The Torah in Parashat Mishpatim (21:37) establishes the basic laws that apply when a person is found to have surreptitiously stolen something from his fellow. As opposed to a “Gazlan” – somebody who steals openly, confronting the victim and forcibly seizing his possession – the “Ganab” is somebody who steals secretly in an effort to conceal him crime. The Torah states that a person who was discovered to have stolen secretly must pay not only what he stole, but “Kefel” – double the amount, as a penalty. If he stole an ox which he subsequently slaughtered or sold, he must repay the victim five oxen, and if he stole a sheep which he then slaughtered or sold, he must pay four sheep. The Sefer Ha’hinuch lists as the 54 th Biblical command the obligation on Bet Din to preside over cases of theft and impose these payments upon somebody convicted as a “Ganab.” This command, of course, seeks to deter potential criminals and maintain law and order in society. The category of “Ganab” includes a person who is asked to watch somebody else’s possession, and then keeps it for himself, falsely claiming that it was stolen. The watchman in this case is considered a “Ganab,” and must repay twice the value of what he stole. A “Ganab” who was unable to repay what he stole would be sold as a servant in order to obtain the funds. If somebody breaks into another person’s home to steal, the burglar is considered a “Rodef” (“pursuer”), who seeks to kill the homeowner. Since he anticipates the likelihood that the homeowner might be present and will confront him, he is prepared to kill, and, as such, he has the status of a “Rodef,” he may be killed. Nowadays, a Bet Din does not have the authority to impose penalties such as “Kefel.” These may be imposed only by a Bet Din consisting of “Semuchim” – judges who received the formal ordination passed from teacher to disciple since the time that Moshe ordained Yehoshua. Once this chain of Semicha (ordination) was broken, judges no longer have the authority to impose Kenasot (penalties). They are, however, authorized to issue rulings requiring a thief to pay the principal amount which he stole. Although judges nowadays are not “Semuchim,” nevertheless, in the interest of maintaining law and order, they have been authorized by the “Semuchim” of prior generations to preside over cases and require thieves to repay what they stole. The Poskim debate the question of whether a victim of theft who seized from the thief the “Kefel” – the extra amount fundamentally owed to him by the thief – is forced to return it. Some Poskim maintained that since Bet Din does not have the authority nowadays to require the “Kefel” payment, the victim has no right at all to this money, and so if he seizes it, Bet Din must force him to return it to the thief. Others, however, felt that since the Torah requires the thief to pay the “Kefel,” and it is only due to a technical limitation on Bet Din’s authority that a thief is not forced to pay “Kefel,” a victim who seizes the “Kefel” cannot be forced to return the money.