QUESTION: I just came back from Israel for winter break and Air France lost my luggage. At first, I had thought that it would simply be a day or two before they found it, but after 21 days they declared it “officially lost”. After that declaration, Air France is supposed to reimburse me for the value of the lost luggage and its contents. However, if you read the fine print, Air France requires me to present receipts to them for each of the contents of the luggage to support my claims of their value. Now there is no way that anyone can reasonably be expected to keep the receipts of the items that were in their suitcase – there are many items, varied items, many of which were purchased many years ago. The airline knows this of course, and this is likely a way for the airline to shirk its responsibility to pay for the lost contents of my luggage.
I know the value of the contents in my luggage, but of course, I do not have the original receipts for the items. Since this airline policy is illogical and unfair, am I allowed to present the airline with receipts from other products that I have purchased that total up to the amounts that I spent on the items in my luggage?
ANSWER:
The answer is “Yes,” but, if possible, do not lie and state to the airline that the receipts you are presenting are the receipts for the contents of the lost luggage. It is better to just present the receipts to the airline without saying anything if possible, and let them draw the conclusion that these are the authentic receipts on their own.
In support of this conclusion, please see the Gemorah in Gittin 14a which relates that Rav Sheshes had a business arrangement to give cloaks to the merchants of the city of Meḥoza. The merchants would then sell the cloaks and be responsible for reimbursing Rav Sheshes at a later time. One time, the merchants decided to break their agreement with Rav Sheshes and withhold the reimbursement that was owed to him. In order to get his money, Rav Sheshes asked Rav Yosef bar Ḥama go to Mehoza and attempt to convince the merchants to pay. The merchants ultimately gave Rav Yosef the money, but unjustly asked him to agree that if something were to happen to the money (e.g. he was robbed on the way home), he would be personally held responsible. This was not a fair request, because per the agreement, it was the merchants’ responsibility to reimburse Rav Sheshes and ensure that the money got to him safely.
Accordingly, it was unjust to pass off that responsibility to Rav Yosef. Nevertheless, to convince the merchants to give him the money, Rav Yosef told them that he would accept responsibility. When the merchants gave Rav Yosef the money, he tricked them and took the money in such a way that Halachically circumvented the obligation of personal liability. When Rav Yosef brought the money back and told Rav Sheshes what he had done, Rav Sheshes agreed with his actions due to the unfair nature of the merchants’ request.
The Yaavetz concludes from this Gemorah, that it is permitted to lie to get something that is yours when the other party is unfairly demanding or withholding it. This is permitted as explained in the The Avnei Naizer (EH 416) through the Halachic principle of “Avid Inesh Dinei L’Atzmo,” - a person may take unilateral steps to correct an injustice done to him (assuming that Beis Din (Jewish Halachic court) would agree with him if the matter was brought to their attention).
Accordingly, you would be able to respond to the unfair request of Air France to provide receipts in the manner described above.
