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halacha of not injuring others

Question:

Hello,
Thank you for your help.
My question deals with what extent halacha requires that we be concerned with the potential to injure others in an indirect way.

Example 1: If I donate electrical appliances to a Jewish thrift store, and when I donate the items, they are in fine working condition, what (if any) responsibility would halacha put on me if someone were to posses the items later and then misuse it (and maybe someone gets injured, etc)

Example 2: When throwing out glass that is intact (for example, a wine bottle), what (if any) responsibility is there to prevent someone from being cut by the glass once it is not in my possession (the garbage pick up team is aware that the bags of garbage can include glass and if any broken glass would need to be thrown out, it is clearly marked and separate from the soft garbage bags…)

I was wondering to what extent (per halacha) we need to be concerned with the potential to injure someone, even if we take reasonable steps to prevent it…

Thanks very much.

Answer:

It is nice to see that you care so much not to hurt anyone else.

As long as you are careful while it is in your possession, that no one should get hurt, and you gave over an object in a safe way.  You are no longer responsible for it.

Best wishes

 

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