The נציב and ר׳ יוסי-בער were at a סעודה של מצוה together. In a light moment, ר׳ יוסי-בער said “I’ll show you a trick. I’ll scatter five nuts on the table and with one word from me they’ll all wind up in the bowl in the middle of the table. The נציב didn’t believe it was possible, so the two רבנים made a little bet. The nuts were placed on the table and ר׳ יוסי-בער immediately instructed his שמש to place the nuts in the bowl. “I win the bet,” he said. The נציב protested that it was גניבת דעת and took ר׳ יוסי-בער to a דין תורה. The רבנים heard them out and ruled that there is an element of גניבת דעת but, since this admittedly was a trick, ר׳ יוסי-בער may rightfully collect on the bet. However, ר׳ יוסי-בער promptly said that they were mistaken. “The פסק is not correct,” he said. “There was גניבת דעת here and the fact that it was meant as a trick is not controlling because to trick the נציב is no trick.”
06/10/2021