Date: September 20th, 2018 3:26 PM
Author: titillating fear-inspiring heaven
Sukkos was only a few days away; many people had already built their sukkos. Mr. Rhein went to his backyard to begin building. “Our tree grew a lot this past year!” he said to his wife.
“Will it interfere with the sukkah?” she asked.
Mr. Rhein look up at the tree. “Yes,” he replied. “One of the branches goes over the sukkah and covers a big part of it.”
“Can you cut the branch?” Mrs. Rhein asked.
“It will be hard for me,” said Mr. Rhein. “I don’t have the proper equipment. However, our neighbor Mr. Green likes gardening. He has a chain saw and can do it easily. I’ll ask him.”
The following evening, Mr. Green came to cut the branch. Under the tree was some lawn furniture. He moved it aside and climbed the tree. “Watch out,” he called down as he began cutting.
When the branch was almost completely cut, it broke off, twisting as it fell. It hit another branch, bounced off, and crashed to the ground 15 feet away. One end landed on a lawn chair and cracked it.
Mr. Green came down from the tree. “I’m sorry about the lawn chair,” he said. “I’ll buy you a new one.”
“That’s not necessary,” replied Mr. Rhein. “It’s not your fault that the branch fell in that way.”
“I damaged the chair, though,” insisted Mr. Green
“In any case, it wasn’t new,” said Mr. Rhein.
“But it was still usable,” argued Mr. Green. “You can’t fix it, so in any case you’re going to have to buy a new one.”
“Let’s take it up with Rabbi Dayan,” Mr. Rhein suggested.
“Must I pay Mr. Rhein for his lawn chair?” Mr. Green asked Rabbi Dayan. “And how much?”
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=4082375&forum_id=2#36849774)