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Bava Kamma 26b

בבא קמא כ״ו ע״ב

Learn Bava Kamma 26b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Where we learn that a person (אדם המזיק) pays for damage even when it was unintentional or by accident, and רבה's case of a stone falling from someone's lap, compared across several areas of halacha.

Overview

The גמרא asks for the source of the rule that a person pays for damage even when he did not mean to cause it. חזקיה learns it from the extra word 'תחת' in 'פצע תחת פצע,' which teaches both this rule and payment for צער. רבה then gives a series of cases: a stone that falls from someone's lap when he did not know it was there, a stone he knew about but forgot, and a stone he threw farther than he planned. In each case he compares נזקין, the ארבעה דברים, שבת, גלות, and freeing an עבד. For the עבד, the answer always depends on a מחלוקת between רבן שמעון בן גמליאל and the רבנן about a master who was a doctor. Next, רבה rules on a vessel thrown off a roof. Someone who smashes it on the way down is exempt, because it was 'already broken.' A thrower whose vessel was protected by cushions when he threw it is also exempt, even if the cushions are removed afterward. Finally, רבה says that a child thrown off a roof and caught on a sword depends on a מחלוקת between רבי יהודה בן בתירא and the רבנן. The גמרא begins quoting that ברייתא, and it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מְנָא הָנֵי מִילֵּי?

From where are these matters derived?

אָמַר חִזְקִיָּה,

Ḥizkiyya says,

וְכֵן תָּנָא דְּבֵי חִזְקִיָּה,

and similarly, the school of Ḥizkiyya taught:

אָמַר קְרָא: ״פֶּצַע תַּחַת פָּצַע״ –

The verse states: “Wound for wound” —

The steps (15)

  1. QuestionAsking for the source
  2. Responseחזקיה learns it from 'wound for wound'
  3. ChallengeThat verse is needed for something else
  4. ResolutionThe word 'תחת' teaches two lessons
  5. Statementרבה's case of the stone in his lap
  6. StatementFor freeing a slave, it depends on a dispute
  7. ProofThe ברייתא about the master who was a doctor
  8. Proofרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: the master must intend to destroy
  9. StatementHe knew about the stone but forgot it
  10. StatementHe meant to throw two אמות but threw four
  11. StatementHe meant to throw four אמות but threw eight
  12. StatementBreaking a vessel that was already falling to its doom
  13. StatementCushions removed after the vessel was thrown
  14. StatementA child thrown off a roof and caught on a sword
  15. ProofThe ברייתא of ten people hitting with ten sticks begins