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Bava Kamma 36a

בבא קמא ל״ו ע״א

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Topic

Collecting from תם oxen when it is unclear which ox did the damage, and how to divide payment when one ox gores several oxen in a row

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier discussion: the ניזק is 'fitting to take' payment, but in practice he gets nothing unless he already seized the ox. Then the גמרא turns to the משנה's line that if both chasing oxen belong to one owner, both are liable. רבא מפרזיקא wants to learn from this that with תם oxen the ניזק can collect from either ox. רב אשי says the משנה is about מועד oxen, and then splits the משנה between the two kinds of oxen. רב אחא סבא shows from the wording 'חייבים' and 'שניהם' that the oxen must be תמין. The גמרא concludes that the משנה follows רבי עקיבא, who makes the ניזק a partner, and that the rule applies only while both oxen are present. פרק המניח ends, and a new משנה describes an ox that gored several oxen one after another, with רבי מאיר's and רבי שמעון's ways of dividing the payment. The גמרא asks whose view this משנה follows: it does not fit רבי ישמעאל, and the challenge from רבי עקיבא's view continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

רָאוּי לִיטּוֹל, וְאֵין לוֹ.

It is fitting for him to take, but he does not have [anything].

וְהָתַנְיָא: הֲרֵי זֶה מִשְׁתַּלֵּם לַקָּטָן מִן הַמּוּעָד,

But it was taught: this one is paid for the small one from the forewarned [ox],

וְלַגָּדוֹל מִן הַתָּם!

and for the large one from the innocuous [ox]!

דִּתְפַס.

Where he seized [it].

The steps (18)

  1. ResolutionHe deserves payment but does not actually get it
  2. ChallengeA ברייתא says he does get paid
  3. ResolutionThe ברייתא is a case where he already grabbed the ox
  4. StatementQuoting the משנה: both oxen of one owner are liable
  5. ProofInference: with תם oxen he may collect from either one
  6. RejectionNo: the משנה is about מועד oxen
  7. ChallengeThe סיפא shows the oxen must be תם
  8. Resolutionרב אשי splits the משנה between the two kinds of oxen
  9. ChallengeThe משנה's wording does not fit forewarned oxen
  10. ResolutionBoth clauses are about innocuous oxen, following רבי עקיבא
  11. Conclusionהדרן — Closing פרק המניח
  12. StatementA new משנה: an ox that gored several oxen, and רבי מאיר's ruling
  13. Statementרבי שמעון's basic case: one goring splits the ox between victim and owner
  14. StatementA second goring: the new victim takes 100, and the earlier two get 50 each
  15. StatementA third goring: 100, then 50, then a gold dinar each for the first two
  16. ChallengeWhose view does the משנה follow?
  17. ChallengeWhy the משנה cannot follow רבי ישמעאל
  18. ChallengeStarting to show why the משנה cannot follow רבי עקיבא