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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

he cause damage intentionally or unintentionally, whether awake or asleep " (ii. 6). This rule is illustrated by various instances given in the third chapter (1-7).

Baba ben Buta. Baba Kamma'

respondstox. 9-10 of the Mishnah. The enumeration of the abot nezikin placed in the Mishnah at the head of the first chapter is reserved in The the Tosefta for chap. ix. and instead Tosefta and of 4 the Tosefta enumerates 13 (comMishnah. pare Bab. B. K. 46, where Osha'ya enumerates 13 and Hiyya 24, while in the Talmud Yer. B. K. i. 2a, Hiyya has 13). The two Gemaras, as usual, discuss the laws of the Mishnah; the Jerusalem Talmud rather briefly, the Babylonian Talmud more fully. The following are a few of the principles enunciated in the Gemara: —According to Symmachus (Sumkus): Property concerning which there is a doubt whether it be;

The remaining part fourth,

and

of the third

chapter, the part of the fifth (1-4), contain regulations concerning the compensation for

Damage by damage caused by a goring ox. FolPit, Bum- lowing the order of the abot nezikin ing, etc.

given in the beginning of the tractate, the damage caused by a pit is discussed in the second part of the fifth chapter; and the sixth chapter is devoted to the remaining two causes of damage, grazing (1-3) and burning (4-6). Of the last section the following law is noteworthy: " If a camel laden with flax passes through a street, and the flax catches fire from a candle that is inside a shop so that the whole shop is thereby set on fire, the owner of the camel is held responsible for the damage; if, however, the candle is outside the shop, the owner of the shop is responsible, except in case of Hanukkah lights " (see Accident).

Damage Caused by theft (eh. vii.);

robbery

(2)

Criminal Acts by violence (ch. viii.);



(1)

By

(3)

by

(ch. ix.-x.).

(1) " If a man steal an ox or a lamb and slaughter the same or sell it, five cattle shall he pay for the ox and four sheep for the lamb " (Ex. xxi. 37). The regulations as to how to apply this law under various circumstances are contained in chapter vii. 1-6. (2) The compensation for injuries as the result of violence is discussed in chapter viii. Such compensation includes five items: "nezek," for the permanent loss, if any, in the earning capacity " shebet," loss of time; "za'ar," pain; "rippuy," cost of the cure; and "boshet," insult. The scale of compensation for insult, as given in the Mishnah, seems to indicate the maximum compensation, for the Mishnah adds, "The principle is that the amount depends on the injured man's station in life." Rabbi Akiba, however, opposed this principle, and desired to have one measure for all. practical case decided by Rabbi Akiba is then cited (viii. 7). In addition to all the compensation paid, the offender must beg the injured man's pardon. (3) He who has robbed his neighbor, and desires to make restitution, pays the full value of the thing taken and a fine of one-fifth of its value (Lev. v. 31-24 [A. V. vi. 2-5]). If the things taken by robbery have undergone a change, he pays according to the value the things had at the time of the robbery (ch. ix.). The last chapter treats of cases in which the things taken are no longer in the hands of the robber, and concludes with the warning not to buy things suspected to be stolen. With the exception of chap. vii. 7 (on certain restrictions with regard to the rearing of cattle or poultry in Palestine), there are neither halakic nor haggadic digressions in this

A

tractate.

About the linguistic peculiarities in the beginning of the tractate, see Frankel, "Darke ha-Mishnah," p. 13; and compare Bab. B. K. 66. The Tosefta has eleven chapters instead of the ten of the Mishnah chaps, vii. and viii. corresponding to chap. vii. of the Mishnah, and chap. x. corresponding to chap. ix. and x. 1-8, while chap. xi. cor;

B

longs to^4 or to B, is divided between A and without either being compelled to confirm his claim by oath. The sages (" hakamim ") hold that he who claims what is in the possession of anThe Two other, must prove his claim (B. K. Gemaras. 46re). A person attacked on his own grounds may take the law into his own hands, when the delay caused by going to a proper court of law would involve great loss. Whenever the whole value of the damaged object is paid, the payment is considered as compensation (" mamona ") when only half the value or a certain fixed amount is paid, the payment is considered a fine ("kenasa ") (B. K. 156), The judges in Babylonia had no right to impose a fine for any offense the case had to be tried by qualified judges in Palestine. The following incident will illustrate the last two rules man was charged before Rab Hisdai (in Babylonia) with having struck a fellow man with his spade. Rab Hisdai asked Rab Nahman how much the offender had to pay. The latter replied that no fine could be imposed in the Babylonian courts, but that he desired to know the facts of the case. He ascertained that A and had together a well, each of them with the right of drawing water on certain fixed days alone. Contrary to the agreedrew water on a day that was not his. ment noticed it and drove him away with his spade. Rab



A

B

A

B

Nahman's

verdict

was that

A

B

might with impunity

a hundred times with the spade, as any delay would have involved a great loss to B (B. K. It is noteworthy that two codes of law are 276). mentioned: the legal one ("dine adam," literally, judgments of man) and the moral one ("dine shamayim," literally, judgments of heaven). In some cases the former absolves man of an obligation, and the latter does not (Mish. vi. 4; Gem. 29a, 56a, and passim). There are comparatively few haggadie elements in Baba Kamma. Some of these may be given here (a) A "hasid" (pious man) noticed a man throwing stones and rubbish from his own garden into the public thoroughfare. The hasid reHaggadic buked him, saying, "Why do you Elements, throw these things from a place that " is not yours into a place that is yours? The man laughed but he soon learned the true meaning of the question. For he had to sell his property, and one day, walking in the street, he met with an accident through these very stones (506). (6) Joshua, on dividing Palestine to the tribes of Israel, made the tribes agree to ten conditions, the

have

hit