Oxen Collision: The Talmud on Money Matters, Lesson 1
Meet your Talmudic adjuster! This lesson introduces some guiding principles for liability of damages caused by collision of one’s possession and property.
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Rabbi Binyomin Bitton, originally from Lyon, France, is the founder and spiritual leader of Chabad of Downtown Vancouver and co-Dean of the Jewish Academy. A renowned Talmudic scholar, his warmth, knowledge and passion for learning has brought him to teach in communities around the world. He now lives in Vancouver together with his wife Malky and six children.
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Payment for Damages To Janice:
This is a great question. It was beyond the focus of this series, but to answer your question:
Firstly, this is a Biblical commandment. But as you indeed asked: Why?
Indeed, the Talmud elsewhere explain the rationale of the half payment principle for the damages caused by a non-goring ox, and offer two approaches in this regard:
Rav Papa is of the opinion that in reality, one should have been responsible to pay the full payment of the damage. The Torah however reduced it, for the ox was assumed to be a non-goring ox, and in a way, this was a bit unexpected.
Rav Huna on the other hand holds that in reality, the owner of the ox should have been completely exempt from payment, for he is not responsible to safeguard a non-goring ox. The Torah however penalized the owner with a partial payment (i.e. half the amount of the damage) to encourage owners to prevent such damages to happen in the future.