BAIS HAVAAAD ON THE PARSHA 5773 PARSHAS NASSO:Collecting From a Debtor's Debtor

This week's parsha discusses the laws of one who stole from a ger, a convert, and does teshuva only after the ger died and left no inheritors. The law is that such a person must the give the money to the Kohen instead. Why is it that one who stole from a ger is required to return the money to the Kohen in such a situation? What's the connection? The Mahri"l Charif explains this with the words of the Gemarah (Sanhedrin 8). The Gemarah tells us that a victim of theft doesn't truly lose out. This is because Hashem gives everyone the exact amount of money that they are supposed to receive. If the victim was intended to be the owner of the money that was stolen, Hashem finds a way to return it to him. As such, we see that Hashem returns the stolen money to the victim, and therefore, the thief must now return it to Hashem. This is why one who stole from a ger must give the Kohen the money - the Kohen is the agent of Hashem. (AUDIO HERE). PRINT VERSION HERE.