הרשם לקבלת עדכונים
If Va'ad HaBayit was "guardian of the rent "(shomer sachar)
If Va'ad HaBayit was "guardian of the rent "(shomer sachar)[1]
Din Torah - Questions & Answers Courtesy of: Mishpetey Eretz Institute,
Question:
I serve on Va'ad HaBayit. In our building there are many people who rent out their apartments and do not live in the building, and therefore there are very few people who can serve on Va'ad HaBayit. I do this on a voluntary basis and would be very happy if someone would replace me, but that has not happened.
I saw that the halacha is that a committee is defined as safeguarding the rent (shomer sachar). In case of a break-in, G-d forbid, if there is a theft in my apartment, I understand that I would be liable for the sum that I safeguard for the committee.
My question is: cash often builds up and I use it and return it to the committee afterwards with a bank check. It would seem that the "pleasure" derived from the use of the money turns me into "guardian of the rent "(shomer sachar). On the other hand, I often pay out hundreds of shekels of my own money, and only after cash mounts up again do I repay myself into my personal bank account. Likewise, I prefer not to be on this committee. I only waste time and telephone expenses, etc. Therefore my question is, is it so simple to be considered a shomer sachar?
Answer:
There are two questions to be discussed in this question:
In what situations are you defined as a shomer sachar.
Is it possible to make a condition that you will not be considered a shomer sachar.
In the case mentioned in which you can use the money and later return it to the kitty, you are defined as a shomer sachar (as clarified in Choshen Mishpat). There are those that say that even without the right to use the money, you are considered a shomer sachar, since in the future some other tenant from the building will replace you (please G-d!). The Rama however, rules that this does not define you as a shomer sachar unless explicitly stated (see Sefer Shomrim of R. Baruch Kahana, from the series Chok L'Yisrael, from p. 113).
In any case, the most recommendable way for you to be relieved of the responsibility is to make a condition with the tenants that your safeguarding of the money is as a shomer chinom and not as a shomer sachar, and this condition is effective since it is adopted practice that any monetary condition is effective.
Sincerely, Mishpetei Eretz Institute, Ofra
[1] Public in "Torah Mitzion" Weekly Parshat Shavua Daf, PARASHA : Vayigash (5769) Date :7 Tevet 5769, 3/1/2009 .