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Bava Kama 45
1) [line 7] OMRIN B'ISUREI HANA'AH "HAREI SHELCHA LEFANECHA"
(a) Isurei Hana'ah are items from which it is prohibited by the Torah to
derive benefit. Such items are considered to be of no monetary value. Some
examples are Orlah (see Background to Kidushin 56:6), Kil'ei ha'Kerem (see
Background to Kidushin 56:7), Chametz b'Pesach (see next entry) and Shor
ha'Niskal (see Background to Bava Kama 44:20).
(b) A Shomer (one of the four watchmen mentioned in the Torah -- see
Background to Bava Kama 44:21) and a Gazlan (a robber) have obligations to
return items to their owners. If they cannot return the item for any reason,
they must reimburse the owner with the value of the item. If the item
becomes Asur b'Hana'ah while it is in the hands of the Shomer or the Gazlan,
the Tana'im mentioned in our Gemara maintain that they may return the item
"as is," and do not have to reimburse the owner, even though the item is
worthless at present.
2) [line 11] CHAMETZ B'PESACH (CHAMETZ SHE'AVAR ALAV HA'PESACH)
Chametz that was in the possession of a Jew during Pesach is prohibited to
eat and is Asur b'Hana'ah (to derive benefit from it) due to a Gezeirah
d'Rabanan.
3) [line 13] EIN GOMRIN DINO SHEL SHOR ELA B'FANAV
(a) The Gemara teaches (Bava Kama 44b) that an animal is only put to death
if it killed a person in a manner that would have warranted that death
sentence had the act been committed by a person. For this reason, if the
animal killed unintentionally or if it killed a person that was a Tereifah
(see Background to Bava Kama 41:6) the animal is not put to death, since a
person who kills in such a manner is not given the death sentence.
(b) Similarly, the court case in which the animal is sentenced to death,
according to some Tana'im, resembles the court case of a person. As such,
just as a person must be present in court when testimony is brought against
him, so, too, must the *bull* appear in court in order for it to become a
Shor ha'Niskal.
(c) The dissenting opinion (Rebbi Yakov) maintains that it is not necessary
for the animal to appear in court just like a person must appear in court,
since the person must appear in court for a logical reason: to present his
case to the court. This obviously does not apply to a bull. When the logical
arguments determining the way a person is judged do not apply to a bull, the
bull is not sentenced the same way as a person. (See also TOSFOS to
Sanhedrin 78a DH Shor)
4a) [line 14] IY AHADARTEI NIHALI - had you returned it to me
b) [line 15] HAVAH ME'ARAKNA LEI L'AGMA - I would have chased it into the
marshes [and claimed that it is lost]
5) [line 15] HASHTA ASPASTEI L'SORA'I B'YADA D'LO YACHILNA L'ISHTA'UYEI DINA
BAHADEI - now you have let my bull be seized by someone (i.e. Beis Din) from
whom I cannot retrieve it (lit. with whom I cannot argue)
6) [line 22] BENEI TA'ANAH NINHU - people, who are able to make claims in
court
7) [line 30] NATREI - guarded it [with a Shemirah Me'ulah, an extraordinary
guarding]
8a) [line 32] SHEMIRAH PECHUSAH - the lower standard of guarding, e.g. a
closed door that will stay closed in an average wind
b) [line 33] SHEMIRAH ME'ULAH - the higher standard of guarding, e.g. a
closed door that will stay closed in an extraordinary wind
9) [line 34] KALSAH LO SHEMIRASO - (lit. his [obligation of] watching is
ended) he has fulfilled his obligation with regard to guarding the animal
45b---------------------------------------45b
10) [line 1] SOCHER K'SHOMER CHINAM / K'NOSEI SACHAR
The Socher, or renter, is one of the four watchmen mentioned in the Torah
(see Background to Bava Kama 44:21). He pays money to rent an item from his
friend. There is a Machlokes Tana'im in Bava Metzia (93a) whether the Socher
has the status of the Nosei Sachar, or the status of a Shomer Chinam. The
Halachah follows the opinion that he has the status of a Nosei Sachar, and
as such he is liable for damages in cases of Peshi'ah (negligence), theft or
loss, but is not liable in a case of Ones (an unavoidable accident) (RASHI
to Bava Kama 4b).
