Practical question that happens at least from time to time. It is raining [much more than a drizzle, steadily to hard] and/or very cold and you discover after much searching that someone accidentally took your coat from the shul coat rack. To boot, it is Shabbos, so you cannot call a family member/friend to bring you another coat. You have a 15 minute walk home. Many have left by the time you are certain your coat is really gone and not just moved, and you wait until there is one coat left, very similar to yours. Must you walk home w/o a coat?
Thank you.
Answer:
It is not permitted to wear the coat.
The Gemara (Bava Basra 41a) and Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 136:2) discuss this question, and rule that a person may not use the switched item of clothing: “If someone’s clothing was switched in a house of mourning or a house where there was a party, he may not use the [clothing that was switched with his own].”
The reason for this halachah is that the coat is not yours, and therefore you cannot use it without the permission of the owner.
An exception to the rule is where enough time has elapsed that one can assume that the person who took your own coat has realized that he has the wrong coat, and therefore “permits” you to make use of his (see Pischei Choshen vol. 1 Aveidah 4:19:45). This won’t apply on the same Friday night.
