Baba Metzia 3:9-10

Baba Metzia 3:9

Let’s say that one person left a barrel for safekeeping with another and the barrel’s owner did not assign it a designated spot. During the course of his guardianship, the guardian moves the barrel and it breaks. If it breaks while in his hand and he moved it for his own needs, then he is liable. If he moved it for the barrel’s needs, he is exempt. If it broke after he had put it down, then he is exempt whether he moved it for his own needs or for the barrel’s need’s. If the barrel’s owner assigned it a designated spot and the custodian moved it and it broke, then whether the barrel was in his hand or whether he put it down, if he was moving it for his own needs, he is liable and if he was moving it for the barrel’s needs, he is exempt.

Baba Metzia 3:10

Let’s say that one person left money with another and the guardian tied it up and slung it over his back, or he gave it to his child under the age of bar or bas mitzvah, or he secured it improperly – in all of these cases, he is liable for losses because he did not treat it as a responsible guardian should. If he guarded the money responsibly, then he is exempt.