Responsum: On a Book Thief

Responsum 133

Question: A student stole several books of commentaries that belonged to his friend. When the latter demanded them from him, he took a stringent oath that he would not return them until he had copied them. Someone has ruled that it is permitted to steal them.

Answer: The thief and the teacher both erred and acted improperly. The one who ruled that it is permitted reasoned that he is teaching himself Torah, which is a commandment. However, he was mistaken. For it is taught that: “A lulav that was stolen or which is dry is unfit” [m. Sukkah 3:1]. And it was explained that this is because it is a commandment that was performed by means of a transgression, which is something the Omnipresent hates, as it is stated: For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery with a burnt-offering, etc. (Isaiah 61:8) [see b. Sukkah 30a]. Accordingly, the one who issued this ruling has sinned and caused others to sin. As for the thief himself, he has violated three negative commandments: one for robbing, one for swearing that he would not give the books back—since he thereby swore against a command of the Torah, for it is a stolen item—and lastly for stealing, because he stole the items without the owner’s knowledge. Even though stealing falls under the category of robbing, it applies specifically when one takes something in a furtive manner, as it was taught that you may not rob a robber and retrieve your own possessions behind his back, so that you do not appear like a thief [see b. Bava Kamma 27b]. If this is forbidden in the case of one’s own property, all the more so if it belongs to someone else. He has even failed to perform that commandment which he had in mind, as it is written that: “A lulav that was stolen or which is dry is unfit.” In other words, one who uses them has not fulfilled the commandment.