Reply To: Saving shul seats, sidurrim for others not yet here

You also raised another sore point: “If my seat has my nameplate on it showing that I have purchased it,”

Think about it: The seat is “yours” because you purchased it. What legal rights do you have in the seat?
Can you break the seat? (Why not – it’s “yours”?) Can you take it home?

The purchase of the seat means that you have the right to use it, but is that right exclusive (that no one else can use it)? Purchasing the seat clearly does not give you full ownership of the seat.

Therefore, what property rights DO you have in the seat?

Does that seat need to remain empty till you show up? Maybe if someone else is already using your seat, you temporarily “lost” your seat? Example, the landlord loses part of his rights in his property when it is occupied by a tenant. The landlord needs to go through the eviction process to get rid of the tenant. (I use this moshel because you are a lawyer).

A shul extends an open invitation to all visitors to enter and use their facility. This implied invitation allows visitors to become “tenants” in “your” empty seat. As the “landlord” (with very limited property rights) you cannot merely evict the tenant because you showed up!

I am explaining this at length because this is a common misconception in shuls when people claim rights to “their” seats.