[Avodah] Pranks

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:45:57 -0500
"Michael Kopinsky" <mkopinsky at gmail.com> wrote:

> Does anyone know of any poskim that discuss pranks vis-a-vis goneiv al menas
> l'meikat?

Not really an answer, but here are some thoughts on the subject.

I once heard a story of dormitory students who took and hid an item of
another as a prank.  The victim, subsequent to retrieving his property,
proceeded to seize property of equal value from the perpetrator(s),
arguing that he is owed Kefel, and that even though Beis Din doesn't
currently rule on Kefel [0], T'fisah is still legitimate [1].

Two objections:

A)  K'zos [2] is uncertain whether gonev al m'nas l'mekat is a real
ganav with regard to a hiyuv onsim.  If he isn't, then there may not be
a kefel obligation.

B)  There is considerable controversy as to whether T'fisah works for
K'nas where there is only a confession but no witnesses; see S'ma [3],
Shach [4], K'zos [5] and N'sivos [6].

[0] first Halachah in SA HM
[1] ibid. 1:5
[2] ibid. beginning of 348
[3] ibid. 1:18
[4] ibid. 16
[5] ibid. 6
[6] ibid. 5

> KT,
> Michael

Yitzhak
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