My friend and I waited in line for four hours to buy tickets to a show. There were a limited number, so each person was allowed only two. We were approached by a man who offered us a $100 bonus to each buy an extra ticket. What should we have done?
Answer:
To explain the question, by buying the extra tickets so you will be helping the person to jump the line, and possibly causing others to lose out. The question is if there is a concrete prohibition in this.
The answer is that there is. It is forbidden to jump a line, the more so where this will cause a loss to others (who waited in line and won’t get the tickets they want).
There are a number of sources for this. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (32) discusses ships that must pass through a narrow enclave in single file (see Shulchan Aruch 272:13), and it is thus clear that “going first” is a monetary right. The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat 15) likewise rules that in Beis Din, whichever case comes first must be judged first: It is forbidden to “jump the line.”
Moreover, because it is the “universal custom” to stand in line, and doing so grant those in the line a “monetary right” to get to the front, it follows that this custom is binding, as all laws of Choshen Mishpat.
Therefore, it is forbidden to jump the line, or to help others to do so. See also Kovetz Beis Hillel 17, p. 36.
Best wishes.
