[Avodah] Halachic who is right from "The Lost Scotch"

[Samuel Svarc]

>From: Elliott Shevin <eshevin at hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [Avodah] Halachic who is right from "The Lost Scotch"

>What?? You're
>going to keep us in suspense?? (Until I can get a copy of the book, that
>is.) Personally, I sympathize with Davidi. Yehoshua was unavoidably
>purchasing his time as well as his services. Davidi acted in good faith;
>he arrived with the intent to sing. True, he decided on his own not to,
>but to perform under the circumstances would be awkward and
>embarrassing.

See below where I quote the story more fully. Davidi was prepared to sing
but wasn't given the chance.

>From: "Yisrael Medad" <yisrael.medad at gmail.com>
>Subject: [Avodah] Who is Right?
>
>Er, was Davidi wrong in not leaving that Chupah as soon as he found out
>he wasn't going to sing even though he already had lost two other events.

He had lost those other events in the intervening weeks between being hired
by the Chosson and the actual chasuna.

>Or maybe since he wasn't sure he was going to get paid, he figured he might
>as well eat?
>
>Of course, he should have immediately conferred with that Chatan who
>invited him to clarify the matter without delay.
>
>But I'm waiting for the psak.

It appears that I wasn't clear enough in giving over all details of the
story. I'll try to quote more fully and then reveal the shocking p'sak (at
least to me).

I was loath to do so because of its length, but for clarity (as well as good
reading) here goes.

"  Fortunately, Devorah also shared a liking for Chaim ben Zundel and was
happy to listen quietly while Yehoshua focused his attention on finding his
way. The drive was short and pleasant and the soothing backdrop of Chaim ben
Zundel helped considerably in mellowing the atmosphere between them. With
the car parked, they entered the hotel lobby, found a secluded corner away
from some noisier patrons and engaged in some friendly small talk.

The conversation between them flowered, and in addition to common taste in
music they discovered themselves well matched in other areas as well. During
the drive home two hours later Yehoshua even had the confidence to hike up
the cassette player volume two notches, and an exhilarated Devorah arrived
home smiling, and humming the lively beats of Chaim ben Zundel.

A second date was quickly followed by a third and fourth, with Zvi's Chaim
ben Zundel tape very much a central part of each meeting. During the drive
home after the fifth date, Yehoshua became acutely aware of Chaim ben Zundel
singing his way through the now familiar, upbeat version of Od Yishoma on
the car stereo. Not wanting to let a good opportunity slip by, Yehoshua
seized the moment and, as the last bars of the song slowly faded into the
night, he turned and proposed to Devorah. Although overcome with surprise
and delight, Devorah only had to pause for a second before joyously
accepting.

Preparations for the grand wedding began shortly afterwards, and Yehoshua
dreamed up an original idea of how to enhance the simcha.

<BIG SNIP>

"Hello is that Davidi?" he asked. "This is Yehoshua Greenstein speaking. We
heard you singing last week at my friend's wedding and I was wondering if
you would be available on the twenty seventh of January. That's when I'm
getting married and it would be great if you could come and sing."

Davidi confirmed the date was available and then listened politely as
Yehoshua continued with his request.

"Now I know you have a wonderful repertoire of songs but I was hoping you
would be able to break from your regular routine and sing something
different. What I want is for you to sing only the songs of Chaim ben Zundel
and specifically his new version of Od Yishoma. It would mean so much to me
and be a wonderful surprise for my kallah."

Davidi assured him that special requests and even impersonations were very
much standard fare and the Chaim ben Zundel request was well within his
capabilities.

"Let me just confirm then," Davidi said. "It's the twenty-seventh of January
at the Rainbow Terrace. I'll be there well before ten o'clock and ready to
sing for the second dance. My fee for the evening is five hundred dollars
which I'll collect from you during the wedding. And of course, you're
specifically requesting the songs of Chaim ben Zundel to be played and
especially his Od Yishoma."

"That's exactly right," confirmed Yehoshua, excited at the prospect of
surprising Devorah at the wedding. "I'm really looking forward to seeing you
then."

