2

I have always believed in having a home open to guests, whether for Shabbat, hagim or for their secular needs, involving guests sleeping over.

However, recently my guests have inadvertently caused me damages that ran into a lot of expense for which I would not charge them.

This makes me feel that I have to become much more limited in how I have guests or not at all (to sleep over). So I'm curious what the halacha has to say about this.

Improve this question
5
  • 4
    "for which I would not charge them" Why won't you charge them if they damaged you?
    – Double AA ♦
    Sep 7, 2014 at 18:36
  • 1
    Why would someone vote to close as opinion based on a question asking what the halacha has to say?
    – Y     e     z
    Sep 8, 2014 at 2:28
  • If a guest damaged something, ask them to pay for it. If they refuse, take them to beis din.
    – Jake
    Sep 8, 2014 at 7:58
  • 1
    janet, welcome to Mi Yodeya! It seems to me that this question is more about mussar/ethics/charachter-development than halacha. It sounds like you don't want to diminish your act of kindness and/or damage a social relationship by introducing liability and money into it, but that maintaining that standard of pure kindness and/or preserving the relationship thus makes you less likely to extend invitations in the future. So, it seems like the conflict is between internal values more than halachot. Does that sound right? If so, I recommend that you edit the question to make this more clear.
    – Isaac Moses ♦
    Sep 8, 2014 at 13:55
  • judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/27260/…
    – eramm
    Sep 8, 2014 at 16:28

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

I found a nice essay on Hachnassat Orchim that mentions the following:

If a loss or any damage will result from hosting a particular guest one would not be obligated to host him [Orech Maisharim 17-2].

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .