[Avodah] Coat Room Mix-up

[Zev Sero]

Micha Berger wrote:

> Second, your rationale would indicate that in the Qitzur's case of the
> laundry service mixing up your shirts, and you needed your only good
> shirt, you would be allowed to borrow his. But that's NOT his ruling.

A plain reading of the kitzur's case is that the owner of the shirt you
got may *not* have got yours in return; rather, the assumption is that
the laundress lost a shirt altogether, which she thinks was his but in
fact was yours.  That's why the expected resolution is for her to pay
the other person for his shirt, thus making it her property, and thus
enabling her to give it to you.

In our case, it's clear that your coat didn't just "get lost", but was
taken by the very person whose coat you now hold.  (Or by someone else
whose coat was in turn taken by a third party whose coat you hold, etc.)


-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                     - Margaret Thatcher