Liability for damage after backing out of an agreement for a women’s vacation

Shalom.

A woman registered for a postnatal women’s vacation and told the person in charge that since she was not feeling well, it was possible she would not be able to come, and they agreed that she would notify him if she was not coming. In practice, the night before, the woman was hospitalized in the hospital. She called the organizer to inform him that she could not come, but he did not answer, and she sent him an email, which he did not see. Because of her, only one room remained in the hotel, causing a loss of 1,000 NIS. Is she obligated to pay?

Shalom u’vracha.

Since she was in a state of ones (coercion, circumstances beyond her control), and they had agreed in advance that she could notify about cancelation, she is not obligated to pay.

In siman 333, se’if 5, it is explained regarding the hiring of workers that cancelation due to ones (an unavoidable circumstance) exempts from payment. However, here, since this is a rental of premises and not the hiring of workers, the Rema in siman 334, se’if 1, brings a dispute among the Rishonim: if the renter dies, must the heirs pay for the entire rental period even though the renter cannot live in the house, or not? The Shach, se’if katan 2, explains that the dispute is whether rental is considered “sechirut le-yoma memkar hu” — i.e., a sale for the day — and since the renter has “purchased” the house, even if he cannot use it, he is nevertheless obligated to pay for the purchase; or whether we say that “sechirut le-yoma memkar hu” applies only in the laws of ona’ah (overcharging). The Rema rules that if he has not yet paid, he does not have to pay, and if he has already paid, the money is not returned (see further there in the Shach). Nonetheless, even according to the opinions that one must pay, here, since she stipulated that it was possible she would not come, she does not have to pay, despite the fact that normally notifying only the night before the vacation is too short a time and such notice would not help (and that is what in fact happened — she was unable to reach him). Still, since she was in a state of ones, it is considered as though she notified and fulfilled the condition, and it was upon the organizer to check whether she was coming or not.