’s key being pushed into the lock is like a wind blowing around an object, so beis din may obligate Shimon to pay. This is similar to the damages category of bor hamisgalgal (lit., a pit, but broadly defined as something that causes people to stumble) that is being kicked around by people or animals, for which a person who placed the object in its initial position is liable under the rubric of eish (Tosafos, Bava Kamma 6a, s.v. L’asuyei).