11) [line 3] V'CHULAN B'MU'ADIN PETURIN, L'INYAN KOFER - [and, according to
Rebbi Yehudah,] all [of the Shomrim who guard bulls] that are Mu'adim [at
the level of a Shemirah Pechusah] will be exempt from paying Kofer, [since
they have fulfilled their obligation of guarding]
12) [line 5] EIN LO SHEMIRAH ELA SAKIN - (lit. the only method of guarding
it is with the knife) even if the Shomer guarded it at the level of a
Shemirah Me'ulah, he is liable for its damages; the only way to guard a Shor
ha'Mu'ad properly is to slaughter it and thus remove the damaging agent from
the world
13) [line 12] IY D'KABIL ALEI SHEMIRAS NEZAKAV - if he accepted upon himself
to guard it from being damaged
14) [line 17] D'LO AZIL IHU U'MAZIK ACHARINEI, KABIL ALEI - he accepted upon
himself to make sure that it does not go out and damage others
15) [line 19] LO ASIK A'DA'ATEI - he would not imagine [could possibly
happen, since this bull is so fierce that other bulls should be afraid of
it]
16) [line 20] MOSERAH - a tie-rope or the reins
17) [line 20] NA'AL BEFANAV KA'RA'UY - when he closed the door properly [so
that it could not be opened by a normal wind and the animal could not get
out by itself]
*18*) [line 25] SETAM SHEVARIM LAV B'CHEZKAS SHIMUR KAIMEI - most people do
not guard their bulls, but rather leave them [at a level that is not even a
Shemirah Pechusah] and go. (Note: these identical words are used on Daf 15a
to mean something *entirely different* -- see Background to Bava Kama 15:12)
19) [line 32] EIN RIBUY ACHAR RIBUY ELA L'MA'ET - one extension of the law
that occurs in the Torah after an identical extension of the law limits the
scope of the law [rather than extending it]
(a) This rule of Biblical interpretation interprets the occurrence of two
Ribuyim (inclusive words) regarding an identical point as *limiting* the
Halachah they describe, rather than extending it to include more items or to
apply in more cases. That is, even though a single Ribuy extends the
Halachah to additional items or cases to which one would have thought that
the Halachah does not apply, a double Ribuy teaches *not* to extend the
Halachah but rather to interpret it in a limited sense.
(b) The logical derivation for this rule is as follows: If we already know
to apply the Halachah under discussion to a particular item (or case), it
would not be necessary for the Torah to again teach that the Halachah
applies even to that item. It is therefore evident from the second Ribuy
that the first one was *not* meant to include that item. Likewise, the
second Ribuy cannot have been written to include that item, for the Torah
could have taught to include that item by writing *only* the first Ribuy. It
must therefore be concluded that the double Ribuy means to teach that we
should *not* learn to include the item in the Halachah under discussion.
(This rule is closely related to the rule of "Shenei Chesuvim ha'Ba'im
k'Echad Ein Melamdim" -- see Background to Kidushin 58:13 and to the
converse rule of "Ein Mi'ut Achar Mi'ut Ela l'Rabos -- see Yoma 43a)
(c) In all cases of Ribuy Achar Ribuy, the obvious question is why did the
Torah write even a single Ribuy? Let the Torah write neither Ribuy and we
would know by ourselves not to include the item, since there is no Ribuy to
include it! (Obviously the item would not be included without a Ribuy, since
we originally found it necessary to interpret the first Ribuy as including
that item.) TOSFOS (to Yoma 60a DH Trei) asks a similar question (with
regard to Mi'ut Achar Mi'ut) and answers that perhaps we would have included
that item (or excluded it, in the case of Mi'ut Achar Mi'ut) without the
first Ribuy, through a Binyan Av (see Background to Bava Kama 5:16) or a Kal
va'Chomer (see Background to bk 25:1). The first Ribuy was not really
necessary, but we would have justified the Ribuy as "Milsa d'Asya b'Kal
va'Chomer Tarach v'Chasav Lah Kra" - "the Torah troubles itself to write out
explicitly that which can be learned from a Kal va'Chomer" (see Kidushin 4a,
Chulin 118b). The second Ribuy teaches not only to ignore the first Ribuy,
but also to ignore the Binyan Av or Kal va'Chomer as well.
(d) In other instances (such as the one recorded in our Sugya) it is more
obvious why a double Ribuy is necessary. The second Ribuy does not entirely
negate the first, but rather it limits the first Ribuy (or it limits itself)
to a narrower interpretation.
20) [line 39] TZAD TAMUS BI'MEKOMAH OMEDES
When a Tam becomes a Mu'ad, the side of Tamus remains, and a Tam requires a
proper guarding.
21) [line 40] MU'AD L'KEREN YEMIN - when the bull is a Shor ha'Mu'ad with
regard to its right horn, i.e. it became a Mu'ad after goring three times
specifically with its right horn
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