Richard Herring asked:
Raba answers that a shomer sachar is patur if kednatri inshi. How is this different to minhag hamakom? Why don't we just follow the minhag hamakom?
Richard Herring, South Africa
The Kollel replies:
I always understood that kede'Natri Inshi is the same as k'Minhag ha'Makom. A Shomer Chinam is expected to guard a Pikadon in the way it is regularly guarded, and this is called kede'Natri Inshi. The reason for this is that someone who asks another person to look after his possessions expects that person to look after his possessions in the normal way.
Do you have any reason to think that kede'Natri Inshi does not depend on the Minhag ha'Makom? It certainly depends on the prevalent custom at the time, see Bava Metzia 42a and Tur 291.
Dov Freedman