Beit Din and Dayanim: Difference between revisions

It is forbidden to grab an item as collateral even in order to recover a loss. A collateral can only be procured through the agency of the Bet Din. Even though there is a minority opinion that allowed it in order to recover a loss, that opinion was summarily rejected by the poskim, whether or not the creditor is a talmid chacham or not.<Ref>The Maharash YD 9 s.v. vivra suggests that for a talmid chacham it is permitted to grab a collateral based on the Gemara Moed Katan 17a which grants permission to a talmid chacham to serve justice for himself. In the Maharash’s understanding the Gemara is giving the talmid chacham further rights than everyone else is already granted by Bava Kama 27b. However, his suggestion is at odds with the Nemukei Yosef Bava Kama 9a s.v. bmilta who says that a talmid chacham is bound by the same rules as everyone else. The only reason the gemara needs to permit even minimal justified actions because a talmid chacham always needs to strive to be pleasant and on good terms with other people. Yabia Omer CM 6:1:5 completely rejects the Maharash's idea. Pitchei Teshuva CM 4:1 quotes many who forbid this as well.</ref>