Bava Kamma 86b

בבא קמא פ״ו ע״ב

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Topic

בושת: who can be shamed and why the payment is owed, and רבי יהודה's exclusion of a סומא

Overview

The amud opens with the last words of an earlier answer: the minor being discussed is old enough to feel embarrassed. A new משנה then teaches that shaming a naked, blind, or sleeping person makes one liable. A sleeping person who shames someone else is exempt. Someone who falls off a roof pays for damage, but pays for בושת only if he meant to shame. רב פפא explains that the ברייתא's 'naked' person had his clothes blown up by the wind, and that its 'bathhouse' is really a riverbank. רבי אבא בר ממל asks about shaming a sleeping person who dies before waking. רב זביד explains the question as כיסופא (inner feelings) versus זילותא (public disgrace). רב פפא explains it as the victim's own embarrassment versus the family's shame. Each attempted proof from the minor is pushed off: the minor may be old enough to feel shame, and a ברייתא of רבי supports that distinction. Finally, the גמרא shows that the משנה's blind-person case does not follow רבי יהודה, and traces his גזירות שוות for exempting a סומא from בושת, גלות, מיתות בית דין and מלקות.

Opening lines

The steps (34)

1. ResolutionFinishing the answer: a minor who feels embarrassed
2. StatementHumiliating a naked, blind, or sleeping person
3. StatementFalling off a roof: liable for damage, not for humiliation
4. StatementA ברייתא: humiliating someone naked or in a bathhouse
5. ChallengeCan a naked person even be humiliated?
6. Resolutionרב פפא: wind lifted the clothes, and he pulled them higher
7. ChallengeHow can someone be humiliated in a bathhouse?
8. Resolutionרב פפא: it was on a riverbank
9. QuestionHumiliating a sleeping person who then dies
10. QuestionWhat exactly is the question?
11. Responseרב זביד: is בושת paid for embarrassment or for disgrace?
12. ProofProof from רבי מאיר: a minor gets בושת
13. ChallengeBut then a שוטה should get paid too
14. ResolutionA שוטה cannot be lowered any further
15. ProofBack to the proof from the minor
16. RejectionThe minor is old enough to feel shame
17. Responseרב פפא's way of reading the question
18. ProofThe minor seems to support family shame
19. ChallengeThen why doesn't a שוטה get paid?
20. ResolutionA שוטה's family shame is already at its peak
21. ProofBack to the proof: a minor can't feel shame, so payment must be for the family
22. Rejectionרב פפא: some minors do feel shame
23. ProofA ברייתא of רבי supports the split between minors
24. StatementThe משנה on a blind person does not follow רבי יהודה
25. QuestionWhat is רבי יהודה's reason?
26. ResponseThe word 'עינך' links בושת to עדים זוממין
27. ResponseThe source for exempting a blind person from exile
28. QuestionAsking for רבי יהודה's reasoning
29. Responseרבי יהודה: the wood-chopping verse would include a blind person
30. Responseרבי מאיר: two exclusions in a row make an inclusion
31. Resolutionרבי יהודה: 'without knowing' leaves out someone who meant to kill
32. ResponseDeath penalty exemption learned from exile through the word 'killer'
33. ResponseLashes exemption learned from the death penalty through the word 'guilty'
34. StatementAnother teaching: a blind person has no shame payment