[Avodah] “normal practice”

[Rich, Joel]

I was bothered by the gemara-Megilla 26a where it says Jerusalem apartment “owners” took “gifts” by force as “rental” from olei regal. The Beit Mordechai (2:16), who lived in the early 20th century, raises the same question and says since the normal practice in Israel was for renters to leave something for the innkeeper in addition to the rental payment, so innkeepers in Jerusalem would take it by force since they could not charge rent. He admits that it’s possible that this would be considered stealing but because of this “normal practice” of leaving something, it’s almost like they had a legal claim and therefore they felt they could take the items.

Interesting that I couldn’t find earlier authorities bothered by this but maybe I missed something.  Any thoughts appreciated.

KT
Joel Rich

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