Q. The following question occurred to me last Friday night:
In the ezras nashim, there is an English siddur that I need to daven. (All the other siddurim are in Hebrew). There is a sign saying that one should not remove any siddurim from the ezras nashim, as they were donated to be used in the ezras nashim only. Is it OK for me to borrow the siddur to daven in the beis medrash for 10 or so minutes and then put it right back to the ezras nashim, if it will be impossible for me to daven otherwise?
Presumably, if the person who donated the siddurim would know that it’s impossible for me to daven without this siddur, he would say it’s OK to use it for 10 minutes and he wouldn’t mind.
A. Remah (O.H. 14: 4) maintains that in regards to seforim the rule of “A person is pleased when someone complies with a mitzvah using his property” does not apply. Therefore, you cannot use a book without the owner’s permission, since we are concerned that the reader my tear the sefer when he uses it. Mishna Berura (14: 16) asserts that this applies also to sidurim even for an occasional use. He adds that although people are accustomed to use sidurim and machzorim that belong to others, he does not comprehend why.
Piskei Teshuvos (14: 10) quoting Likutey Mahariach, Minchas Yitzchok (7: 130,) Kaf Hachaim, (14: 31), Lehoros Nossan (6: 127-128), stresses that the above applied to former days, when printing was costly, but not in our times, when seforim and sidurim are relatively inexpensive, accessible and are constantly being donated.
Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit”a opinion is similar and one can safely assume that the donator of the sidurim or the gabayim of the shul would be agreeable if anyone who needs them uses them, as long as he returns the to the ezras noshim. The Rov added that this applies only if there are enough sidurim for the use of the women, if present.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit”a
Important Numbers
