It was snowing! Snowflakes drifted down in swirls, covering the ground with a beautiful blanket of white. When the snow stopped, Sruli bundled up and went to get his shovel from the garage. He discovered, though, that the shovel was broken.
Sruli knocked on the door of his neighbor, Mr. Schein. “Could I borrow your snow shovel for the afternoon?” he asked.
“With pleasure,” said Mr. Schein. “We’ll be leaving soon. When you’re finished, just leave the shovel outside our garage.”
Sruli had almost finished shoveling the walk in front of his house, when Asher, who lived across the street, came out.
“Can I borrow your shovel to clear my sidewalk?” Asher asked.
“It’s Mr. Schein’s,” said Sruli. “I’ll ask him.”
Sruli knocked on the Scheins’ door, but there was no answer.
“I guess you can use it,” he said to Asher. “Anyway, I still have to clean the snow off our car parked in front. We’ll keep each other company.”
While they worked, Aharon, who lived around the block, came by.
“Can I borrow your shovel?” he asked Asher.
“It’s not mine,” replied Asher. “Sruli gave it to me.”
Aharon turned to Sruli. “I’m sorry, but the shovel is Mr. Schein’s,” Sruli apologized. “I can’t lend it without asking him.”
Aharon looked at him strangely. “But you let Asher use the shovel!” he argued. “Why can’t you lend it to me?”
Meanwhile, Sruli’s father heard the discussion. “I’m not sure you were right to let Asher use the shovel,” he said to Sruli. “Mr. Schein lent it you, not him.”
“Forget it; I’ll get a shovel from someone else,” Aharon said. “We can ask Rabbi Dayan about this tomorrow in yeshivah.”
The following day, Sruli, Asher, and Aharon stopped off at Rabbi Dayan’s beis medrash and related what had happened with the shovel.
“Was I allowed to lend the shovel to Asher?” asked Sruli. “Could I have lent it to Aharon?”
“You were correct in your instinct,” answered Rabbi Dayan. “You were permitted to lend it to Asher while you were still cleaning the car, but not to lend it to Aharon to take home.”
“What is the difference?” asked Sruli.
“The Gemara (B.M. 29b) states clearly that a person who borrowed an item may not lend it to others, even for purposes of a mitzvah, such as a sefer Torah,” explained Rabbi Dayan. “The lender can say, ‘I don’t want my item in the hands of another person.’ This applies even if the second person is generally viewed as more righteous and reliable than the first borrower (C.M. 342:1).”
“Then what right did Sruli have to lend the shovel to Asher?” asked Aharon.
“The Rashba, in his responsa (I:1053; 1145) explains that the primary concern is that the other person may steal the borrowed item,” explained Rabbi Dayan. “Based on this, the Rashba rules that a person may sublet a house or ship that he rented or borrowed. Since these items cannot be hidden away, the borrower is permitted to transfer his usage right to another (Rema 342:1).”
“What does that have to do with us?” asked Asher.
“In the same way,” replied Rabbi Dayan, “if the initial borrower remains present the entire time, many authorities allow him to lend the borrowed item to others.
Thus, so long as Sruli is present to watch the shovel, the presumption is that Mr. Schein would not mind if Asher also uses it (Nesivos 72:17; Pischei Choshen, Pikadon 9:9; see, however, Aruch Hashulchan, C.M. 342:2). Alternatively, it is also permissible if the owner regularly lends the other person items of similar value, indicating that he considers him trustworthy (Shach 342:1).
“The second borrower, though, may only use the item in a manner comparable to what the first person borrowed it for,” concluded Rabbi Dayan. “For example, if Sruli borrowed the shovel to remove soft snow, he may not lend it to Asher after the snow hardened and began to ice over. Perhaps the owner was only willing to lend the shovel for soft snow (Shulchan Aruch Harav, She’eilah #4).”