Halachah of Torts: The Non-Committal Version
Yesterday’s one-minute halachah concerned losses incurred while following a contractor’s advice. A related subject involves compensation for the victim of another type of misinformation (and fickleness): “Hotzie hotza’os al piv” (someone invested funds on the basis of another’s [bogus] word).
“Lech, va’ani avo acharecha” (Go, and I will follow you), one countryman tells another. In the original paradigm, the latter treks to the Beis Din in the big city—but his friend never arrives! The traveler may receive recompense from his no-show compatriot for his journey’s expenses.
An artisan is commissioned to craft something unique, but the customer later changes their mind, affecting a loss to the craftsman; a business advertises a sale at a certain time and place, causing potential customers to incur expenses traveling to that location, but the vendor doesn’t show; a hall manager contracts a certain date with a prospective client—with the knowledge that the client will invest in the event—but then the venue becomes unavailable; these are contemporary cases where a monetary loss is incurred al piv.
If one person left another in a lurch, but the “victim” still realized benefit, there is no basis for reparation. For example, someone buys expensive equipment based on another’s promise to contract him for business, but then the latter backs out. Since the businessperson nevertheless is now the owner of valuable equipment, the capricious employer is not liable. Or: two friends arranged a holiday together and one backed out—but the other can still take advantage of the trip—the deserter is not required to bankroll his friend’s vacation, even though he would never have planned such a trip on his own.