Home › Forums › Bais Medrash › Need Source for Allowing or Not Allowing Teacher to Confiscate Items › Reply To: Need Source for Allowing or Not Allowing Teacher to Confiscate Items
I don’t have a source, but I have a story:
A troubled high school boy living in the dorms at Rav Aharon Soloveichik’s yeshiva in Chicago was caught with pornography. Rav Soloveichik called the young man into his office.
Holding the offensive magazine (in a paper bag) Rav Soloveichik asked the young man “do I have your reshus to destroy this magazine?”
The young man was taken aback. He had expected Rav Soloveichik to give him a stern lecture, call his parents, or threaten to expel him.
“This magazine belongs to you,” said the Rav. “Halachically I cannot destroy it without your permission. As repulsive as I find this, I cannot take it from you, or I would be over on ‘lo tignof.'”
The incident made an impression on the student, who had grown used to dismissing rabbis as dishonest hypocrites. By his example, Rav Soloveichik showed a troubled young man that Torah is an all-consuming way of life. It does not allow for shortcuts, exceptions, or special licence for adults in charge.