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Bava Kamma 35a

בבא קמא ל״ה ע״א

Learn Bava Kamma 35a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Burning on שבת without needing the ashes (רבי יוחנן), the clever-ox and רבא answers, and the new משנה about chasing oxen and the burden of proof.

Overview

The גמרא is testing רבי יוחנן's view that burning on שבת is only punishable when the person needs the ashes. A proof from the משנה says the person who set a fire is like the ox who set a fire, and the ox surely did not need the ashes. The גמרא flips the comparison: the ox's case is like the person's, so the ox also needed the ashes. רב אויא describes a clever ox with a bite on its back. It burned a haystack to roll in the ashes, and we know this because it really rolled in them afterward. The story of רב פפא's ox, which cured its toothache by drinking beer, shows that oxen can act this way. The חכמים challenge the idea that the ox matches the person from the case of embarrassment (בושת). The גמרא answers that intending to injure is enough to make someone liable for embarrassment. רבא offers another answer: the משנה is about a fire set by mistake (בשוגג). Based on the teaching of דבי חזקיה, an act that brings death when done on purpose frees a person from paying even when it was done by mistake. A new משנה then begins about an ox that was chasing another ox, ruling that the one who wants to collect must bring proof. It then starts the case of two chasing oxen whose owners blame each other, and the ruling for that case comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

אַף הוּא נָמֵי דְּלָא קָבָעֵי לֵיהּ;

so too he, where he does not need it;

וְקָתָנֵי: פָּטוּר –

and it teaches: exempt –

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא נִדּוֹן בְּנַפְשׁוֹ!

because he is sentenced with his life!

לֹא; שׁוֹרוֹ דּוּמְיָא דִידֵיהּ –

No; his ox is similar to him –

The steps (16)

  1. ProofFinishing the proof: the person's case, like the ox's, did not need the ashes
  2. RejectionReversing the comparison: the ox's case is like the person's
  3. QuestionHow can an ox need ashes?
  4. Responseרב אויא: a clever ox with a bite on its back
  5. QuestionHow do we know why the ox did it?
  6. ResponseBecause the ox rolled in the ashes afterward
  7. QuestionIs there really such a smart ox?
  8. Responseרב פפא's ox that cured its own toothache
  9. ChallengeThe embarrassment case shows the ox and the person cannot match
  10. ResolutionIntending to injure is enough to be liable for embarrassment
  11. Resolutionרבא: the משנה is talking about acting by mistake
  12. ProofSupport from the teaching of דבי חזקיה: one who kills a person never pays money
  13. ChallengeThe חכמים object: the משנה's reason sounds like it fits only an intentional act
  14. Resolutionרבא explains: since on purpose it brings death, by mistake he is also exempt
  15. StatementAn ox chased another ox and the owners disagree about what caused the injury
  16. StatementTwo oxen chased one ox and each owner blames the other