Entering a mikveh with partial payment | Sheilot

Entering a mikveh with partial payment

Question

In my area there is a men’s mikveh that is not well maintained, and the owners, because of debts, decided to charge a very high membership fee, higher than any other mikveh I know, even though the water is paid for by the municipality and the property is public land. Is it permissible according to Halacha (avid inish dina lenafshei) to pay only a reasonable amount [the amount paid in any mikveh in the country] by putting the money into the box, and to immerse there without paying the entire exorbitant price they are demanding?

Answer

Shalom u’vracha 

It is forbidden. 

The fee is for all the components of what they do for you, such as heating the water, cleaning, and so on. 

They do not owe you anything, so there is no place here for the principle of “avid inish dina lenafshei.” 

Answered 27 April 2026 How answers are reviewed
Rabbi Israel Cohen
Answered by
Answers questions at Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Smicha "Yoreh-Yoreh" (2012), Rav Amram Fried's Beit Horaah
Orach Chaim, Yoreh Deah
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