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Owner of Gemach Took Somebody’s Clothes

Someone has by their house a Gemach where they take in clothing to distribute to people in need. Often people come and leave begadim by the door. The person then comes and goes through the clothing, perhaps fixes things or changes the clothing a little, etc. And then gives them out. A neighbor right next to this Gemach is a seamstress. A child was sent with a very nice beged of his mothers to bring to the seamstress for alterations. By mistake the beged was left by the door of the one who collects the clothing. He took the beged, altered it a little and then gave it away.
(Thinking since the beged was left outside his door it must be for the Gemach. I suppose also it didn’t surprise him that if it was an exceptionally “nice” beged.)
Is the one who runs the Gemach chayiv to pay?

Answer:

The owner of the gemach is exempt from payment.

Sources:

This is at worst a case of stealing be-shogeg (inadvertently).

The case of somebody taking something he thinks is his, and giving it away, is discussed by a number of poskim (see Ketzos Ha-Choshen 25:1; Machaneh Efraim, Gezeilah 7), and their conclusion is that the individual is exempt (see proofs mentioned by the Machaneh Efraim from a number of sources).

Although some dispute this conclusion (see Marcheshes Vol. 2, no. 32, sec. 2), in our case the owner of the clothing can be considered to be the poshe’a (acting with negligence), by giving the clothes to a child, who left them near the wrong door.

In this case, even if somebody were to damage the item, he would be exempt, based on the reasoning mentioned by the Rambam (the damaged party caused himself the damaged), and this is the more so true in our case (or the reasoning mentioned by Tosafos, whereby the damager is exempt because he is an “ones gamur”).

Thus, the owner of the gemach is exempt.

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