Stolen Property

​   by Reb Gutman Locks   

Stolen Property

A Comment on a video:

     Hey Rabbi, should christians get “borrowed without permission” on themselves in honor of you guys and the Torah they stole their faith from?

Gutman’s response:

     Borrowed items must be returned to their original owner. The Torah insists that thieves return the items that they stole and they are to pay for the damages that they caused. This is the law. However, this is true in all cases except when the thief changes the stolen item significantly. In this case the thief has acquired the stolen item by changing it, and although he must pay for the damages that his thievery caused, he is not to return the altered item. The item that they originally took from us and distorted is no longer considered to be the original item and they are not to try to return it to the Jewish People.