“Mistakenly” Switched Lottery Tickets

Question

I am interested to know what Rav Zafrani has to say about the following shailah.

There was a woman who had a live-in maid. The employer went to purchase a lottery ticket and the maid accompanied her and also bought a ticket. Since the maid did not have a phone, they both wrote down the employer’s phone number.

The day of the first drawing arrived, and the employer received a message that she had won 10,000 shekels. When she went to check her ticket, she realized that the winning number belonged to the maid. The maid had left her purse outside her room, so the employer went and switched the tickets.

The next morning, after the employer woke up, she checked her phone, and to her great shock, the other ticket had also won, this time with a prize of 4 million shekels. By then, the maid had already woken up and taken her purse. The employer then “admitted” to the maid what had happened.

How would Rav Zafrani rule on this question?

Rav Zafrani 

First of all, I am honored that the rov sent me this question. Rav Zilberstein is known for the intriguing shailos that he deals with and the fascinating seforim that result from them.

I believe that there are two factors that must be taken into account in this shailah. The first is that the maid is not obligated to believe her employer’s story. Even if the 4-million-shekel lottery ticket had a siman on it, such as a crease in the corner or something similar, we do not consider that a valid siman al pi halacha.

If the maid does believe her employer, there is another point to consider. When the employer switched the lottery ticket, it would seem that she was meya’eish on her original ticket in order to take the other one. However, this depends on the timing of the second drawing. If the drawing for the 4-million-shekel ticket occurred before the switch, then this is considered yiush me’ikara—that is, a mistaken yiush made after the determining event had already happened.

Had the employer known that her ticket was the one with the larger prize, she would not have been meya’eish on it. Therefore, this is not considered valid yiush. The Nesivos rules that yiush me’ikara is not yiush, and accordingly, even after switching the tickets, the employer would still retain the right to the prize.

May Rav Zilberstein have great hatzlocha in all his endeavors, and I respectfully request that the rov share with me more fascinating shailos such as this one in the future.