This is not meant to rule practical halachah; rather it’s to show the sweetness of learning.
Based on Rav Yitzchak Silberstein’s seforim
Who Makes Torah Learning So Sweet & Geshmak…
Of course to Rav Yitzchak Silberstein Shlita.
Who makes Torah Learning so sweet & geshmak…
Need to Eat Something
Tanji called a taxi, made himself comfortable, and finally got some time to relax.
After a while on the highway, the driver said, “I can’t see the road; my vision is blurry, I have diabetes, and I feel very low on sugar. I need to eat something. I’m getting dizzy…”
Tanji said, “Pull over, I’ll take you over and drive to my house quickly. It’s a few minutes away, and I’ll get you something to eat.”
Tanji sped very fast to his house, rushed into the house and got him some food to eat.
Slowly, the driver started to feel better. They both said, “Thank you, Hashem!”
After thanking Tanji, the driver said, “By the way, you forgot to pay for the taxi trip.”
Tanji was shocked, “I hope you’re kidding, I literally just saved you.”
The driver said, “I hear that’s true, but because of my car, you got to your house, you got enjoyment and benefits from my car, so I want to get paid.”
Who’s right?
1. There is a halachah that if you used something from your friend and had enjoyment from it, if his friend didn’t lose anything, you don’t need to pay for it, (like sitting on a neighbor’s chair outside).
That’s what happened in our case.
The ride wasn’t a loss for the driver, as they both needed to get there; if anything, he gained his life back.
The taxi driver needed to eat; it was an emergency, and Tanji helped him. The fact that Tanji enjoyed the car doesn’t make him obligated to pay. So Tanji doesn’t owe him a thing.
2. Another interesting example would be from a prison case.
The Rema (Choshen Mishpat 264:4) says that if a prisoner paid a big payment to be freed and is then told that his roommate will also be freed because of him, the first one who paid the big payment can’t demand payment from the roommate who was released for free.
Even if he says, “You’re leaving only because I paid, so pay me half for getting you out,” the second prisoner doesn’t owe him anything, since the first person didn’t lose anything by his roommate gaining freedom.
3. Even though the taxi driver “claims” Tanji also got some benefit, it doesn’t help his claim.
Since it wasn’t a calm, relaxing trip, just the opposite – it was full of fear, worry, and nervousness. No one would call that an enjoyable ride.
Maybe you’ll say Tanji should pay for the first few calm minutes of the ride. But even that isn’t so simple. Tanji can argue that, by the end of the day, those minutes brought the driver closer to his house, where he was saved. Tanji made this taxi into a halachic ambulance.
In short: Tanji doesn’t owe him a penny.
