Sechirut – Chapter 10

Halacha 1 – Lender Holding Collateral

• A lender who takes security for a loan (money or produce, taken at the time of the loan or later) is a paid watchman.
• If the collateral is lost or stolen, he must pay its value.
• If loss was due to uncontrollable events (e.g., armed robbery), he swears to that effect and the borrower must still repay the debt in full.

Halacha 2 – Mutual Watching or Lending

• If two people watch each other’s items at the same time, it’s like each is working for the other — not paid watchmen.
• If the arrangement is at different times (e.g., “today for me, tomorrow for you” or “lend today, I’ll lend tomorrow”), each is considered a paid watchman.

Halacha 3 – Craftsmen as Watchmen

• All craftsmen are paid watchmen while working on an item.
• If a craftsman says, “Take your item, I’ve finished,” and the owner delays, he becomes an unpaid watchman from that point.
• If he says, “Bring payment and take your item,” he remains a paid watchman until payment.

Halacha 4 – Craftsman Damaging or Altering Work

• If a craftsman damages an item he was repairing or making, he must pay for the loss.
• Examples: carpenter breaking furniture, dyer ruining wool, making the wrong color, or producing a lower‑quality product.
• Payment depends on whether the cost or the increase in value is greater — the owner pays only the lesser amount.
• Neither party can insist on a full replacement value or raw material value; the craftsman never acquires a share in the item’s increased value.

Halacha 5 – Professionals Ruining Materials

• Professionals (miller, baker, slaughterer, etc.) who ruin materials are liable like paid watchmen.
• An expert slaughterer or expert money changer working for free is exempt if damage occurs; a non‑expert is liable even if unpaid.
• Liability depends on whether the client explicitly relied on their judgment.
• If damage occurs, the professional must prove expertise to avoid payment.

Halacha 6 – Planter’s Profits and Losses

• Where local custom is to split increased value 50/50 between landowner and planter:
  • If the planter profits in one area but causes loss in another, deduct the full loss from his share of the profit.
  • Even if he agreed to forfeit all profit for any loss, only the actual loss is deducted (such a clause is an asmachta and not binding).
• If the planter leaves before harvest, the owner can hire a sharecropper without losing his own share; the planter gets only what remains after the sharecropper’s portion.

Halacha 7 – Firing Publicly Appointed Professionals

• Publicly appointed workers (e.g., city planter, village slaughterer, blood‑letter, scribe, teacher) who cause irreparable loss can be removed without warning.
• They are expected to work with utmost care because they were entrusted by the community.