<SNIP>

It was at a quarter to ten, with the first dance just having ended that
Davidi entered the hall. Taking in the scene, he confidently strode up to
the stage and introduced himself to Levi, the bandleader.

"Hi there, my name's Davidi, the singer," he began. "For the second dance,
the chosson asked me to come and sing a medley of songs from the famous
Chaim ben Zundel. I'm sure you must be familiar with his compositions but
just in case you're not I made sure to bring these music sheets with me."

>From out of a large envelope he extracted numerous papers and handed them to
Levi. Oblivious to the bandleader's dumbfounded stares, Davidi continued.

"These sheets show all the correct chords and beats and are really easy to
follow. I'm just going outside to do some warming up and will be back in ten
minutes to be in time for the beginning of the next dance."

Levi continued staring, his forehead creasing in confusion. "Is there any
problem?" Davidi asked, noticing the bandleader's unusual expression. "These
sheets were produced professionally and any good musician will have no
trouble at all following along," he added, hoping Levi would react more
positively with this reassurance. That didn't happen. Instead, Levi cleared
his throat and, searching for the correct words, slowly began to explain the
situation.

"What I'm going to reveal to you now is top secret," Levi began quietly,
making sure that no one was eavesdropping. "The kallah planned a special
surprise for the chosson tonight and very shortly the one and only Chaim ben
Zundel himself will be coming here to sing." He paused briefly to allow
Davidi time to digest this brain-bursting bombshell before continuing.
"Naturally I can hardly allow you to do some cheap imitation when the great
star himself will be appearing. Unless Chaim is in the mood for a duet I
really don't think you're going to have much of an opportunity to do any
singing here tonight." 

A very shaken Davidi retreated and watched from a distance as the great
maestro himself, Chaim ben Zundel, arrived shortly afterwards. Shaking off
the crowds, Chaim proceeded to mount the stage and sing through his routine,
unhampered by unwanted accompaniment. Even Yehoshua was delighted at his
kallah's thoughtfulness, not at all put out that his own prepared surprise
had fallen short of its mark.

During a lull in the singing, Yehoshua spied Davidi approaching from a
distance and tactfully moved away from Devorah before greeting the singer.
"I'm sorry it didn't work out as we had planned," he apologized. "It seems
that my kallah had a better idea."

"That may well be," said Davidi smarting from the insult, "but you still
need to pay my fee. I actually turned down two other weddings to be here
tonight even though it seems I wasn't needed after all." 

Yehoshua, in his elated mood, was quick to dismiss the issue.

"I don't know about that," he said. "You'll have to speak to my father and
ask him for a check."

Davidi approached Mr. Greenstein who, although amused at Davidi's tale was
unwilling to offer any compensation. "Why should I pay you for singing when
you didn't?" he queried. "I feel sorry that you missed another wedding but
that's really no concern of mine."

Is Davidi entitled to get paid despite not having sung?  "

The author then writes:

" No.

The singer had been told by the chosson that he wanted to surprise the
kallah. As such, Davidi knew that the kallah would not know of the plan, and
therefore have no reason to tell Yehoshua that there was no room for a
second singer. Therefore, when the real Chaim ben Zundel showed up Yehoshua
and Davidi were equally surprised, sufficient grounds to exonerate Yehoshua
from paying.  "

He bases this, amongst other places, on the Mechaber CM 334:1 "Hasocher es
hapoel l'hoshkos hasoteh mizeh hanahar, v'posek hanahar b'chatzi hayom, im
ein darko l'hafsek, oh afilu sh'darko lifsok v'hapoel yodeih derech hanahar,
p'seitah d'poel v'ein ba'al habayis (BH"B) nosein lo klum, af al pi sh'gam
BH"B yodeih derech hanahar, avol im ein hapoel yodeih derech v'BH"B yodeih,
nosein lo s'choro k'poel boteil. HAGA - v'chein b'chol oneis sh'aru l'poel,
ben sh'shneiheim yodim sh'derech h'oneis lavu oh sh'shneiheim einon yodin,
havi p'seitah d'poel, aval im BH"B yodeih v'hapoel eino yodeih, havi
p'seitah d'BH"B."

What do the readers on Avodah say?

KT,
MSS