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Bava Kamma 58a

בבא קמא נ״ח ע״א

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Topic

An animal in a garden: paying for benefit after a fall, how it fell, how far the exemption reaches, and רבי ירמיה's question about birth fluids

Overview

The גמרא explains that רב's ruling is in a 'לא מבעיא' style. Of course the owner pays for the benefit if his animal ate the produce, and רב adds that he pays even when the produce only cushioned the animal's fall. The גמרא asks why this is not like מבריח ארי מנכסי חבירו, where no payment is owed. It answers that the garden owner did not choose to help, and he also lost his produce. Next, רב כהנא and רבא disagree about how the animal fell: slipping on its urine, or being pushed by another animal. רב כהנא limits the rule to the garden bed the animal fell into. רבי יוחנן extends it to the whole garden until the animal leaves and returns with the owner's knowledge, and רב פפא explains that leaving with knowledge is enough. Finally, the גמרא turns to an animal that went down in its normal way, and רבי ירמיה asks about damage from birth fluids. This depends on the rule of תחילתו בפשיעה וסופו באונס, and the question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

״לָא מִבַּעְיָא״ קָאָמַר:

He is speaking in a "no need to say" style:

לָא מִבַּעְיָא אָכְלָה – דִּמְשַׁלֶּמֶת מַה שֶּׁנֶּהֱנֵית;

There is no need to say that if it ate, it pays for what it benefited;

אֲבָל נֶחְבְּטָה – אֵימָא

but if it was cushioned, I might say

מַבְרִיחַ אֲרִי מִנִּכְסֵי חֲבֵירוֹ הוּא,

he is like one who chases a lion away from his friend's property,

The steps (13)

  1. Resolutionרב is teaching the bigger new idea: even cushioning gets paid for
  2. ChallengeWhy not say cushioning really is exempt?
  3. ResolutionTwo differences between the lion case and the garden case
  4. QuestionHow did the animal fall?
  5. Responseרב כהנא: it slipped; רבא: another animal pushed it
  6. StatementWhat each view means in practice
  7. Statementרב כהנא limits the rule to the bed it fell into
  8. Statementרבי יוחנן extends the exemption to the whole garden
  9. Statementרב פפא explains: leaving with knowledge is enough
  10. StatementQuoting the משנה: an animal that went down normally
  11. Questionרבי ירמיה asks about damage from birth fluids
  12. QuestionWhich opinion the question depends on
  13. QuestionThe two sides of the question