Must the Bus Fare Be Paid?

It once happened that an individual from Bnei Brak got himself quite intoxicated one Purim.[1] At the conclusion of Purim in his city of Bnei Brak, he decided that he would head into Jerusalem (where Purim is observed one day later than everywhere else), in order to enjoy yet another twenty-four hours of Purim fun and festivities. He boarded a bus to Jerusalem, sat himself down at the back of the bus, and fell asleep.

Upon awakening from his sleep, he quickly noticed that he was at the very spot in Bnei Brak where he boarded the bus some two hours prior! He realized that he had fallen asleep for the entire journey - there and back. As such, he was bothered by the following halachic question: Although he paid the required fare for the ride into Jerusalem upon boarding the bus, was he now required to pay the bus fare for his accidental trip back to Bnei Brak?

The answer he was given to his query was… Yes! He was obligated to pay the bus fare for the return trip from Jerusalem even though the ride was unintentional. The reason for this is that despite the fact that his journey was unintentional, he nevertheless took up space on the bus that could have theoretically been sold to another passenger. Indeed, very often when people notice that there are no more places to sit on a bus, they will opt to wait for the next bus. As such, he must pay for his presence on the bus. This is true whether or not the bus was full for the return trip.

In a somewhat similar, though more frightening case, there was once an individual who was waiting for a bus in Bnei Brak in order to travel to Jerusalem, and he was taking an expensive and fragile parcel along with him. As is common, the fellow decided that he would place his parcel in the baggage compartment at the bottom of the bus. In order to properly position the parcel so that it would not get damaged, he actually entered the baggage compartment to do so. The bus driver, not realizing that there was somebody inside the baggage compartment, closed the compartment doors and drove off. As such, this person was stuck in the baggage compartment for the entire journey to Jerusalem!

The man eventually arrived in Jerusalem safe and sound albeit considerably scared and shaken up by having been locked in the baggage compartment. He too went to ask a rabbi whether he was obligated to pay the bus fare for the journey. The rabbi told him that he was not obligated to pay for the journey due to the extreme hardship and suffering that he was made to endure. Since a person would never pay to travel in such a manner, nor likely even agree to travel in such a manner for free, the person was completely exempt from payment.

[1] This chapter is based on Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein's "Veha'rev Na," Parshat Masei.