[Avodah] Ba'alus (was: No Right to Mezuzot at Condos)

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger wrote:
> You're assuming that ba'alus means ownership. However, a
> rentor who has permission to hang a mezuzah is obligated to.
> Despite a lack of ownership. Or in the reverse, if you own
> the property but can't move the resident of the room around
> at will, you aren't obligated to hang a mezuzah.
> It would seem that ba'alus, at least WRT mezuzah, has more
> to do with the ability to control than with property. I
> would suggest this definition of ba'alus holds bekhol
> haTorah kulah, with the exception of ...

I tend to agree with this important distinction, that ba'alus is not property ownership, and has more to do with rules of control and relationship.

For a very long time, I have had major problems with the concept of owning an eved. The mere thought of one ben adam being the property of another ben adam is odious to me. But I was never able to explain why I was not similarly bothered by the term "baal" when referring to a husband.

In recent weeks, I've begun to reach a conclusion similar to what RMB has written. That ba'alus is NOT ownership is the western concept, but is more likened to a set of responsibilities between the baal and the other. After all, even when we do refer to ownership of an inanimate object, Bal Tashchis does put limits on what we can do with it.

I don't have it all figured out yet, but RMB's comments are so close to my ideas that I wanted to start a new thread to invite others to comment as well. Thanks.

Akiva Miller

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