Who was right? (Photo: ShutterStock)
Walla!
Judaism in collaboration with the Chabad Halacha Institute in a fascinating weekly section - and this week: should Gedi whose shower leaked in his house repair the ledges of his house and pay for the damages to his neighbor below him?
Background
:
On one of the streets in the city of Elad stood a four-story residential building.
On the fourth floor lives a Capricorn, who has a hot temper by nature.
Shmuel lives under him, including a son, married + 12 children in Israel.
And one day there was an explosion in Gadi's house in the water pipes, and the water from Gadi's shower began to flow onto the ceiling of Shmuel's house, destroying the ceiling. When Shmuel saw this, he went up to Gadi's house. Gadi knocked on his door and explained the situation to him, while asking him to take care of it, but Gadi paid no attention to him at all.
Two days later, the leak expanded, the water began to seep into the walls and wet them, including the cabinets adjacent to them, and mold and mildew began to fill the shower and all of its furniture. Shmuel Lagdi again demanding to bring in a plumber within 48 hours to fix the problem.
But Shmuel responded with shouts from Gadi, 'What am I guilty of?
Do you think I did it on purpose?
It exploded in your ceiling, not my floor, I don't care at all.
Fix it yourself and fly away'... all of Shmuel Magdi's pleas to fix the leak were answered with harsh words and insults.
After a week and a half of dampness, when the rest of the walls of the house began to be wet and moldy, Shmuel decided to hire a plumber at his own expense to fix the plumbing in Gedi's house, while telling him everything that happened and asking him that after fixing the plumbing in Gedi's house, he would not close the the bumps and the sand (after the plumbing is repaired), but will leave everything open, and this is as a sign of protest about Gadi's lack of attitude to the matter.
Hela did come, went up to Gadi's apartment, did the repair and left behind a pile of ledges (which had to be picked up due to the repair) and sand.
Long story short - Gadi's home has become the Sahara desert...
When Gadi realized this, he ran to Shmuel demanding that he fix what he had done in his house, but Shmuel flatly refused, and for fixing the floor he demanded the full cost of bringing in the plumber to fix the leak, and in addition - the cost of the damages caused to his house (walls with mold and dampness, destroyed furniture, etc.) And if not, let Gadi's house remain like that.
But Gadi claims that it is not his damage at all, and he should not bear either the cost of the repair or the cost of the damages caused by the leak.
And the question arises
:
Who is right?
Does Shmuel have to put the floors back in order, regardless of Gadi's payment for the damage that happened to his house, or can he resort to this 'sanction' as long as Gadi doesn't transfer the money to repair the leak?
And what about the damage to Shmuel's house?
Short answer
:
Shmuel is not obliged to return the floors to their place until he is paid the full cost of the repair.
As for the damages caused to Shmuel: damages that occurred as long as Gadi did not know about the fault - he is not obligated to pay;
But damages that occurred after he was informed of the leak - he must pay.
Answer in detail
:
First, we need to discuss the extent of liquid damage:
the Gemara divided in a case where two people were sleeping together on top of each other, and the ceiling of the upper house was damaged, and when the upper one took his hands, water would come down to the lower one and damage it, whether the upper one must repair the ceiling or the lower one.
Admittedly, the Gemara qualifies and says that whoever said that the lower must repair the ceiling, did not speak except in the manner in which the water first falls on the wall of the upper's house and from there continues to the wall of the lower's house (then the upper is only considered to cause damage, and not directly harmful).
However, when the water spills directly into the house of the lower one - the upper one is obliged to repair the ceiling according to all, and since it is considered a direct damage by its arrows (in the language of the Gemara: 'giri dilia').
And on this basis it is ruled in the Halacha that when there is an exit (ceiling) between the upper and the lower, and the water does not fall directly on the lower, but through the exit first - the upper does not have to remove the damage.
However, if there is no outlet, and the water pours directly into the lower one, the upper one must fix it.
And there it is stated that 'everything according to the matter' - if it is a small leakage that is usually absorbed when leaving - the superior is not obliged to take care of it;
This is compared to a strong burst of water that also passes through the departure - then it is clear that the superior must repair his pipe, and the water is considered like the arrows of the superior [and the former and the latter are divided in the interpretation of this word and as a result - when there is a departure, does the superior never have to remove the damage, or does it all depend on the strength of the leakage , and ACMAL in this].
Except that with regard to charging for damages caused to the lower party due to the leakage, it is not possible to charge the superior for damage that he did not know had been done, since in the end it is not damage in which the superior directly poured water into the lower party's house, but rather the water flowed through the ceiling, and yet the superior has no knowledge of the explosion As long as he was not informed about it, he should not be held responsible for what was not directly caused by him. Indeed, from the moment he heard about the explosion in his pipe, and it was a large explosion with a large flow of water - then regardless of whether the water flows through the ceiling (and not directly between the houses) - the superior must bear in the expenses of the damage caused by this water as if it had actually pierced him, just as he must repair the damage itself (the leak).
Beyond that, there are laws (the condominium laws and housing culture regulations) in which the superior tenant must repair any damage that belongs to his area of responsibility and to his property, and since this is the state custom (that the superior repairs any pipe or explosion that belongs to his property) - the superior must bear the expenses of repairing the malfunction and the damages caused by it.
Sources: BM Kiz., the Rabbis' report C. Takiz, the report HOM Kana 4, Rama I, I. Sam'a, 16, the commentary of the Gara , Natham there and more.
There is no halachic ruling in this section and one should contact the rabbi or the house of instruction in each individual case.
Written by Rabbi Yitzhak Eitan Mizrahi, Chabad Halacha Institute.
For comments: publish@smslarav.co.il
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